Helping others develops a sense of empathy

I am Selma Rizvanovic-Mandal from Skopje. I started volunteering to help refugees in 2014 at the NGO Legis.

My personal motivation for this was to help those persons who needed the help most then. Looking at hundreds of hungry, frail women, children, old people who were passing just before eyes every day, I felt that it was my duty to do so.

In the field, I heard sad stories of people who went through great traumatic experiences, women left alone with 3 children, highly educated people who had a comfortable life before the war, and now did not have anything, people with great patience, grateful and proud.

I cannot forget the Algerian woman who, with a broken leg, had to walk on foot while transiting Macedonia, relying on her brother, at times when their stay was not yet legalized in their capacity as refugee. We were not able to help much, and those who were allowed by the state to do it were not at all available.

I was engaged in collecting food in a warehouse, sorting clothes, making packages and distributing them to these refugees in the field. Cooperation with other volunteers was excellent. Diversity among volunteers in some way brought us even closer. We became friends, learned other languages, and met many foreigners.

I had the greatest support in my work from my loved ones, the family and close female friends with whom we worked together on the refugee crisis. Now the volume of refugees in transit is lower, so we are also less engaged, but if the same humanitarian need arises, I would immediately engage myself again in this humanitarian context.

My message to all volunteers is as follows: If you are volunteering with feelings, with the sole purpose of helping the most vulnerable groups, then at the same time you are also helping yourself. Helping others develops a sense of empathy; you feel more useful to society; you become more responsible; and most importantly you realize that with your engagement you can change something for the better as such.