Volunteering brings the sunshine to the people in need
The quintessence of human rights is volunteering, the endeavour that tempts folks to exert effort for renovating the lives of their ill-fated counterpart in the society. In the vast realm of Human rights, volunteering has had paramount significance from time immemorial,since it not only ignites the fire of conscience within but guides people escaping the dreadful apatite towardsmountains ofprofit and wealth.
For instance, a leading human rights organisation Messey based in the USA stated that “Volunteers are the game changers of the lives of our exploitative youth fraternity”. In the other part of the globe, Australian organisation Northern Settlement Services speaks the same volume and applauds this spectacular practice addressing volunteers as the lifeblood of their refugee settlement program. In the age of thriving volunteering growthy, if we shed light on the volunteering attributes of Bangladesh we will discover that the philanthropic endeavours of volunteering are timid here. The pattern of volunteering must blossom with the global flow of humanitarian drives.
However, in Bangladesh, the concept of volunteering is not new. Take for example, organisations based on young students. Empowerment through Law of the Common People (ELCOP) is a trailblazer that has been vivaciously running the human rights advocacy campaignfor a long time. The campaignis driven by volunteers who are students of different law schools in Bangladesh. With innovative tools that break with conventional teaching methods, they deliver insights about basic human rights principles and minor legal issues to adolescents and people with disruptive education, wandering around the country from schools to slums.
Furthermore, good numbers of volunteer organisations have formed in Bangladesh right now. The notable trend here is that volunteering activities grow through investing the skills and assistance of the people of tender age. Strikingly, the skilled and adult professionals hardly join the volunteering stream and work with young social engineers shoulder to shoulder. It is believed that volunteering cannot be confined tomere age groups.
In this regard, we look closely at Northern Settlement Service (NSS) located in Newcastle, Austraila. The organisation has been offering humanitarian assistance and advocating for the lives of refugees, migrants and humanitarian entrants for a long time and magnificently involves volunteers to build the lives of people in need. Most importantly, volunteers have always been considered as part of the family over there, which not only elevates the self-esteem of these care givers but also provides them with a sense of belonging in bringing out the finest of their clients. The best part is rather than considering their effort as charity, volunteers find themselves rewarded by seeing the blossoming lives around them. Being an NSS volunteer, I firmly believe that when the art of volunteering roles on the divinity rises.
Cassie Galliott, the Volunteer Coordinator of the Northern Settlement Services (NSS) shares her valuable experience about her winning management strategies. She said that “Some of our volunteers are no longer volunteering with a client but have since made good friends with the clients and often spend time socialising or spending time with each other’s families. Others have helped numerous clients and would help even more if I did not tell them to slow down and take a break. Since taking over the coordination of the program, I always try my best to follow up with volunteers and clients regularly, and that is why we have things in places such as surveys, monthly logs, free training days and volunteer awards and annual celebrations. Volunteers also help further with donating items as many of our client families struggle to buy all the necessary household items or baby items they need”.
Recently one of the clients of Northern Settlement Services (NSS) has made his way to winning the most prestigious John Bell scholarships where he will get the golden opportunity of learning from world-class Shakespearean actor John Bell himself. Afterwards, he will end up portraying the powerful and sensational role. Despite bearing the vigorous hardships and defying his chaotic past, this fabulous boy proves his determination as a prospective role player and hit the road finally. Since his childhood, NSS Volunteer Lee Hughes put hisheart into assisting this client to achieve his grand and overcoming all the obstacles in his way. This is how volunteering puts colour in the blank canvases of vulnerable people and realises their dreams.
Hence, teaming up an individual with a turbulent background, joining them on their journey, and eventually helping them to flee their nightmarish past to explore the beauty of their hidden capabilities, proves itselfalife-changingexperience for volunteers as much as clients. Along with gaining multitudes of professional skills, volunteering allows us to feed our minds with joy.
The writer is a Registered Volunteer, Northern Settlement Services, NSW, Australia.
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