Picture this: You're seventy years old, in an old
age home, your children have deserted you. In come a bunch of excited volunteers
who have been told that you are lonely. They smile, dance, sing songs for you,
ask you to play a guitar, give you some nice things to eat and they go away,
never to come back. Next weekend another group.
By talking to them, you've found out that they have a compulsory few community service hours to complete as part of what their volunteering team in their company decided to do. You know they don't care about you. The same way that your own children didn't care. You end up feeling even more lonely and you can't ask these volunteers to go away either. It would be rude to ask them not to invade your privacy. Poor things; they came here thinking they were doing something good.
Another one: You're a little child in an orphanage. Your parents either abandoned you or died. You know nobody really cares about you. A bunch of volunteers walk in, conduct a 'nice' event for you, make you sing and dance with them. They take photos, give you cake, chocolates, toys, stationery and then walk away, never to return. You feel abandoned again, and you don't really know how to store all the toys they gave, as your room is already full of useless toys given by every new bunch of volunteers who came every now-and-then for the last few years.
These are just two of the multitude of examples of how a person feels when a bunch of over-enthusiastic volunteers do something for them, thinking that they've done something good, but are completely unaware of the psychological damage they've inflicted.
An institution, a corporate or even individuals, when they set out to volunteer, it is a natural feeling to want to show others what they've done for charity. They rarely realize the amount of learning, dedication and hard-work that's necessary to actually be able to help society. Good news is, that this learning can actually happen. During my time as a volunteer, I've sought guidance from people who have had years of experience in helping society. They've guided me to others who were equally good at guiding us. I've learnt so much from them and have been able to volunteer much better. There are experts out there whom we have to consult. If you're a volunteer, or you want to organize volunteering, please don't do it for the sake of a brand image. Do it because you really want to help society. More importantly, rather than setting out on the journey alone, take the help of experts. I promise you, you're going to love it!
I will be posting more on this, based on the comments I receive. There is a lot to say, a lot to discuss. But I need to know if people really care. Volunteering is not easy. The last time I tried discussing the topic with a volunteer, she said she just preferred the casual, carefree approach toward volunteering. I still do see hope of people realizing what they need to actually do to be a volunteer...
By talking to them, you've found out that they have a compulsory few community service hours to complete as part of what their volunteering team in their company decided to do. You know they don't care about you. The same way that your own children didn't care. You end up feeling even more lonely and you can't ask these volunteers to go away either. It would be rude to ask them not to invade your privacy. Poor things; they came here thinking they were doing something good.
Another one: You're a little child in an orphanage. Your parents either abandoned you or died. You know nobody really cares about you. A bunch of volunteers walk in, conduct a 'nice' event for you, make you sing and dance with them. They take photos, give you cake, chocolates, toys, stationery and then walk away, never to return. You feel abandoned again, and you don't really know how to store all the toys they gave, as your room is already full of useless toys given by every new bunch of volunteers who came every now-and-then for the last few years.
These are just two of the multitude of examples of how a person feels when a bunch of over-enthusiastic volunteers do something for them, thinking that they've done something good, but are completely unaware of the psychological damage they've inflicted.
An institution, a corporate or even individuals, when they set out to volunteer, it is a natural feeling to want to show others what they've done for charity. They rarely realize the amount of learning, dedication and hard-work that's necessary to actually be able to help society. Good news is, that this learning can actually happen. During my time as a volunteer, I've sought guidance from people who have had years of experience in helping society. They've guided me to others who were equally good at guiding us. I've learnt so much from them and have been able to volunteer much better. There are experts out there whom we have to consult. If you're a volunteer, or you want to organize volunteering, please don't do it for the sake of a brand image. Do it because you really want to help society. More importantly, rather than setting out on the journey alone, take the help of experts. I promise you, you're going to love it!
I will be posting more on this, based on the comments I receive. There is a lot to say, a lot to discuss. But I need to know if people really care. Volunteering is not easy. The last time I tried discussing the topic with a volunteer, she said she just preferred the casual, carefree approach toward volunteering. I still do see hope of people realizing what they need to actually do to be a volunteer...
