Volunteerism v. Voluntourism
Have you ever volunteered, whether at home or abroad? Teaching English in Cambodia, helping children in Peru, restoring ancient monuments or digging in archeological sites in Europe, giving time to help at your local charity…the act of volunteering comes in all shapes and sizes. On 5 December 2008 , the International Volunteer Day, an initiative of the UN, honored the work of volunteers worldwide
Surveys in 2006 (Euro Barometer and John Hopkins University) showed that there are at least 140 million full time volunteers around the world. Closer to home, 3 out of 10 Europeans have or currently do volunteer on a regular basis.
Volunteering means giving up time and money to help others: it is a resource that many charities rely on. It is very popular amongst young people in Europe: a survey conducted in 2007 revealed that over half of the participants had volunteered, and over three quarters gave money to charity. They were motivated both by the desire to help others and the possibility of gaining experience. Although one can glean many skills from volunteer work, such as organisation, leadership, empathy, it must be distinguished from unpaid works such as internships or traineeships, which are undertaken solely for personal benefit. It is important in volunteer work to prioritise the ones who need our help.
Volunteerism is an important contribution to education, especially for young people: an awareness of what is really going on in the world will serve our future; through experiences we will have a better understanding of poverty issues, and will be able to provide better solutions.
Volunteerism is, however, a delicate matter. More and more young people take time off their studies to work for a charity, and a lot of them see this as an opportunity to ‘discover the world’. Many websites offer package deals for students, who pay an often large fee to go and help in a foreign country.
We must be aware of a potentially damaging ‘voluntourism’, where initiatives are guided by self-interest and can do more damage than good. It is not that young people are intentionally abusing of the volunteering idea, but more that they do not realise the intricacies of the matter because they are not sufficiently trained. The misguided belief that inadequately trained youths can assist people in communities which are totally unknown to them is patronizing.
VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) has warned that this trend, if not adequately prepared, could lead well-meaning volunteers into becoming new colonialists. Gap year companies are also accused of profiteering from these travels, either by asking for extortionate prices or by prioritizing the needs of those who want to travel more and see volunteerism as the equivalent of a sight seeing must do, over and above the needs of those who want to devote themselves to a cause.
Interesting article in The Guardian here and reactions to it here.
The popularity of volunteerism puts hope in the world: if more and more people are prepared to sacrifice their time for others, situations can only get better. We must however be careful to respect those we help and to not assume that because we want to give our help they will welcome us with open arms.
So what is your view on this?
Background Reading
Sources:
- Volunteering and Giving amongst young people: A survey by the Institute for Volunteering Research.
- The popularity of Volunteering: by Volunteering England
- The European Voluntary Service by the EU: www.4evs.net
- The United Nations Volunteering website: www.unv.org
- Raising money for non-profit organisations: Non-Profit Capitalism in The Economist, 11 September 2008
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I truly believe that most of us would like to do some work if we are sure that it gives some positive impact.
At the first place I would like to introduce myself very shortly…
I am a student and everyone knows that it comes with some spare time that I devote with my greatest pleasure to travelling. Just recently I came back from a trip to an African country and to make it short I would like to tell that poverty really stroked me. I have received an education and never had a problem to have a meal on my table for lunch, it gave me goose bumps what I have seen with my own eyes over there. The country I visited is literally fed only by tourism.
Volunteering would be a good cause to help others, but let’s think how we can help. I truly believe that most of us would like to do some work if we are sure that it gives some positive impact. That is probably the reason why I never give money away to charities. What for? Have you ever thought about an estimate cost of running the charity or have you ever considered that the money is fairly delivered to the organization and not “lost” in between? I don’t as I have been following some very sad examples in my life so far…
Volunteering YES, but I presume we wish to support the cause we stand for and the job we would really enjoy to do. For me it would be a work with kids that struggle for education, but are bright and full of energy. I always thought that kids are our future! By the way have you seen the so appraised and many Oscar nominated “Slumdog millionaire”? Have a look and you will see how kids are struggling in the 21st century just around the corner from us. And it’s appalling.
To summarize, I would like you to watch the video of a very good song by Nickelback “If Everyone Cared”. It’s true: if every single person on Earth would do at least one good job, the World would become much better place to live in. And I am in!
