Volunteering taught me empathy, gentleness of spirit and resilience in ways that nothing else could.

In the period after JC, when all my friends were seeking internships or part-time jobs, I decided to intern at a non-profit organization called Tamar Village for 3 months. I went in expecting to be the giver but I came out learning more than I ever thought possible.

Tamar Village was founded with the aim of rehabilitating families who were in the red light district with the eventual goal of integrating them into the workforce. While I was with them, I learnt so much about the values of patience and love, from the full-time service workers, and the value of resilience, from the beneficiaries themselves. As someone who has not faced the struggles of addiction and the harshness of the beneficiaries' lives, it seems natural to grow frustrated at how the women and men fall back to their old habits so easily. But these 3 months had shown me what lies beneath the surface.

It takes a lot of bravery and courage to make the decision to break away from this trade and from their addictions, and it is not a one-time decision. It is something that they struggle with each and everyday; the daunting task of overcoming their challenges versus the tempting choice of not fighting anymore and just falling back to their old ways. This gave me a sense of admiration for the strong men and women who have made this conscious decision to fight the battle for themselves, their family and their future.

Working with the full-time staff in the center also taught me so much. They interacted with the beneficiaries with so much love and sincerity; listening to their problems, eating lunch together as a team daily and guiding them in their skills workshops. One instance stood out to me in particular. One of the ladies did not show up at the center for the daily classes and switched off her phone so that we could not reach her, a staff had told me that this happens occasionally when the lady found it too difficult to work anymore. Our boss would patiently call her everyday and wait for her reply, and when the lady finally called our boss back, our boss spoke to her in a gentle but firm tone, asking her where she was and that she could come to pick her up if needed. This is still so vivid in my mind. At that moment, I was immediately humbled. I think I would have been at least a little frustrated since this was not the first time that it has happened, so the grace and gentleness in how our boss encouraged her to come back was incredibly striking to me.

It was a real blessing to have been able to intern there for those short 3 months. Volunteering taught me empathy, gentleness of spirit and resilience in ways that nothing else could.