Today I have the immense pleasure of hosting Bhavana Upadhyaya of Tilling the Earthwoman. I have known Bhavana only for a short period of time but have felt an instant connect with her. A multifaceted personality who has worked extensively in volunteering, she is a warm person whose positivity was the first attribute that struck me about her. It has been a pleasure knowing you and thank you for doing this post for me. Over to you Bhavana…
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Etiquette of Volunteering-I
Almost every week I hear from someone who is interested in doing something for a social cause, wants to give back, wants to care, and wants to have the satisfaction of having done something good. It is often delightful to hear back from such folks and I love it when they follow-up consistently until I have responded.
I delay purposely. Because, it is one thing to say you care, one thing to say you want to do something, and a whole different thing to actually do it.
So let me give you readers a roadmap on how to volunteer effectively. This post is for those who wish to volunteer with an NGO which has paid staff or dedicated set-up. Volunteering in key management positions of an NGO or in an all-volunteer setup is a very different cup of tea.
Who am I? I have spent close to a decade volunteering, connecting volunteers to NGOs as well as managing volunteers in both United States and India.
Let us Start
It is wonderful that you want to volunteer. But do you want to volunteer for only one day, couple of hours per week, weekend?
If you want to volunteer for one day then look out for cleaning drives, blood donation camps, marathons and walks for social causes, one-day awareness campaigns. One of the recent campaigns that I helped support as one of the organizers was the Chennai Trekking Club’s annual Coastal Cleanup. 2369 volunteers along with members of 60 external groups participated in the 15 km Cleanup to collect 17.6 tons of garbage. This was an excellent opportunity for many people to do something for their city.
But note, in such one-day events, crowd management, managing resources and communication effectively is sometimes difficult. Instead of complaining how things could have been better managed, make the best use of the space available to make yourself useful. In this regard, I must say children (8+ and above) who volunteer are way more focused, have fun, and end up doing more work than adults.
Regular Schedule in Volunteering
If you want to volunteer more regularly, first ask yourself, if you have the time and will to commit consistent volunteer support for 3-6 months at the very least. Then assess if you have the skills that match your NGO’s needs. It creates havoc when volunteer turnaround is high. Because every time a new volunteer comes in, s/he has to be trained, guided in the area of work, and it is exhausting for the NGO staff.
I remember trying to connect some of my students in a service-learning course to volunteer at a centre which provide computer-training for poor Mexican immigrants. The first thing I was asked was about the length and regularity of the volunteer time. I was surprised that she was hesitant. Later I realized that students in the centre come to learn with passion and when the volunteer-teachers don’t show up, their energy sags.
Just Volunteer—Don’t Expect Returns
When you begin volunteering with an NGO, please do not expect them to be grateful to you and shower you with flowery praises. It is wonderful you are giving your time but so are they. They have often committed their careers and personal life to the cause. This is especially true for small NGOs with limited staff support. One staff person often has to wear multiple hats and is stressed for time and energy. I am often exhausted with the number of questions and the constant tugging on the sleeve that happens when an over-eager volunteer shows up. Buddy, I thought you were here to help, not become an extra set of chores.
Recently, I connected folks at Tulane University, New Orleans with Kalki Welfare Society, a wonderful NGO working with street children in Pondicherry. I found that the volunteer coordinator of Kalki was very hesitant although a qualified Master in Social Work intern from an American University had offered to come in. The reason was, helping the foreign student to transition to the new cultural norms and then be able to provide useful service to the organization takes a long time and drains the resources and energy of the NGO. After being assured that the intern would get adequate cultural training, the coordinator relented.
Cultural Sensitivity
As a volunteer if you enter specific communities like HIV-infected children or the disabled population or a rural area, please first study the issues thoroughly and understand the cultural etiquette of the group. NGOs ideally should organize diversity trainings to sensitize volunteers to the community culture—the need to respect different ways of being and living.
For example, the visually-challenged do not want to be pitied and their arms held to guide them to a place. Rather, you have to give your arm or shoulder for them as support and allow them the power to navigate themselves. I once had a blind classmate in my doctoral seminar in United States who outdid me in every sense—in classroom debates on intense philosophical questions, in his writing, and in his ability to move the topic into a higher and more profound level. I often waited for his encouragement to validate my position on an issue. They are visually-challenged but in all other senses, they may be sharper than our dulled misused ones.
Cultural sensitivity is super crucial when volunteers travel to rural areas or work with marginal populations. I once had taken a bunch of student-volunteers on a project in a poor neighborhood in New Mexico without adequate training. I went on to regret it because students entered the community with a “know-it-all” and “I-will-save-you” attitude and it deeply offended the community representatives.
In India, I once shuddered when a young man gave a speech in a village in India which was something on these lines: “Today is a wonderful day for you all. People from the cities who work in big places have taken time off to come to your village and explain how this issue affect all of you. Hence you must listen carefully.” Don’t people in the village work? Is their work anyway lesser than ours? Aren’t the farmers the backbone of our country? Isn’t it true that we get to eat because of them? The point is, we need to remember each person has their place in the world and is utterly, surely, definitely useful!
Volunteering brings joy to your life. It helps you find like-minded friends and community. It makes evenings and weekends more purposeful and happy. Find an NGO today and offer your time and skills. Change happens, one step at a time.
For more on how to win trust and fundraising tips as a volunteer, please await the next post.
Picture courtesy: Freedigitalphotos.net
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