I am an accountant and I have been working at Island Hospice and Healthcare for several years. My experience has been anything but dull.
Island Hospice and Healthcare offers a series of modules to aspiring volunteers. New employees also go through the course as part of our orientation.
When I joined the organisation these modules capacitated me for my role. They helped me understand palliative care and how all departments are necessary at our organisation to achieving our vision of a Zimbabwe where people access quality palliative and bereavement care to reduce suffering and pain and improve the quality of their lives.
Working with supportive administration and community teams has allowed me to be versatile and also to be a part of the social enterprise projects that Island Hospice and Healthcare has developed to sustain itself in Zimbabwe.
For example, we have a nursing agency and we hire out medical equipment and I often support the accounting aspect of these contributors.
Zimbabwe’s health system is fragile and so there is a market for these services. We offer them at cost and with quality.
All our nurse aides are palliative care trained and we often receive feedback from patients’ families about our good work.
The funds raised from these initiatives pay for important costs such as medications, and salaries for our skilled nurses and social workers so that they can continue to support those who need us most.
I have met some of the kindest people at Island Hospice and Healthcare. This is not a coincidence; these are people who dedicate their time to making the world a better place.
I have also experienced the care first hand. My mother had a chronic illness in 2017. She was helped by the clinical team and she also received counselling which was of significant help during the difficult time of her illness.
We see and experience things every day that scream for our help and working at Island Hospice and Healthcare has given me the opportunity to be a part of a great team. This includes the social workers, nurses and carers, among others.
This passion continues to motivate me to take action and make a difference beyond working with numbers and solving problems.
As stated by John Donne (1624): “No man is an Island entire of itself; everyman is a piece of the continent a part of the main.”
We all need each other to continuously learn and share knowledge, skills and experiences to help us improve.
Working in the finance department at Island Hospice and Healthcare has required me to learn and experience new things.
I have had an opportunity to support a cause that I care about – palliative care. My first passion being accountancy, never did I imagine being part of an incredible team and committing my time and energy to palliative care which I have become also passionate about. For this I am truly grateful.
You can donate to support the important work of Island Hospice and Healthcare via Global Giving: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/island-hospice-and-healthcare/
Follow IslandHospiceZW on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Make sure you visit the Island Hospice and Healthcare website to keep up to date with their work.
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