JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Selfless service – one of the seven U.S. Army values that makes a Soldier a Soldier. For some, these values stretch further than just their service to the Army.
For Staff Sgt. Venance Akissi, selfless service is shown not only to the Soldiers he teaches as an instructor at the 128th Aviation Brigade but to the countless hours he spends volunteering his time off duty.
Every week, Akissi spends his mornings volunteering at the Groninger Library at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, helping put furniture together, doing repairs, cleaning up and putting books away.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the library,” said Akissi. “When I was in college I spent a lot of time at the library reading or doing research and I just got attached to it.”
According to Akissi, as technology becomes more and more prominent within the lives of adults and even children, the amount of people he sees inside libraries has decreased significantly. Because of this, one of his goals is to bring more people back into the library.
Every Saturday at 4 p.m., Akissi hosts a lesson of his choosing to teach children about, whether it’s about the time of year, what month it is or what may be going on in the world at that time. He takes turns reading a book with the children and finishes the lesson with a hands-on activity.
“He is engaged with the children and interacts with them on their level,” said Valerie Fashion, head librarian. “He makes the story and what he teaches interesting so that they can understand it better.”
According to Akissi, the hands-on activities give the children the opportunity to interact and learn from one another. Tying in the books with the hands-on activities completes the lesson of that day and helps the children learn new things.
“That’s the best part,” said Akissi. “It makes me feel good seeing that light bulb go off. I’m doing something by helping them learn and they are having fun while doing it.”
He also helps the library every Wednesday morning. with story time. It’s a time for parents and children, from infants to six years old, to get together and take turns reading books.
Akissi encourages everyone to attend the story time lessons and activities. His lessons not only help children expand their experience with books, but also provide opportunities for families to spend time together and become more familiar with the library.
Whether it’s shaping the minds of new Soldiers or young children, Akissi shows selfless service in everything he does.