Once every other week all the way up until the Big Volunteer Week, we will highlight the values of Serve the City (Humility, Compassion, Respect, Courage, Love, Hope) . Each value will be represented by different people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, professions and ages.
Today we present a story of Respect:
Serve the City strives as an organisation to meet the needs of the people it serves as well as the needs of its volunteers. To do so, it needs to value their opinion and trust their judgement, two things which Labiba Bahri thinks they do very well.
“The reason why I love Serve the City… is because you have the freedom to propose new projects, and… [it] gives so much trust and confidence the volunteers. I was amazed by that kind of attitude.”
It is precisely this attitude that Labiba believes makes “nothing impossible for Serve the City.” She believes that “one of the strengths of Serve the City is that this team is flexible. They can act in every moment, in every place… There are needs everywhere and they can intervene in so many situations… They are so close to the needs of the people.”
Labiba has been volunteering with Serve the City for four years now, ever since she was brought to a Focus Day by a friend. She has been involved on many different kinds of projects on various Focus Days, and she has so much admiration for the people she works with. She mentions her fellow volunteers, saying, “I’m really grateful to be part of this team. I’ve met really wonderful people… That’s what makes Serve the City; it’s about people.”
Not only is it about the people who volunteer and make Serve the City what it is, but it’s also, first and foremost, about the people it serves. Labiba specifically mentions how much time the volunteers dedicate to getting to know the people its serving.
“The fact that we… stop and take the time to speak with them, to learn about their situation, their story. It’s really, really appreciated, because you can see that they don’t really meet people… They expect the lawyer or the public authority, they don’t really meet other people… Just to give them the time to listen to them, it’s really important.”
Labiba continues to serve, dedicating her time to Serve the City, because the people there consistently dedicate their time to everyone else.
Join us for the Big Volunteer Week to meet Labiba and other amazing people!
