My Family As A Family: My Role Model

A role model is a person who sets an example and is admired by others. Numerous children choose their parents as their role models, however, my half-brother Jón has always been the person that I look most up to. I have spent my life in awe of him and the decisions he has taken. Jón’s volunteer work in Africa, involvement with Amnesty International and role of Vice President on the Reykjavík Pride committee make him remarkable to me.
In 2004, at the age of 20, Jón decided to move to Africa. One of the biggest contributing factors to his decision was his ambition to become more independent and step outside of his comfort zone (Ágústsson, interview). This trip was the first time he went traveling abroad alone, thus he knew it would be intimidating, but in a positive way. Volunteer work is often a learning curve and Jón experienced challenging situations. For instance, the first organization that Jón visited was a Christian youth home for young boys. There were 20-30 boys at that home, and the volunteers were supposed to befriend them. He felt uncomfortable with the thought of volunteers bonding with these young boys, only to abandon them afterwards. This shows my half-brother’s strong morals and kindness, which I admire immensely. Additionally, he learned a great deal about poverty. In a letter he sent me, he described what he had witnessed, for instance, the children who live on the streets. These children were perhaps kicked out by their parents due to lack of money or they