Interview: Samira Allahverdiyeva

November 1999, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Volunteers (UNV), and the Ministry of Youth and Sport agreed to the implementation of a youth volunteer program in Azerbaijan. This pilot program was employed to harness the potential of young people through volunteering in order to aid with local development. At first, there was scepticism over how successful the project would be. As the impact of the 37 local projects were seen, the numbers of youth wanting to volunteer grew to ten times the original amount and the trust in future projects was strengthened. The impact of this UNV Project in this war torn country was so strong, they were nominated as the Best Youth Program in 2001-2002.

Samira Allahverdiyeva is a National Co-ordinator of the UNV Project in Azerbaijan. She first came to the project on May 1, 2000 as a Resource Mobilization and External Relations Specialist before taking on the role of National Co-ordinator. Born in 1979, in Fizuly, Azerbaijan, Samira now lives in Baku with her mother. Having completed her BA in International Law and International Relations, she is now working towards an MA in Diplomacy. Samira began volunteering in 1996 upon entering university and becoming interested in NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) work. With 5 friends, she formed a NGO called Young Azerbaijani Friends of Europe and took part in different international camp projects, a bicycle tour against the pollution of the rivers Kura-Araks, and activities helping refugee women start their own businesses. These are just a few of the things that Samira has dedicated her time to.

"The reason why I decided to become a volunteer was… I am an IDP (internally displaced person) myself, and seeing all [the] refugee[s] and IDPs around me I couldn’t just close my eyes and ignore [it] as if everything is fine. The only way to start sharing what I had - and I had only my brain - was through volunteering to educate refugee and IDP children. The second reason was to show [the] realities in Azerbaijan to [the] outside world… Soon, while volunteering, I understood that volunteering is not only giving it is also getting back. What I get from volunteering cannot be substituted by anything in the world - self-satisfaction. When you help someone, and you see his/her smiling face, this is equal to hundreds and millions of dollars. And this is the third reason why I volunteer."

Samira recaps her most difficult experience in volunteering as working with the youth in juvenile prison and the disabled. “When [it’s the] first time you knock [on] their doors, you feel that whatever you do it will not bring them their freedom and normal health, but gradually you understand that you can do at least something to colour their lives.” For her, it is the conflict between these two thoughts that brings the most difficulty. She writes, “You have to be patient and enthusiastic about what you are doing and enjoy your work, then everything will go smoothly. Thanks to our projects, I [have found] out that I have [a] strong will to fill that gap and enough patience to wait for [the] fruit of what I plant.”

Samira’s plans for the future seem simple: to have an international career and a happy family - the dreams of many in Azerbaijan. She leaves these words to future volunteers: “The satisfaction that you get from volunteering you can not get from any work. We always used to say: ‘Knock it will be opened, ask it will be given’ and it is true!”