Most young people in my country hate the word Volunteerism. For most of them, the first question that comes to mind when being asked to take up a voluntary task is, “How much are you/they paying me for this?” Perhaps, you have said that before too. However, none of us thinks of the fact that they may be learning and gaining experience on the job. For some, any task apportioned has to come with some form of ‘motivation’. Even when they are not good at delivering on the job, they will still demand this ‘motivation’, either in cash or in kind.

Civic Responsibility

I learnt about volunteerism at a younger age in my Social Studies class. I got to know that it was a civic responsibility to engage in some kind of communal labor that brings about change in the society. Doing voluntary work not only teaches you to learn on the job but also it enables you to participate in certain activities as a patriotic citizen. Offering your time and energy to promoting a good cause only tells how concerned you are as a good citizen, for your country.

Recommendations

Engaging in voluntary work out of goodwill not only makes you a good citizen but it also makes you a preferred candidate for opportunities or job openings. I’ve had friends who missed on opportunities just because they never had any voluntary experiences to put on the CV. Some of us are able to do a far better job at our workplace due to the volunteering opportunities that we previously had. Likewise, volunteerism has open more doors of opportunities for people who never expected to get into multinational organizations.

Sharing light

It is during voluntary jobs that one is able to offload all their energies into service for a worthy cause. We are able to uplift people and change the negativity around us. Most volunteers are born leaders who choose to follow the path of servant leadership. Take for instance, a young man who has gotten a well paying job at the end of his tertiary school graduation but chooses to do his National Service instead; a job which pays way lesser than the offer he got. Such a young person is obviously pouring out his energy to serving rather than for personal gain. At the end of it all, the rewards are immense and the lessons learnt along the way will be worth his time.

Identify hidden passion

Talk of hidden passion and volunteerism will be your best bet to unleashing all your potentials. Things we easily do without effort and remuneration are often what we are passionate about. The earlier you are exposed to volunteerism the better because you will easily identify your true innate talent which you can easily transform into your most unique skills at for a career path. If organizing is your thing, you’ll soon realize that you’re easily drawn towards events planning and organizing while volunteering or working with any organization.

Pledge

Let’s all strive to go out of our way to support a worthy cause when we have the time to do so. Volunteerism is a journey worth the take. And incase you are new to the word, I hope I made it easier for you to understand. From today, I hope you pledge to support and apply for voluntary jobs where there are little or no remuneration. Happy National Volunteers Day. A Voluntary September 21st to you all!

PS: September 21 is a day set aside by the GhanaThink Foundation for volunteerism and supporting worthy causes in all the regions of Ghana. Follow the hashtag #NVDay2020 on all social media platforms.