In the beginning Dawn Hallworth just wanted to travel.
A 31-year-old single woman, Hallworth was not interested in the least in glitzy holiday resorts.
In 2008 she was presented with an idea from a co-worker to take a volunteer vacation to Paraguay with Habitat for Humanity.
This was a humanitarian mission, far from the beaches of a typical exotic resort locale.
This intrigued her. When Hallworth arrived in Paraguay, it was the beginning of a process that yielded one inspirational moment after another.
“This became my way to travel,” she said.
Hallworth was raised in Olds. After graduating from Olds Junior-Senior High School in 1999 she then continued her post-secondary studies outside the region to become a nurse. Today she is a psychiatric nurse at Ponoka's Centennial Centre. She still proudly considers herself an “Olds girl” at heart. And helping others is firmly in her blood.
Since her Paraguay mission Hallworth has taken volunteer vacations at her own expense to Ethiopia, Nepal, Calcutta, and most recently to Uganda. Sometimes they are affiliated with a recognized cause, like Habitat for Humanity, but her missions have steadily morphed with a growing passion to help the poorest of the poor – displaced children who are living in extreme poverty in Third World orphanages.
In 2010 she went to Africa to help out on a Habitat for Humanity project in Ethiopia but she also decided to spend at least half her time devoting her attentions to the needs of children at an orphanage. A year later in Calcutta, Hallworth dedicated her volunteer vacation for the children of an orphanage.
By 2012, this passion had completely overtaken any other motivation.
“I love volunteering. People in Third World countries have nothing. They appreciate everything,” said Hallworth. “If I could do more I would.”
Her recent trek to Uganda began on June 3 and lasted until June 26.
It was a volunteer mission of love to Kampala's Sanyu Baby's Home, an orphanage of 53 children. They ranged in age from two days old to four years. For Hallworth this mission was an unforgettable experience, and one that confirmed it was the loving path she must continue to follow.
“The people there are beautiful, kind and wonderful. It was an amazing experience,” said Hallworth, whose days at the orphanage began at 7 a.m. with feeding and changing the very young, and not ending until 8 p.m. when it was time to help them settle into bed. “They are happy, more relaxed and a lot less entitled than people in North America.
“When they (children) come in they are at first scared and standoffish,” she added. “But seeing them come to trust you is both the best and worst moment. The truly hard part is that I have to leave.”
Hallworth's ongoing quest to help the poorest of the poor is not driven by the need to fulfill the doctrines of any particular faith. She is not prompted to help those less fortunate by the teachings of any church. In fact, she is not even sure where God fits in with her passion. But she does concede her volunteer work of the past four years has given her a greater faith in humanity, and a healthy respect for the beliefs of the people she is helping.
“I do find where faith is important in Third World countries,” said Hallworth. “It is hugely important to them.”
Back home in Canada, Hallworth's family is committed to their support for her newfound mission in life. Last month, her Olds parents held a garage sale to raise money for Action for Fundamental Change and Development (AFFCAD), an agency that builds schools in Uganda and helps women struggling with HIV. Marge and Murray, a retired Olds bank manager, collected $408 from their garage sale.
“It was awesome. The people of Olds are awesome,” said Marge.
Meanwhile, their daughter is already planning her next mission, an 11-day volunteer vacation this coming November to El Salvador.
“I've always felt this need to help people,” said Hallworth. “The only difference between them and me is that I was born here and they were born there.”
