Volunteerism

What is volunteerism?

Today volunteerism is a concept that more and more people are interested in. Whether young, old, specialists or students, all wish to give their time and experience to something they care about.

But what does volunteerism mean? There are many definitions of volunteerism, and one of the most comprehensive definition is “Any activities which involve time, unpaid, doing something which aims to benefit someone (individuals or groups) other than or in addition to close relatives or benefit the environment” (Commission on the Future of Volunteerism, UK).

Usually, all definitions of volunteerism include these three criteria:

• Firstly, volunteering is not an obligation but comes from an individual’s free will.
• Secondly, there is non-pecuniary motivation. Volunteering is unpaid.
• Thirdly, the action benefit (directly or indirectly) people outside the family or household or else benefit a cause.

Also, a United Nations Volunteers paper on volunteerism for development highlights the following four types of volunteering:

• Mutual aid or self-help
• Service to others
• Participation or civic engagement
• Advocacy or campaigning

However, in the end, there may be no actual definition but infinite different ways of living and practices of what we usually refer to as volunteerism. In brief, despite some fundamental principles that define volunteerism, each individual can experience and practice it through commitment, creativity and availability.

What is voluntary service?

Voluntary service was, in the beginning, a response to conflict. Pierre Ceresole, who had witnessed the massacres and hatred of World War I, proposed something original to reconcile countries that had just fought against each other during the war: to work together on reconstruction. Pierre Cérésole (August 17, 1879 – October 23, 1945) was a Swiss peace activist and engineer, known primarily as the initiator of workcamps and the founder of the peace organisation Service Civil International (SCI).

We can define a voluntary service as an activity undertaken for a non-profit cause and does not replace paid staff. The activity can be done within the framework of an organisation or through a volunteer initiative. However, specific volunteer organisations may demand volunteers with a particular profile.

Also, a voluntary service is an exchange between an individual or a group of volunteers and a local community. The volunteer or group offers time, resources, energy and effort to a project to benefit a community via this project. Through this project, the community provides the volunteer or group of volunteers an opportunity for experimentation, cultural immersion, learning and personal and collective development.

Nowadays, it usually takes place through existing structures encompassing a broad range of social, cultural and development fields, often with an explicit contract between the volunteer and the organisation.

A short history of European, American and Asian Voluntary Services

History of European Volunteer Service

The history of volunteerism in Europe varies tremendously between European countries. While some of the EU member states have long-standing traditions and well-developed voluntary services (such as the UK and the Netherlands), others still need to emerge or better designed voluntary services (such as Greece, Bulgaria and Romania).

In its current form, volunteering has its root in 1920 when a group of volunteers from different countries opposed each other during World War I and came near Verdun (France)to rebuild a village. These people lived together in the context of internationalism. The camp was the first voluntary program for men and women to work in a cooperative environment with space for personal development and cooperation. This first experience was unsuccessful because some locals asked the German and Austrian volunteers to leave the camp. As a consequence, the volunteers were arrested.

Until World War II, volunteering in Europe was principally operated at a micro-level, attempting to resolve fundamental problems with limited financial resources and ambitions even if Service Civil International (SCI), created by Piere Ceresole, who had witnessed World War I, sent some volunteers abroad, such as in India after an earthquake to help in the reconstruction.

It was only in the 50s, after the war, that volunteering became explicitly associated with development aid and moved outside Europe. New community organisations are set up (EEC, OECD,…). At the same time, humanitarian associations multiply and set up volunteer sending programs in all EU member states. All these new organisations needed coordination. With the help of UNESCO, the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS) was created in 1948. From this moment, the CCIVS network spread through the youth movements of Eastern Europe to voluntary organisations in Africa, Asia, America and Arab countries.

Later, in 1996, the European Union created the European Voluntary Service (EVS), which encourages young Europeans from 16 to 30 to volunteer for two weeks to 1 year in one of their partner countries.

History of Voluntary Service in America

In the United States, just about everyone, at one time or another, has been a volunteer. On any given day, millions of Americans give their time and skills to benefit their communities through volunteer service. Volunteering is so pervasive in the United States that it can be observed daily in almost every aspect of life. Indeed, volunteerism in America has been deeply rooted from the beginning of the nation; in wartime, times of tragedy and times of need, Americans have banded together to help each other.

