3ID Soldier Volunteer of the Year model of Selfless Service

By Maj. Randy ReadyApril 19, 2016

3ID Soldier Volunteer of the Year model of Selfless Service
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Spc. Samantha Manadoum (center), a medic with 3rd Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, receives the 3ID Soldier Volunteer of the Year award over a video teleconference with her command teams in attendance... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
3ID Soldier Volunteer of the Year model of Selfless Service
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Spc. Samantha Manadoum, a medic with 3rd Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, was named the 3rd Infantry Division Soldier Volunteer of the Year. She is currently in Germany with the brigade as the Regiona... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Spend 15 minutes talking with Spc. Samantha Manedoum and you wouldn't be surprised to learn she was named the 3rd Infantry Division Soldier Volunteer of the Year.

Manedoum, a medic with the 3rd Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, is an incredible example of selfless dedication and service to helping others.

Her desire to volunteer started well before joining the Army.

Growing up in Cameroon, in what she describes as a privileged family, Manedoum attended an all-girls boarding school, where the students were often forced to clean the nearby streets and visit homes of the elderly.

"All the kids in my school came from privileged families; totally spoiled," said Manedoum. "The way our instructors found to humble us was to give us, if you want to say, a reality check of what the other 70 percent of Cameroon lived like."

This early experience, coupled with the example her father set in volunteering, built an appreciation of what she had and a passion to help others.

In 2009, Manedoum immigrated to the United States to attend Kennesaw State University, where in 2012 she received a Bachelor's Degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy with a minor in pre-med.

The transition to the U.S. and leaving everything she knew back in Africa was initially hard for Manedoum, so while in school, she used volunteering to help her adapt to her new surroundings.

"I had no family in America when I got here," said Manedoum. "My way of socially advancing and coping with being away from home was to volunteer, because in the volunteer setting, nobody cares what you sound like. Nobody cares where you are from. Nobody cares what you look like as long as you help."

Shortly after graduating from Kennesaw State University, Manedoum enlisted in the Army through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest Program, which let her join the military while getting her U.S. citizenship.

She received her citizenship 7-weeks into basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in November of 2013. It was during basic training when she developed a deep appreciation for the Army and an understanding of the sacrifices Soldiers make.

"Being in the military, I had never seen a group of people that had so much pride in their country," said Manedoum. "It took me a while to understand what it meant to be in the Army in America and the pride that goes with it, and what it means to trust the person beside you enough to say, I know if something happens to me you're going to take care of me. That changed my whole perspective on the Army."

Manedoum has goals of attending medical school and joining Doctors without Borders, so when she enlisted in the Army, she chose to be a medic as it was the closest thing she could do as an enlisted Soldier to practicing medicine.

"[Being a medic] has given me access to the hospital setting that has given me the answers indirectly to help me make up my mind if medicine is really what I want to do," said Manedoum.

Having immigrated to the United States herself, Manedoum knows the struggles and hardships refugees go through when they arrive to the U.S. To help these refugees make the transition, she has been volunteering with the International Refugee Committee in Atlanta since she was in college.

The IRC helps refugees integrate into America by helping with immigration paperwork and appointments, employment assistance, health and social service referrals, vocational training, English-language classes, and orientation to their new community.

Being fluent in English, French, Bantu and Duala, Manedoum is certified to translate legal documents and sit in on immigration appointments with clients. She spends most of her 4-day weekends in Atlanta volunteering with the center, and spends at least one weekend a month there to volunteer.

"It doesn't just end at the immigration appointments," stated Manedoum. "A lot of these people can't speak the language when they get here. They can't drive because they don't have drivers licenses. [We] take them to get groceries or to medical appointments, so there is a lot that goes into helping the refugees integrate once they get to America."

Since stationed at Fort Stewart, Manedoum has also got involved with the National Guard's Youth Challenge Academy. The program works to provide at-risk youths with the values, life skills, education and self-discipline to succeed as productive citizens while earning a high school diploma.

"I had done Big Brother, Big Sister before when I was in college," said Manedoum. "It's very similar, but you're more hands on in the sense that you can get called at any time of the night if your mentee has a problem. It's a really, really good program, especially if you are in the military because you understand a lot of the discipline that you are trying to instill into those kids."

A challenge for Manedoum, one that all Soldiers in the Army face, was changing her normal routine when she deployed with the brigade as part of the Regionally Allocated Force for U.S. European Command.

Though the deployment limited her ability to volunteer with the organizations she had been with before, it also brought opportunities to volunteer with new organizations.

While at Rhine Ordnance Barracks in Germany, Manedoum noticed a woman working at the USO who would come in early in the mornings to lay out snacks and treats for the Soldiers before going to her job, often stopping back in throughout the day.

Manedoum volunteered to help setup so the woman would not have to come in so early or make multiple trips. Other Soldiers took notice of Manedoum's selflessness and quickly pitched in, which helped lighten the load of the USO staff in trying to keep up with the large number of Soldiers coming and going.

"It ended up being pretty rewarding, because the mayor cell at the time, when they saw I began waking up on Sunday's at 5 in the morning to make breakfast for Soldiers, they began to help too," said Manedoum.

After redeploying to Fort Stewart, Manedoum started looking for additional volunteer opportunities in the coastal Georgia area and found Hospice Compasses in Savannah.

She previously volunteered with the organization in Atlanta, and thought it would be an opportunity to help the large population of Veterans that live in the Savannah and Hinesville areas through their last few days.

"Most people that are in the last stages of dying, they just want to know that somebody cares," said Manedoum. "Towards those last weeks of life, I love to believe that if I was alone in the world, someone would be willing to spend those last moments with me."

Though Manedoum has spent hundreds of hours helping others through volunteering, she also benefits from the hard work.

"Volunteering is not just giving to others," said Manedoum. "I get a lot from it because I get to meet different people and I get the reward of knowing that I made a difference, as small as it might be, in someone else's life."

It's that reason Manedoum encourages other Soldiers to volunteer.

"[Volunteering] is a humbling experience, and Soldiers don't necessarily interact with people that have a different outlook on life," said Manedoum. "You need to see what the other half lives like. You need to see what other people, even in your own backyard, feel like. It's going to give Soldiers a different outlook on life and a different appreciation for what they have."

Manedoum believes while you may go into volunteering thinking you will affect others, it is often yourself who changes the most.

"I think it will be very important and very beneficial for Soldiers to give back and see how it changes them, not how they change other people."

Related Links:

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