Adib Rizvi urges future generation to engage in community services

KARACHI: Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) Director Prof Adib Rizvi stressed that the basic principle of every community service is based on empathy, compassion and commitment.

Addressing the distribution ceremony of the student’s volunteer program, Prof Rizvi said that this program not only provides a window for the future generation to get a firsthand experience of the miseries and sufferings faced by the underprivileged population, but also inculcates in them the motivation and inspiration to do something about this and how to tackle these issues which are confronted by society ranging from poverty, lack of education and poor healthcare.

SIUT student’s volunteer program batch 54 winter session’s certificate awarding ceremony was held at SIUT concluding a week-long exercise of community services undertaken by the young generation of Pakistan.

The voluntary service week-long program for school and college children, initiated since 2006, was conducted by SIUT at its premises during the summer and winter vacations with students to perform civic duties and community services for the society at large.

The program has received an overwhelming response and is specially structured and formulated to motivate the students to experience life beyond their own and enhance their community service values. To date, more than 6550 students have successfully completed the training program.

Prof. Anwar Naqvi talked about the philosophy of SIUT’s services and history. He said that the training spanned for 30 hours during which the participants interactively engaged themselves with the admitted patients as well as the outpatients especially the children patients.

During the training, the students were rotated through various departments including OPDs, Dialysis, Transplantation, Lithotripsy, Radiology, Clinical Laboratory, Cancer, Hepato-gastroenterology and Medical and Surgical sciences. An interactive and educative session of First Aid & Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was provided by the representative of Pakistan Red Crescent Society.

The certificate awarding ceremony included junior and senior volunteer speeches, parents sharing their views, SIUT patient’s performances, narration of their life stories by SIUT’s transplant and dialysis patients and distribution of certificates and gifts.

 The students expressing their thoughts said the program has been a life changing experience. The participants also applauded Ms. Zainab Imran (SIUT Volunteer) when she sang the SIUT song. Motivational speakers who took part in the program including international certified trainer Mr Danny Khursigara and Ms Saira Javed, SIUT’s transplant patient who is also a certified NLP trainer and Mr Atif Iqbal from SEEKHO on traffic laws and road safety.

The concluding ceremony was largely attended by the parents, teachers, senior volunteers who have spent over 5,000 hours during the program and staff members of SIUT including medical professionals.