Benjamin Franklin created one of the first volunteer organisations in 1736 and called it “Philadelphia’s volunteer fire company”. A concept that quickly spread throughout the colonies and persists today, where more than 70% of firefighters in the United States are volunteers. In the 19^th century, the Great Awakening of the 1830s inspired young people to participate in outreach work through various charitable organisations, such as the YMCA and American Red Cross. But in the 20th century, mainstream volunteer organisations flourished, shaping the volunteer and non-profit organisations we recognise today. In response to the Great Depression, the first nationwide effort to coordinate volunteers was created. The first Volunteer Bureau was founded in Minneapolis in 1919 and became part of the Volunteer Center National Network, which today reaches 170 million people in thousands of cities nationwide.

Nowadays, volunteerism imbues American society, and American volunteers often underestimate their work’s impact. The role of volunteers in the United States has always been that of pioneer to recognise significant issues and needs well before government or other institutions do and to provide services to address those needs.

History of Voluntary Service in Asia

As in Europe, volunteerism in Asia varies a lot in different countries. In Asia, volunteerism has a long and well-established history, such as a reflection of local community management, spiritual encouragement and practice, and government support.

Maybe thanks to this long history, when volunteerism issues began to be raised by the international community in the wake of International Year of Volunteers 2001, the result was the rapid proliferation of volunteerism laws and policies across Asia. Nonetheless, the situation in Asia is different from other parts of the world where volunteerism laws have proliferated because of the high degree of centralisation and control over civil society and voluntary initiatives.

For instance, in China, volunteer activity has long been encouraged and sometimes even mandated. Consequently, the excellent mass of better-seen voluntary services. Then really, volunteerism emerged voluntarily only after the Cultural Revolution in 1976. From that moment, volunteerism increased, and the first regulatory document on volunteering was issued in 1999 on youth volunteering at the provincial level.

However, most Asian democracies do not engage in the same level of direct control over volunteer activities. Still, their volunteerism laws are distinctive for seeking to manage and channel volunteer work to a degree not seen elsewhere.

Concerning international voluntary service, there were only a few international voluntary service organisations in Asia before 1990. Asia has seen these kinds of organisations increase in the past two decades. Moreover, due to a need for an official regional coordination body in Asia, the Network for Voluntary Development in Asia-Pacific (NVDA) was created in 1997.

History of Voluntary Service in Nepal

In Nepal, there were always some forms of services offered. They, however, are linked to dharma (religion). People in ancient and medieval times provided community services in many different forms. Some examples you can see today are Pati-pauwa, Dharamshala, Dhunge Dhara, Inar, Kuwa, Chaurtai, and MaTh_Mandir. Our first poet, Bhanubhakta Acharya, was inspired by the Ghashi (grass-cutter who served passersby by constructing the well).

When an 8.4 Magnitude destructive earthquake occurred in 1934, Bhukampa Sewa Dal (A committee to serve earthquake-affected people) was created formally. And DayaBir Kanshakar donated blood in 1944 to save people’s life. Then he established Paropakar Sanstha at Bhimsensthan, Kathmandu, on the 26^th of Sept 1947, providing service to the needy in an organised way. On the 23^rd of June, he set up a Paropakar orphanage in Kathmandu. Mr Kansakar also set up Paropakar Indra Rajya Laxmi Devi Prasuti Griha (maternity hospital) in Kathmandu on the 26^th of September 1959.

When the new Education System Plan was launched in 1971, all postgraduate (Master’s Degree) students had to serve one year in a rural community mandatorily.

National Development Services (NDS) program implemented as a part of the Tribhuwan University curriculum for Master’s Degree level program (1973-1979). The rationale behind the establishment was generalising and reviving the spirit of volunteerism among the public in general and youth. Identify and utilise the skills and experience of professionals and citizens available as dormant or potential surplus in the country’s developmental works; supplement the human resources requirements of the Districts Development Committees (DDCs) and Village Development Committees (VDCs). That would encourage the youth to reach out to the remote parts of the country for service and obtain field experience in the living conditions of rural Nepal and exposure to the country’s realities.

After the multiparty democracy was restored in Nepal in 1990, then many.

NDVS started its volunteer mobilisation program in Fiscal Year (FY) 1998/1999, selecting 25 districts – 19 in the mountain region and nine in the hills. In FY 1998/1999, 220 volunteers were recruited in those 25 districts of different working sectors, such as Engineers, Overseers, Agriculturists, Geographers, Demographers, Health Workers, Social Mobilizers, Teachers, Herbal Plant Specialists and Solar Energy Specialists etc. Many volunteer services are available in the country from the government and non-profit sectors.

Female health volunteers are the backbone of Nepal’s health care system in rural communities.  The community female health volunteer program was one of the successful volunteer programmes by the Nepalese government. That initiative helped reduce child and maternal mortality through programmes like immunisation, integrated management of childhood illnesses, family planning, and preparing pregnant women for delivery.

