“If everyone gives back to the community, the world will be a better place”

Kelvin and Sabeehah, NHS Community Response Volunteers during the Covid-19 Pandemic

During this covid 19 crisis, Sabeehah and I decided to respond to the clarion call from the NHS to volunteer as NHS community response volunteers in Sheffield city. We volunteered to assist members of the Sheffield community who were isolating because they had the virus or were high risk individuals at risk of contracting the virus.

This is an important task because everyone is supposed to be at home, but people who have been infected with the virus would not be able to leave their homes to do basic activities like grocery shopping and collecting prescriptions because they would put other lives at risk. 

In order to reduce the transmission as well as show love and care to the beautiful people who live in my community, we decided to take it upon ourselves to respond to these calls and deliver items to their doorstep.

We would receive a message from the “Sam responder app”, alerting us that a member of the community needed help. We would then call the number to know how we could assist them. We have undertaken tasks ranging from collecting prescriptions from the pharmacy for these individuals to doing grocery shopping. As medical doctor/international students, giving back to the community will always be our greatest joy, this is because it brings out the best in us, reminds us of our humanity, and encourages us to fight this virus on a united front.

We needed some form of mode of transportation since we did not have a car to help us move around and volunteer effectively. We then considered getting bicycles. I had not ridden a bicycle in nearly 20 years and the thought terrified me because I thought I would fall and probably get injured. Sabeehah convinced me that I could do it. My first attempt to ride the bicycle was like a child learning how to walk. This was compounded with the fact that in my country (Nigeria) the cars are left wheel drives and we drive the other way around (left to right) completely opposite to how it is used in the UK. I took my baby steps and made progress.

I encourage everyone to do their bit when and if they can. This characteristic in humans is what has made us survive every disaster that has ever occurred to mankind. If everyone gives back to the community, the world will be a better place. The best in us will always be remembered and represented by the best of us as long as we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, including meeting them at the point of their need.