Volunteering? Yes you can!!!
Volunteerism? According to the dictionary, it means the policy or practice of volunteering one’s time or talents for charitable, educational, or other worthwhile activities, esp. in one’s community.
By my own personal experience I have realised that people volunteer for 2 reasons:
1. because they really want to and they believe that something good can come from it
2. to gain publicity or because they expect a reward for their contribution
But what really volunteerism is? Is it something you do because your favourite movie star does this as well?
Is it about seeing your name written in the papers?
Or is it for others talking about how good human being you are?
This is the reason.
Volunteering is a noble action it is something that comes from your heart because you want really to contribute and not to get praised; you don’t expect anything IN return. You’re doing it because you feel other people’s pain, because you care about the environment and because you know that it only take a few hours from your time to give hope to those in need.
Nowadays it is easy to find an organisation in your area that needs volunteer work. Don’t hesitate if you really feel like doing….go ahead!!!!! YES YOU CAN!!!!!!!!!
Becoming a volunteer is a demanding but rewarding ‘job’
Volunteerism is not an easy task. From my point of view, becoming a volunteer is a demanding but rewarding ‘job’. I remember vividly my first time as a volunteer in the European Youth Week where I had the chance to meet a lot of interesting people, most of which were very kind and helpful. Although there were everyday challenges I managed to gain experiences and to better understand myself.
One example of this was when I needed to organise an event for deaf children who gave me a completely new perspective of their own needs and brought me closer to my instincts and feelings of respect towards them.
Surprisingly not everyone supported me in my decision and I faced many reactions. Most people who criticized volunteerism argued that as a volunteer you are being taken advantage of but I beg to differ that as a volunteer I gained more respect than in a working environment. On top of that, there were volunteers guided by self interest who only wanted to add something interesting to their CV or pass their time. I must admit that I wasn’t prepared for such a situation but that made me understand that not everything is based on good and honest feelings.
However we should not give up hope on the world. Volunteering for special causes such as environment or humanitarian aid, not only makes you a better person but it also makes better the world you live in and that adds beauty.
Personally I would like to see schools and universities organising such events of volunteerism in order to show young people the meanings of giving and sharing. It is high time to embrace volunteerism and act more responsibly and respectfully towards other people and the world.
Debate report in BiH
Based on the research on volunteering conducted in January 2009, in Bosnia and Herzegovina it was concluded that the youth who took part in the research had different opinions about volunteering that were mostly positive. The young people consider that by volunteering they help the development of the local communities and that they help to the well-being of the poor and sick by taking part in different humanitarian actions. Another point that was frequently repeated during the research was that volunteering was also a way of acquiring new knowledge, skills and experience that would be useful in finding employment.
The research also showed that the youth was generally willing to take part in the volunteering actions and projects which is encouraging for the development of volunteerism in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, young people believe that volunteer organisations work transparently and that their work improves living conditions in the respective local communities.
Most of them would like to give their contribution in the field of volunteering if given an opportunity, as they see it as mutually beneficial for themselves and communities they live in.
The research was also used to promote the GE Vibes magazine and most of the participants expressed their interest in the information and opportunities provided by Generation Europe so the number of the members of the GE Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina increased again.
Probably volunteering has longer roots in Western-Europe as in Eastern-Europe.
Volunteering in Hungary is a new initiative; I think it started only in the last decade. In my view volunteering is a mean to develop and collect experiences about the world or your field of study, to get to be involved in something that you find interesting and might related to your future life. I worked in several youth organisations as volunteer during my university years and it is my firm belief that those experiences are as important as what I learnt at school. I might even say that volunteering should be the part of complementary education. I think every student should use this opportunity in his or her country or abroad, too. As I see it, more and more Hungarian students choose taking part in the programs of European Voluntary Service and see it as an opportunity to gain experience, travel cheap and enjoy the life of students longer.
I studied one semester in Denmark, where all of my class-mates took part in volunteering, most of them in Africa or in Indonesia. It was something completely new for me at that time. I was impressed by their stories and experiences. As I mentioned before, probably volunteering has longer roots in Western-Europe as in Eastern-Europe, I am not sure when will be my country more involved in volunteering, probably when we won’t have so many problems on our own. But I support volunteerism as I see it as a means of development and opportunity to get to know the world better.