After the multiparty democratic system was restored in Nepal in 1990, many civil society organisations started, and there were more opportunities for voluntary service at the community level in organised ways. Now government records show over 70 thousand non-profit organisations registered in the country. They all one or the other ways serve people in need in one or different ways.

History of workcamp:

Pierre Ceresole, a conscientious objector, developed international volunteer work camps. The first work camp gathered volunteers from Germany, Britain, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands to work in a village in France with the villagers to reconstruct their homes. In the same spirit of today’s work camp, any person of goodwill was welcome. Unfortunately, the presence of Germans and Austrians was seen as an insult to France’s dead, and they had to leave.

But, despite this end, this first project showed the potential of work camps. Indeed, strongly influenced by ideas of pacifism and internationalism, work camps brought together young volunteers from different countries on manual labour projects. Convinced by this, Pierre Ceresole and his colleagues founded the Service Civil International (SCI), which became highly influential. Early SCI workcamps, held across Europe in the 1920s, focused on repairing and rebuilding houses, bridges and roads after floods and landslides and after the war and involved hundreds of volunteers of different ages, occupations and nationalities.

After World War II, work camps appeared as a privileged tool for bringing people. Many organisations were created worldwide, especially in Europe, with the primary aim of post-war reconstruction and reconciliation.

Today workcamps continue their famous work of education and are unique places of social and cultural mix. Usually, the realised work focuses on preserving and improving the environment, renovating small local heritage or historic buildings, developing socio-educational facilities, and so on. Workcamps vary tremendously according to country, culture and the project.

A work camp today might be open to all, between 10-30 volunteers, usually aged between 18 and 30, from different parts of the world. These volunteers live together for 2 to 5 weeks and work on a project with, in most cases, the participation of the local community.

What is Long-Term Volunteering (LTV)?

It’s a non-formal international learning experience developing volunteers’ sensitivity towards social and cultural differences, self-confidence and problem-solving ability.

An LTV is an individual rather than a group. Often 2-3 volunteers are working on a specific project. Usually, a short on-arrival training (induction) is organised for the volunteers at the beginning of the project to help them get acquainted with the project aims, the host organisation, the local customs and culture.

Opposite to work camps, these projects are often more specialised, may require some skills and experience, and last longer – between four months to two years.

What is Mid-Term Volunteering (MTV)?

Mid-term volunteering is the same as an LTV, except that it usually lasts shorter – between four weeks to three months – may vary from organisation to organisation.

What is Short-Term Volunteering (STV)?

The definition of short-term volunteering depends on the organisation. For some, it is equal to work camps, that is to say, a camp where from 10 to 20 volunteers work on community service projects. For others, it is quite the same that an LTV or MTV, except that it lasts a few weeks instead of a few months. Currently, STVs are created for one week to four weeks. They can be organised as a group, work camp or even family.

Voluntary Service with Volunteers Initiative Nepal (VIN): VIN is a non-profit organisation in Nepal that aims to empower marginalised communities through education, healthcare, and community development. VIN has been running volunteering projects for over a decade, allowing volunteers worldwide to contribute to community development in Nepal.

VIN offers a range of volunteering projects, including education, healthcare, women’s empowerment, community development, and sustainable agriculture. Volunteers can choose a project that aligns with their interests and skills, and VIN provides them with training and support to ensure their contributions are impactful.

Education volunteering projects focus on providing access to education for children and adults in marginalised communities. Volunteers can teach English, mathematics, science, and other subjects, andorganise extracurricular activities and workshops.

Healthcare volunteering projects focus on providing healthcare services to marginalised communities. Volunteers can assist in medical camps, health education, and sanitation and hygiene initiatives.

Women’s empowerment volunteering projects focus on promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls. Volunteers can assist in women’s health education, vocational training, and organizing awareness-raising campaigns.

Community development volunteering projects focus on improving the living standards of marginalized communities through infrastructure development, waste management, and disaster risk reduction initiatives.

Sustainable agriculture volunteering projects focus on promoting sustainable farming practices and improving food security in marginalized communities. Volunteers can assist in organic farming, permaculture, and developing community gardens.

To get involved in volunteering projects with VIN, individuals can visit the VIN website and choose a project that aligns with their interests and skills. Volunteers must complete an application form and undergo an orientation and training program before starting their project. VIN provides accommodation and meals for volunteers from the program fee the volunteers pay, and volunteers will need to cover their travel expenses to Nepal.

In conclusion, volunteering with VIN provides an opportunity for individuals to make a meaningful contribution to community development in Nepal. With a range of projects available, individuals can choose a project that aligns with their interests and skills and make a lasting impact on marginalized communities.