By Mazidatul-khair Akanbi
Volunteering at Jalsa has always carried different meaning to different people even if they were to volunteer at the same department. But one thing is common – they all end up serving Allah through humanity.
On Saturday, the second day of the event, the team continued with the task of interviewing everyone– volunteers, delegates, first timers– to get a share of their Jalsa experience of every kind (spiritual, fun, unforgettable). We had different units to cover but started with the clinic. It was bustling with clinical activities. We started the interview early but the clinic was busy with health workers trying their best to provide treatment to patients with different kinds of health challenges. Amidst all the chaos of the health workers tending to the sick I thought to myself, silently, health is wealth. We were able to convince one amongst many of the health workers to share her experience so far as a Jalsa health volunteer. She introduced herself as Faatiha Mafolosere, a member from Ojokoro Jama’at who has attended Jalsa Salana since childhood.
We asked about the sacrifices she had to make to get to Jalsa Salana early. She was kind enough to respond, “I got to the venue on Wednesday and honestly I had to sacrifice my time because I have other important things that need my attention but this is more important than the worldly affairs that I left behind.” We further asked about the challenges and hardship she faced while travelling. “The bus that conveyed us from our Jama’at down to the venue developed a fault on the way.” She continued by adding; “even with the challenge and hardship of the faulty bus, I remained calm and patient all through till we got a solution because my intention of arriving early was solely to serve and move closer to Allah.”
She shared her profession, a clinic nurse, which is in-line with the unit she has always been volunteering at for the past 3 years. Her reason to volunteer was a simple and motivating one which is to save lives. “I always look forward to the health outreach at Jalsa.” She added while noting that the gathering brings a lot of people together and it influences her prayer, faith, and Deen.
