“Volunteering is the practice of people working on behalf of others without being motivated by financial or material gain. Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity, intended to promote good or improve human quality of life.” – Wikipedia
While volunteering has been a very common activity in the west, not many of us Indians participate in volunteering activities. Donating money to a charity should not be confused as volunteerism. Apart from the Socio-Economic benefits of volunteering, there are a whole lot of benefits to the volunteers too. Many of these improve our employability since these aspects are part of the soft skills that employers seek.
1) Team work – Volunteering gives us an opportunity to work with people from different walks of lives and teaches us a lot about team work. This can be a valuable learning experience which can later be applied at our jobs.
2) Management and Leadership Skills – While there might be some who may not be interested in leadership roles at volunteering, there definitely are opportunities where one can lead a team of volunteers. President of United States – Barrack Obama, is a living example of one who started his career in non-profit and volunteering services.
3) Communication Skills – Volunteers often have to respond to their clients, participate in rallies, and prepare presentations of their volunteering organization to the donors. All these provide excellent opportunities to enhance one’s communication skills.
4) Building or improving technical skills – Many of my friends always wonder what can they do with their programming skills and I have encouraged them to use it towards volunteer services. This helps to hone our technical skills else we might forget what we have learnt.
5) You may get an opportunity to have international exposure and experience cross culture diversity by signing up for a volunteer in foreign countries by one of the sponsors.
6) Helping Others – A Priceless Benefit! A satisfaction of helping the needy is second to none.
Some avenues available to us for volunteering are
1) During school and college – National Cadet Corps, Scouts and Guides
2) At work – Corporate social responsibility wings under HR
4) CRY. Child Rights and You (formerly Child Relief and You)
5) PLAN
6) Rotary/Rotaract/Lions Clubs
7) http://www.undp.org.in/unv/
8) http://www.volunteeringinindia.org/
9) http://www.abroaderview.org/chennai.php
“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Article by : Supreeth Kini, GSG, US Correspondent.
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