From Passion to Purpose: My Journey as a Volunteer with the Dean Initiative

By: Safiya Idris

Volunteer, DEAN

As a young girl, while growing up I discovered my passion in advocacy I have been passionate about the girl child, advocating for peace and other important issues around the world fortunately for me I came across the sustainable development goals which increased my passion and awareness about the global goals, as a pageant queen I chose to use my voice and heart to contribute to humanity. I want to know more about these goals , how they work and how I can align them when executing my project. I decided to volunteer at Dean initiative, I was so skeptical, scared and filled with doubt my experience was incredible because I met amazing staff that turned family, I had to learn from each of them describing them is exciting and memorable
Mrs. Doreen I call her my woman king, dragon and woman commando, DR. Dorcas my Team lead,her presence is always felt in her absence, such as amazing soul, Mr. Tayie focused and disciplined, Mrs. Flourish so compassionate, always happy here simplicity is top notch too. To Mention but a few amazing personalities impacted a lot and I’m tearing that I will Miss them,
The Dean initiative has impacted a lot, funny enough I didn’t notice these impacts until I’m writing my experience honestly speaking. I had the opportunity to sit and discuss with my community leaders to discuss good governance , how we as a citizen can be engaged in my community yes me . I was also called again. To finalize the action plan before submitting it to the OGP local which I actively participated in, I became bold enough to report and post about abandoned projects in my community I became aware of my duties as a citizen in my community all thanks to the Dean initiative that introduced me to the open Government Partnership.
Furthermore, it has been a dream for me to japa yes I know it’s common but when I came across the action cafe initiative through the Dean initiative, i choose to stay back here in my country because my breed with empathy and the interest of people at heart is rare in Nigeria and leaving will not solving, it’s better I travel to unlearn and relearn come back and implement it in my country.
I vividly recalled coming back from the office overthinking then I met an elderly man who called to congratulate me for my bold steps I took to post about the uncompleted health clinic project in my community that I was the first female to that you need to see how I was smiling immediately I felt this satisfaction in me then I realized I am a proud volunteer .

In conclusion, volunteering is crucial you can tell from my experience how I thought it would be difficult and boring Unfortunately this simple act has reshaped my faculty of reasoning and I hope you won’t want to hesitate to start yours too.
A few words for Mr. Semiye, you are an example of every daughter’s father.