Volunteers Unne and Paul: Helping Others Changes Your Perspective on Life

Volunteer Unne: the best act of kindness is when you don’t know who did it

As a change from presenting our projects and activities, we would also like to give the floor to our volunteers. One of them is Unne Tomberg, who has been helping out at the Food Bank and in nursing homes.

“I joined the volunteer ranks of the Order of Malta thanks to its presence at the Catholic Church. I was looking for a way to give something back to other people and the order seemed a good option. I try to follow the highest guideline in life - to love one’s fellow man as one loves his/herself. This is a difficult task to do and there are a hundred good reasons for not doing it: laziness, tiredness, lack of time, you name it,” explains Unne.

According to Unne, the best good deed is the one, where the person in aid does not even know who helped.

“I’ve thought that I’ve been given the chance to be educated, to have a job, a home, a family. Yet there are so many who lack even the smallest things. There’s also a lot of blaming in society, that these people are self responsible for their situation, because they haven’t put in enough effort in life,” she adds.

From the professional side, the good thing is that help reaches those in need in a systematic and organised way, while volunteer-based charity projects can be chaotic at times. In addition to helping others, Unne values the people involved in the projects, as they are all friendly, supportive and cheerful. “The stress level from the usual work and related activities is reduced considerably,” she praises.

Volunteer Paul: after three hours of volunteering, you look at life with a new and fresh perspective

For the past nine years, Paul has worked as a sales manager at Admiral Markets. His day-to-day tasks include dealing with customers, solving technical problems and dealing with all sorts of ongoing issues. From time to time, he is also required to conduct online trainings on investment-related topics.

“I spend my free time with my family or outdoors. Now, I also have voluntary work, which I do from time to time. As the Order of Malta’s embassy is in the same building as Admirals, I found my way to them easily,” he recalls.

Paul admits that, deep down, he already had an interest and even a certain awe for volunteering. However, he put his interest into practice recently, when he joined the order’s projects at the Tallinn Food Bank.

“It has given me a change from my daily routine. After volunteering, I can clear my head and look at life with a fresh perspective. It’s also definitely a break from my smartphone, I don’t look at it for 3-4 hours, while working,” he explains his motivation why he is engaged in charity.

So far, I have a very friendly impression of the Order of Malta. “I see people helping others in need and that really counts,” he says.