about volunteering

had a debate with my navy colleague about “helping ppl”, not really about volunteering. the following points are some views i wish to share. not to say that i’m right or my colleague is wrong. nor am i implying anything about his character, nor are the following statements his views. the whole debate was very lengthy and covered a lot of area. most imptly, very differents set of experiences would have shaped our disparate views.

1. “people shouldnt help others, because the former thinks the latter needs help.” yes. many overenthusiastic volunteers do commit this mistake. true. many of those whom we think need help have a lot of self-pride and dignity, and would rather struggle themselves than to receive help.

however, i dun think we should stop helping others simply because the latter says that they do not need. simply put. those who ask for help need not need help, and those who do not ask for help may just need help. but it’s not easy to discern who’s who.

but “who are we to judge?” well, many have judged before us. my parents judged and hence made many decisions for me before i matured. my teachers judged and hence decided wat to teach and wat not to teach. my frens judged and decided to befriend me and help me in times of need. most significantly, gandhi, king and many others judged and decided to help those who suffered in silence.

i agree judgement is not easy, nor will it be fair. but it’s necessary.

2. “many times, ppl help others to feed their own egos and hence makes the latter feel inferior.” my fren referred to a famous sociologist who described her experience in a hospital. as a patient, she felt the entire medical experience v condescending and she felt very inferior.

ok. i’m guilty of this at times. many times we go into volunteering so that we’ll feel good at the end of the day. we go to other countries so that we can “show them the light”.

well, maybe such thinking is very prevalent before volunteers embark on their jobs. but this is certainly not true at the end of the day. in fact, many will find the experiences very humbling. having compiled articles for my club magazine, a recurring theme in all articles had been that, the volunteers received more than they gave. they’ve learnt more from the so-called “impaired” or “needy” than they’ve helped. the strength and determination of those we helped. their warmth and kindness. these are wat is most inspiring and that keeps volunteers gg.



there are more issues to volunteering than what i’ve described, and certainly are not as simple as i’ve described. but there’s one more message, “volunteers dun become great volunteers overnight”. in csc, those experienced at volunteering are apparent. they do not give in to all the requests of the elderly. they cheer up the moodiest mentally ill patient. they make a hyperactive kid listen to them. but all these skills are not acquired overnight. these skills are slowly developed and the volunteers learn to tackle the above issues over time.

the world has an endless demand for kindness and help. yet there are issues in “giving aid”. but we should not use these issues as excuses. yes. we’ll make mistakes along the way and some may be detrimental. but these mistakes will serve as lessons and make us better in helping in the future.

will end off with a quote, from martin luther king (i think),
“it is not the violence of the few that i fear, it is the silence of the many.”