ABU DHABI // Her quarter of a century of volunteering as a nurse has led Sybil Nijhawan on a journey around the world, where she has picked up new languages, experienced diverse cultures and, perhaps most importantly, learnt about selflessness.
A trained nurse from the UK, Ms Nijhawan started volunteering in the 1980s while she was working at the East Jefferson Hospital in New Orleans.
“That’s where I found out I didn’t need to go to work and earn money if I was comfortable,” she said.
“The end result was that my mental state and well-being was just uplifted so much because I felt I was doing something, not for myself, but for others. That can make a difference.
“You learn to value others and yourself. I worked for 20 years as a nurse, I thought I knew everything, but working there was a wealth of knowledge for the self.”
A year later, Ms Nijhawan moved to Aberdeen, Scotland where she was an occupational health nurse at Robert Gordon University.
Her job involved screening people who had come from all over the world to work in the city’s oil and gas industry.
“There I learnt about their different cultures, behaviours, attitudes and lifestyles,” she said.
“It was a great example for me to realise that we all are human beings, we all have the same needs,” she said,
After Aberdeen, she worked across the Caribbean where she offered her help in various community projects.
“I did a lot of health promotions, going out to small communities and educating people about how to manage their diabetes and chronic diseases,” she said.
“I learnt that volunteering doesn’t mean you can only do one thing, you can do anything you want, it is all available out there.”
She said there are needy people all over the world who could benefit from people’s help.
“Whether you work in hospitals, the community or schools, wherever you go, there are always people who will welcome you,” she said.
Such deeds make people feel valued, Ms Nijhawan said.
“We all need each other in this world. I learnt ... to treat others like I would like to be treated. Treat them with love and respect and don’t try to change people’s culture and values, but do your best to accept them.”
Ms Nijhawan’s toughest assignments were in poverty-stricken Angola, where she again worked as a nurse.
A lack of medical supplies was the biggest challenge because all she had to treat the patients with was “what was available locally in the kitchen”.
“It was a rude awakening for me, as the days went by I thought ‘why did I come here? I don’t know what I can do’,” she recalled.
“I said ‘God, why did you send me here? There must be a purpose’. Everything in life has a purpose.”
Treating cuts and bruises, she saw the squalid environment in which people lived.
“When I got to the hospital I was swamped with mosquitoes, there were no beds – people were lying on the ground. I thought ‘oh my God, this is hard’. I felt like crying because you come from a system where everything is there for you and you take it for granted.”
When she got back to the UK, she was 63, and thought about retiring.
But a week later after she offered to volunteer at a nursing home in London.
This year, she began volunteering in Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, where she still brings energy and enthusiasm to her work.
“I look forward to going there every day. Wherever there is a need and I have the potential to do it, I will,” she said.
“I think volunteering should be encouraged and I’m sure we will have a better world in the end.
“All it requires is commitment. Every culture you go to, there is something you can learn and share as you go along that journey.
“You learn, you accept, you grow and develop constantly. Volunteering has many benefits.”
aalkhoori@thenational.ae
NO OTHER LAND
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
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Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Mica
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Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
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- 600-seat auditorium
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Fixtures
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How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
