LifeLine Southern Africa Celebrates International Volunteer Day – 5 December 2007
‘Tis the season for giving – and receiving. Volunteers at LifeLine say they’re doing both. Charlotte came to LifeLine as a clinical psychology student and returned once she’d qualified. “I learned an immense amount from having been here,” she says. “I felt that LifeLine had given me so much and I wanted to give back – but I feel the more I give back, the more I get. It’s such a privilege to be there for someone.”
Christa Chidrawi, the Executive Director of LifeLine Southern Africa, echoed these sentiments in her annual message to the Organisation’s hundred of volunteers: “For the last 39 years, a LifeLine counsellor has been on the line for anybody who needed to talk, or cry, or work through pain or bad news. LifeLine’s committed volunteers believe in the healing that can take place when a trained lay person makes themselves available to someone else in need.”
“As an international organisation, LifeLine volunteers throughout the world extend critical services to those in need. Southern Africa is at war with issues like the uncontrollable spread of HIV, the loss of many skilled employees who either become sick and dependent or emigrate to greener pastures, the deep-seated search for power and the mismanagement thereof, extreme greed, high incidence of crime, deeply-entrenched gender inequality and violent behaviour.
LifeLine is broadening its scope of work and will in future be known for its expertise in the field of Emotional Wellness. We believe that if you feel better and think better, you will also do better. The individual who has basic emotional wellness will be enabled to make good life choices ant to enjoy a more positive approach to life which normally opens the door to more opportunities and growth.”
For many years, volunteers have selflessly contributed their time, energy and skills to help numerous organisations fulfil their mission statements. They have generated enthusiasm and interest throughout these organisations, and have often extended the work of paid staff into needy communities.
The experience of serving others, through volunteerism, has provided many individuals with a sense of fulfilment, value and purpose in their lives. More often than not, the opportunity has led to higher levels of self-awareness and growth in areas never previously experienced
In celebration of “International Volunteer Day” on 5 December, LifeLine Southern Africa would like to thank all its volunteers for the passion, commitment and dedication they display in their selfless services towards the Organisation and its callers and clients.
For information on how to become a LifeLine volunteer, please contact Nooshin Erfani or Debbie Richards at LifeLine Southern Africa on 011-715-2000.