As you may have noticed, my blog has only contained images of my site-seeing adventures. The reason for this is that cameras are not allowed at any of the volunteering sites. With this being said, below is my first report on my volunteering. Enjoy.
On Tuesday, 14 February 2012, I traveled to the Sumanahilli HIV Rehabilitation Center with a classmate and volunteered from 9:00am to 11:00am. This was my first volunteering session at Sumanahilli and this visit allowed me to get properly introduced to the facility and the patients. Although I had called the Sumanahilli Center the day before to let them know that I was coming to volunteer, there was a 30 minute period of deferment before a coordinator came to delegate my volunteering agenda. In the end, this unplanned event added to the richness to the visit as a whole.
I was filled with anticipation during the initial period of waiting for the volunteer coordinator. Numerous people were passing the plastic chairs that my classmate and me were occupying. Our chairs were not located in a discrete or isolated location, but positioned instead in a main hallway connecting the living quarters and the passage to the activities. This presented my classmate and me to introduce ourselves to those who were curious about us. It was often unclear if the individuals that were approaching us were staff, volunteers, or patients. Point aside, it was a pleasure to meet the people and it felt really good to know that they were genuinely happy to have us there to volunteer.
Ensuing the half-hour delay, I was welcomed into the “Family Meeting” held with all of the patients, the staff, and a mediator. This meeting consisted of going around in a circle and each person saying, “Good morning, Family” and the entire group replying “Good morning, ______.” Each person would then continue by describing how he or she were feeling and so forth. Most of these comments were not in English, but I was able to interpret the intensity of each person’s dialog. There was an obvious aura of lust and happiness since it was Valentines Day. As speakers got closer to me, I began to wonder if I was expected to partake in the discussion. By the time that the circle reached me, it felt natural to me to say, “Good morning, Family. I am so happy to be here and have this opportunity to work with you all.” It was refreshing to fully be accepted into one of their personal daily activities. Once every person had greeted the family the mediator began telling the story of Saint Valentine and how he illegally married couples during a period of marriage being outlawed. There was giggling around the room as the mediator elaborated on how Valentines Day celebrates love and marriage. The meeting came to a close with a beautiful prayer sang by one of the female patients. Her voice gave me chills and elevated my spirit.
Following the conclusion of the family meeting, my classmate and I were formally introduced to one of the rehabilitation center’s counselors. He went into detail about how their programs function from recruitment to application to admittance to re-entering society. One of the interesting things was learning exactly what the rehabilitation center is addressing. I was under the assumption that the center’s main focus was physical health, but the counselor described what issues the admitted patients had. The issues being faced by HIV positive people include: being disowned by their family, suicide, physical ailments, lack of work, and rejection from society as a whole. The Sumanahilli HIV Rehabilitation Center addresses these issues by providing medical treatment, systematic and intense counseling, job training, and transitional services to help the patients in their move out of the facility. The counselor admitted that the full rehabilitation program was very exclusive and was only able to permanently house about 20 women and 10 men at a time. In order to expand their reach into the community, the center keeps 10 beds reserved for temporary patients that will only receive treatment for 4-30 days. These temporary patients receive all of the same treatments as permanent residents in addition to advice about how to receive counseling and medical services upon their return home. It was awesome to interact with this counselor. His passion and knowledge about the social issue of HIV and what needs to be done to help the individuals was inspirational.
After completing this volunteering experience, I realized that I felt somewhat dissatisfied. It occurred to me that I had been expecting to have more specific and physically/materially productive tasks delegated to me. Following my primary feeling that I was “not helpful enough” developed a sense of fulfillment and pride. The patients of the HIV Rehabilitation Center were overjoyed to have a visitor at their “Family Meeting”. Knowing that I made a positive difference in the day of each of the patients fills me with optimism. All in all, I was able to socialize and connect with the patients as well as the staff. Everyone was very welcoming and visiting on Valentines Day added a whole additional dynamic to the experience. I am looking forward to my next visit on Tuesday, 28 February 2012.
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