Energetic, passionate and lively are the perfect words to describe Mais when she talks about her volunteering experience at the King Hussein Cancer Foundation & Center and her love of giving.

 

Mais’s experience volunteering with the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) began in 2008, when her friend, who had been a KHCF volunteer for a long time, encouraged her to fill out an application form. Mais liked the idea and filled out the form immediately. As a volunteer, Mais started by helping KHCF with its annual Zakat campaign. She also volunteered in other Foundation activities while at the same time pursuing her university degree in pharmacy. Even though she was still a new university student, Mais recognized early on the importance of volunteering and made it a point to achieve a good balance between volunteering and studying so that she wouldn’t neglect either.

 

A turning point for Mais came after meeting Zaid, a fellow KHCF volunteer who had lost his mother to cancer. Seeing how Zaid honored his mother’s memory through volunteering with KHCF, Mais became even more inspired. “For me, it wasn’t just about standing at the booth asking people to donate to KHCF, it was so much more than that. The fight against cancer is one of the most humanitarian issues of our time. It knows no boundaries. Cancer affects everyone regardless of religion, nationality or background. Unlike Zaid, I have never lost anyone to cancer, but I realized I wanted to do more by volunteering directly with cancer patients.”

 

The chance to have more of an impact on the lives of cancer patients came when in 2011 KHCF chose Mais to be one of a few supervisors to accompany 20 former KHCC pediatric patients to Dynamo Camp in Italy, a camp especially designed for children recovering from treatment.  “At first I was a bit apprehensive because I wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with having the responsibility of supervising a group of children all day everyday for ten days, but it turned out to be the most amazing experience of my life.”

 

Reflecting on her time at Dynamo Camp, Mais added “I learned a lot from being around the kids. I realized just how much time we spend worrying about little things and how we take so many things for granted. These kids take nothing for granted. They make the most out of every single moment. A successful day for them is a day when they don’t feel any pain.”

 

Determined to fight cancer and truly give back, Mais majored in palliative care at the University of Jordan with a focus on pain management. She hopes one day to develop a treatment that will be effective in reducing the pain felt by cancer patients. Mais has since graduated from university and is currently working full-time, but she does not hesitate to volunteer with KHCF in her spare time.

 

“I believe that volunteering and becoming involved in charity work benefits the entire community. For every day that I volunteer and help someone or make their life easier in some way, there will be a day when I will need someone to help me or a loved one. And who knows, maybe the cure for cancer will be in my hands!”