THIS world is home to all kinds of people. But the factor which makes each person different from the other is their personality.

A personality can only be built by ‘choices’ we make. From June 25 to 30 I made a choice that has changed my personality greatly.

I took the choice to volunteer for SIUT, Karachi.

The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation is a well - known institute that believes in ‘free treatment with dignity’. People of all social strata come to this institute for their treatment.

Thousands of patients are being treated every day. Close to a decade ago the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation launched a volunteer programme which is still operational. I joined this programme this year. This was a week - long programme where I learnt: CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), how diseases enter our body, how to prevent many fatal diseases from happening, how our vital organs work.

Other than learning how my body works, I also learnt how cleaning can be a fun and how much work our mothers have to do to clean our bedrooms. During this programme there were no rests and we had to work every minute. We were in SIUT but I had no problem with this because that’s what it takes to serve the community. We were taught about how to help patients in outpatient clinics in wards. We were sent to children’s ward to play with those of them who who were sick .

I would like to thank the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation for everything I learnt there. As a free institute, SIUT needs more volunteers to help it in this just cause.

AKASH RAI (Class IX student) Karachi