Arlet del Rosario Ferrer Sosa: Leaving an indelible mark through online volunteering
Arlet is an Online Volunteer with the United Nations Volunteers Regional Office of Latin America and the Caribbean in Panama. She contributes to the mapping of organizations to generate databases. This is her story.
I have a musculoskeletal disability due to a congenital malformation, causing asymmetry in the lower limbs and resulting in a limp.
I became an Online Volunteer with United Nations Volunteers. It was an easy and innovative option for me. It gave me a platform to share my knowledge, develop my technological skills and gain experience in the United Nations system.
Plus, it helped me contribute to the bigger picture – my passion for helping people, which led me to innovate my approach through online volunteering.
My contribution centers on mapping organizations and generating databases. These are databases of various organizations that hire UN Volunteers in the region. As I conducted this research, identifying the companies, I also understood the talent needs prevalent in the countries of the region.
In addition, I developed new databases of organizations with different talent profiles. This then helped to simplify the search for a specific skill set in the region.
Even though my support was online, I had pleasant interactions with my colleagues. It’s very different when one meets colleagues in person rather than on screen.
I have gained both professional and personal skills through my volunteer experience and I would advise other young people with disabilities to look at online volunteering option as well. You can create some good wherever you are!
I imbibe Abraham Lincoln’s saying, "Do what you do well.”
Arlet brought energy, enthusiasm, and diligence to the Online Volunteering assignment. Her knowledge of different regional civil society contexts, gained from her experience living in many countries in Latin America, was invaluable to our outreach strategies.-- Orphee Dorschner, Arlet’s supervisor at UN Volunteers Regional Office of the Latin America and the Caribbean.
Arlet’s journey as a UN Volunteer with disabilities showcases the power of inclusion. It shows that barriers can be overcome with determination and then we can leave an indelible mark through any medium we find best.
This article was produced with the kind support of Vibhu Sharma, UN Volunteer Communications Specialist – Disability Inclusion. Please click on How to become a UN Volunteer for more information. In addition, please click on UNV Online Volunteering for more information on how to become an Online Volunteer.
