Umar Ndiwalana
Level 7 Academic writing
June 12, 2012
Volunteering is Priceless
I was born in war to poor family; my father died during the war when I was three yearsold, and my mother when I was twelve year old. I was passed around to different family members and attended poor rural schools with no resources. Because of the circumstance that made my childhood life so difficult and miserable. I felt rejected and cursed. When I was eighteen years old, I started volunteering at Seya Clinic with primarily for the free lunch, and taking the leftovers which I could take to my three sisters, but it turned out to be the starting point of dramatic changes inmy life. Volunteering with different organizationshas transformed my life from miserably tohappiness,from being a liability to being an asset to my society and my volunteer work has taught much about traditional health care, allowed me to complete my education and employment and gave me opportunities to travel.
Volunteering with different organizations empowered me with diversity and rich knowledge, which I have used to improve my standard of living and to also serve the community. I started volunteering in 1999with SeyaClinic and the doctor who is charge introduced me to different medicinal plants and the diseases they treat. This knowledge helped meto improve my community health conditions and strengthen my experience in traditional health. In addition to that, in 2003, I started interactingand volunteering for differenttraditional health practitioner associationswhich turned into anapprenticeship. Through that Iaccompanied my trainers in the jungle, andI learned the value of various medicines, including the quality and use of various compounds for particular prescriptions, causes, cures and prevention of various body imbalances. Furthermore, through volunteering I also acquired skill inHIV/IDS care and management as well as palliativecare .I used all the knowledgeacquired tooffer traditional health care to my community, earna living, to facilitating educational sessions on HIV/AIDS, andto restore hope among the people affected and infected with HIV/AIDS. Hence, it made me an asset rather than a liabilityto my community.
The skills and valuable experience, whichI accumulated helped me acquire a job and finish my education .Eventually my position shifted from a volunteer to senior staff which totally changed my life, and that of my family as well. I began to heal from healing experience from a terribleexperience as an orphan. Before I started volunteering I was hopeless and sad, but knowing where I came from, Iworked so hard as a volunteer to fulfill all of my dreams. After volunteeringwith one organization for one year, they employed me as Assistant Field Coordinator. At that time I was struggling to raise my three young sisters ’and to pay mytuition, and in Uganda it’s very difficult to be employed while you stillare full time student. When I was employed, I used the money I earned to pay, and complete my education, to living a happy lifeandto taking good care of my three sisters. Fortunately, after one year I was promoted todifferent positions. One of the positions was the head ofthetraditional medicine theresearch department in which gave me opportunities to interact with and to superviseuniversity students, health workers, researchers, and international interns.These people gave me material and technical support, which helped in improving my livelihood
Volunteering providedme golden and unique opportunities to travel,attending and presenting papers on traditional health at different International Conferences such as the XII International Conference in Nairobi,the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto ,and the African Palliative Care Conference in Namibia . On September 24, 2003 when volunteering with PROMTRA-Uganda, I was honored to attend the 13th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Kenya. Before the conference, dueto my horrific past experiences,I was feeling sosad, stigmatized, isolated, and I had psychological problems because of the unexpected death of my mother, but the creator during the conference introduced me to the exhibition stall of Alliance International where I met a very humble American who tended to me carefully gave me a lot of advices and also he helped to open an email account and gave me a significant handbook called Psychosocial Care and Support. I read that hand book and it liberated my thoughts and mind and after that wonderful exposure. I started direct involvement in community development and research in HIV/AIDs and traditional medicine. In 2006 I got another golden opportunity when I attended and made a presentation at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto Canada. (‘U. Ndiwalana 2006) During the conference I interacted with many people from different countries including some NativeAmericans who motivated me and inspired me to study more. In all the trips and the conferences Iattended, I met new people,made new friend, I acquired new skills, and gained understanding of different cultures and I also appreciated the need to study more. The people I interacted with at different levels inspired and helped me cometo the US for further study, and they are still morally and financiallysupporting my education. I’m in the USA because of volunteering and,currently I’m volunteering with Outside InPortland
In a nutshell, volunteering with different organizations totally changed my life by bestowed me with the rich knowledge, acquiring the experience which helped me get jobs and finish my education. It also provided unique opportunities of traveling as well as indirectly helping me to come and study in the US. Volunteering is part of my life and I believe I will volunteer forever, and I’m encouraging everybody to volunteer because it is so rewarding , Sometime, I smile and wonder how my life would have been different if had not volunteered .
Works Cited
"U.Ndiwalana, et al. “The role of spiritual healer in prevention and care of HIV/AIDS”. AIDS 2006 - XVI International AIDS Conference: Abstract no. WEPE0763” Web. 01 June 2012