Noushin Vahabzadeh - Abbott Laboratories

An Abbott Canada employee in Malawi

Noushin Vahabzadeh is a pharmaceutical rep specializing in drugs for the care of premature infants. Most days when she heads out on her rounds, she visits doctors and nurses across British Columbia. But for two weeks this January, thanks to the partnership between Abbott Canada and Leave for Change, Noushin was in Malawi, sharing her knowledge of nutrition with people living with HIV and AIDS.

“I’ve wanted to do this since I was in school, but I could never find the time to go away for six months or a year, to leave my job. With Leave for Change I was able to make a real contribution in a way that was manageable in my life,” Noushin says.

In Malawi, Noushin was welcomed by Kagwaa, a Home Based Care Community Centre that assists those living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses like cancer. Kagwaa takes a pro-active approach to dealing with the HIV epidemic that has taken over the country by providing a place where volunteers and staff provide food, medicines, prayer, laughter, hope and encouragement for patients living with HIV and who educate the community on preventing the spread of HIV.

Noushin gave workshops to adults and children on which locally available foods would work best with their antiviral medications and help them stay healthy. As a follow up tool, Noushin developed a Nutritional Assessment Form that the volunteers could use when out in the field teaching/visiting the HIV and chronically ill patients that reviews all her Nutrition and Hygiene Tips.

If people were too ill or housebound to come to the workshops, the centre staff took Noushin to the patients’ homes.

“One of the most difficult visits I had was also the most memorable. We visited an older man and his wife who were both living with HIV and several other severe health problems. They were very sick, but they were so happy to greet us, to talk to us, to shake our hands.” 

Noushin also supported Kagwaa through fundraising prior to her trip in order to start a sustainability fund for the volunteers of Kagwaa to provide loans to volunteers to learn a new skill or start a project that will generate income for them and their families.

She was very moved by her participation in a workshop with Kagwaa's HIV women's coalition group that allows for women living with HIV to meet weekly and empower themselves with support and care.

"Kagwaa's support is so important because these women carry the weight of the world on their shoulders by taking care of the children, the home, finding and making food and, in many cases, by being the primary bread winner."

For Noushin, it was an opportunity to combine her degree in nutrition with her understanding of pharmaceuticals, but she emphasizes that the Leave for Change program has opportunities for people with all different skills to contribute in meaningful ways. “In Canada, we don’t even realize all the things we have to offer. Simple things that we do everyday can make such a big difference in helping people in developing areas to build capacity.”

The two weeks that Noushin was in Malawi represented her annual leave time, but despite the hard work, she returned with energy and enthusiasm—and lots to talk about with her clients. She also came home with renewed admiration for her employer.

“Abbott’s participation in Leave for Change makes me feel really proud,” she says. “My company wants to do more than write a cheque. They want to give their employees a chance to donate their own skills and have the experience of working alongside other human beings to make the world a better place.”

Leave for Change offers short term volunteer assignments to employees and is implemented by Uniterra. This innovative volunteer program is an initiative of the Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) and World University Service of Canada (WUSC)