Volunteerism A volunteer is a person who offers his service/skill/expertise selflessly i.e. without any desire or profit to self. This is by any means a universal assumption of the word volunteer. Going merely through the meaning of the word is not enough to understand the dynamics of volunteerism. The main thing is the difference in understanding and its implication in the different parts of the world. In east volunteerism means serving for a cause without getting anything in return whereas in west it is serving for a cause without getting anything only when his/her will says so. We must first understand this difference. Lets take an example: I used to work as a volunteer for the Community Based Rehabilitation Project, Kirtipur. My perception of volunteerism was that I must exert all my energy to the task assigned to me. Being a volunteer, I should sacrifice my family, profession and needs a little bit. It was very unethical for me to lend more time for my personal causes. I always use to query myself: what would happen to my volunteerism if I gave more time to my profession/family. I was very proud to be an ideal volunteer! A few days later, a Canadian volunteer joined our team and started working with us. We use to visit the clients (disabled children).She was very caring and passionate to each and every child we used to visit. I always wondered how could such a person from advanced and developed country like Canada, who is literate and expert in her field, feels comfortable among us. As days passed, I gradually became obsessed to her volunteerism. I thought I was nothing in front of her. She was beyond compare regarding the volunteerism. Lets say it was like I was less volunteer than her. So I started to exert more energy in my work which resulted in me just going home to sleep. One particular day, during our informal chat, she revealed her story about her being with and among us. She was looking for an opportunity to visit Nepal. She saw an advertisement in local Canadian Newspaper seeking an Occupational Therapist, willing to travel to Nepal and work for a Canadian funded project in villages surrounding Kathmandu. The compensation plan was excellent i.e. paid return ticket, accommodation and handsome stipend. Without wasting a second she applied for and got selected! I was shocked. Suddenly everything including my perception and admiration got shattered. That was not volunteerism. That was merely selfishness. She was here just to fulfill her desire, not to volunteer. A moment before she was my idol, now she became dwarf in my thought. Unaware of my emotions she was as passionate as before. She left Nepal after a few months completing her assignment. To my amazement, after 4 years I got an email from her. She told me that she is now a CEO of a rehabilitation firm in Canada and expressed her willingness to help the same project that we nurtured before here in Nepal. Are you still there? She asked. My answer was YES I am here where you left me. The only difference is the project has gone and I am struggling to meet my two ends. I believe the above example clearly shows the difference of understanding and consequences regarding the volunteerism. Selfless desire (Now onwards Ill use the word willingness) was there in both of our perceptions, only the execution was different. Willingness to involve self in any job is volunteerism. Volunteerism and Professionalism Willingness to involve self in any job is volunteerism whereas creating and maintaining value of any particular skill/trade is professionalism. In present day world competition is high. The uppermost importance of human being is staying alive and the second most importance is keeping others alive i.e. primarily your family and then others. Necessities are greater than ever before. We need money for everything. Where does money come from? Products. Yes, for the exchange of products we get money. The products value should be greater so that it sells well in the market. We need to enhance the value of our trade/skill everyday. By doing this we become professional and its quality becomes our professionalism. We humans basically have two hungers: Mental and Physical. Volunteerism addresses and satisfies mental hunger and physical hunger gets satisfied by professionalism. Both the components are supplementary to each other. Human life becomes happier and fulfilled only when those two basic components work in perfect harmony. In the Canadians case, she combined her volunteerism in professionalism whereas in my example professionalism was missing. The ethics 1. Involve yourself immediately whenever such need arise where you feel strongly that you could not merely remain a spectator. Do not wait for someone to ask for that. Just lend your helping attitude to the situation/cause. 2. Dont ruin your career/job instead merge serving attitude in your life. 3. There should be selfless desire (willingness), not the ego i.e. you enjoy what you do. There is no hard and fast rule. Whenever you observe those 3 factors knowingly or unknowingly, you become a volunteer. For any comments and suggestions: Santosh Timilsina santmail@mos.com.np http://www.santoshko.info |
