KUANTAN: Being a volunteer at a vaccination centre (PPV) is like killing two birds with one stone for Siti Nurhikmah Razlan.

       Apart from helping boost her confidence in front of strangers, her public service also gives her some measure of fulfilment.

       Siti Nurhikmah, 23, is a person with disability (OKU).

       Visually impaired in one eye since birth, she said that her desire to serve during the Covid-19 pandemic made her look out for opportunities at any PPV, before she was informed that the Dewan Jubli Perak Sultan Ahmad Shah centre here was looking for volunteers.

       The eldest of two siblings, she is grateful to her father, Razlan Ramli, 46, and mother Diana Hussin, 44, for their support by allowing her to use their car to get to the PPV, which is located about 20km from their house in Balok Perdana here.

       “Since childhood, my father has kept reminding me not to feel inferior to others.

       “In fact, he often took me to welfare or community programmes related to his work in the navy, which may have served as a training ground for me to be more self-confident.

       “Interest in volunteer work may also have arisen because I used to follow my father around a lot (on his work-related matters), making me realise that lack (of disability) is not an obstacle to anything you are passionate about,” she told Bernama when met on her first day of duty at the PPV yesterday.

       Siti Nurhikmah, a Bachelor of Office System Management student at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Puncak Alam, Selangor, said that some people have the habit of staring into her eyes.

       Uncomfortable as this may be, she dismisses their actions as mere curiosity.

       Speaking about her duties as a volunteer, Siti Nurhikmah said she would work until September before undergoing industrial training to complete her studies.

       Among her roles at the PPV is to manage the registration of vaccine recipients and instruct them on the process.

       She added that meeting with various sections of the community at the PPV would help improve her communication skills, one of the main requirements when she enters the working world.

       “I don’t have to attend lectures online now because it’s almost the end of the semester, but I just have to complete the assignments given by the lecturers, which I do in the evening as my daytime is spent at the PPV,” she added.

       Siti Nurhikmah also hopes that more young people will become volunteers in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. – Bernama