Want to change the world? Contribute to improving the lives of people who need help? Or do you want to give, not take? And not money, but something more: its capabilities and time.
It is possible and necessary to work as a volunteer in order to make qualitative changes in society, provide support to the organization or apply your skills where they are needed. This is an opportunity to be among like-minded people, meet interesting people and do what you love.
Everyone can become a volunteer, regardless of age, education, material condition, beliefs.
Not sure how to become a volunteer? We will tell you how to start, where they teach this, which public organizations and movements deserve attention.
Where volunteering originated
France is the ancestor of this movement. In 1920, after the end of World War I near Strasbourg, German and French youth carried out the first volunteer project, which was aimed at restoring farms destroyed by the war in areas where the most fierce battles of German and French troops took place. Since then, volunteering has begun to gain popularity around the world.
Volunteering in numbers
In 1987, there were 80 million volunteers in the world. In 1993, it was already over 95 million. After 3 years, 109 million people of different nationalities around the world were participants in volunteer movements. Eight out of ten claim that they were motivated by this desire to help those in need and suffering.
In Russia, many thought about how to become a volunteer. 70% of volunteers participate in projects in order to get a new worldview, work and people. 72% of people believe that volunteers do work that cannot be done by salary employees.
Motivation
According to surveys, there are two reasons why they become volunteers. This is self-realization and gaining new opportunities.
For example, often financially secure pensioners are engaged in this activity, who are used to work and want to continue to live actively, to use their knowledge and experience further. Sooner or later, such a person asks himself the question of how to become a volunteer, because he believes that work brings content and meaning to life.
The second category of people who want to work for the good of society uses voluntary movements as a launching pad for a career or its successful advancement.
Where they teach volunteering
In Russia, there are real schools of volunteers.
The largest school of volunteers as an educational program exists on the basis of the resource center for the development and support of this movement Mosvolonter, which is subordinate to the Committee for Public Relations of Moscow. Here, training, seminars, trainings and master classes are held.
Another school exists on the basis of the Danilovtsi volunteer movement. They teach how to become a volunteer, on the basis of which programs have been developed to popularize the ideas of social activities through the media and social networks, and internships are conducted in various groups. Coordinators and team specialists are trained at the school.
Volunteer organizations
In Russia, as in other countries, volunteer movements vary depending on projects that are aimed at resolving certain problems. Here are the main of these areas:
- Work with youth and children (“Volunteers to help orphans”, “The road to home”, “The Seventh Petal”, “I'm without my mother”).
- Work with senior citizens, seniors people with disabilities and so on (volunteer movement "Old Age in Joy", "Good Deed" Sophia Foundation).
- Development of projects that are aimed at the principles of a healthy lifestyle, the fight against alcoholism, alcoholism, drug addiction (TPAA, the volunteer movement "City Against Drugs").
- Implementation of projects aimed at resolving conflicts in society.
- Implementation of projects aimed at solving the problem of the local community (“Give Life”, MPO “Krug” Druzhina named after V. N. Tikhomirov (Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University).
There are international organizations of volunteers, whose representations are actively working in Russia. An example of this is the world-famous organization Greenpeace, or World4U. The latter is engaged in student exchange programs.
Volunteer international projects in Russia
The European Volunteer Service, or EVC, recruits young people aged 18 to 25 to carry out public activities abroad for a period of 6 months to a year.
There are international working volunteer camps. Duration of work is short-term - from 2 to 4 weeks. The number of participants is always different: from 5 to 40. The team of a particular camp solves the problem. This may be social, environmental, restoration, archaeological, organizational activity. A volunteer team is led by a professional or coordinator.
There are long-term volunteer projects lasting from 2 to 12 months. The number of volunteers is small, depending on the purpose of the project and is approximately 5 to 10 people. These are mainly social tasks (volunteers work with children, refugees, people with disabilities, socially disadvantaged groups of the population). Sometimes there are architectural, restoration or archaeological projects.
Anyone who has ever participated in such an international movement knows that each such project has three partners. This is a volunteer, sending organization, receiving organization.
Volunteers live in camps and are provided with free meals. The place of residence may be a school or student dormitory, a farm or a private house.
Volunteer labor in the camps is voluntary and not paid. The receiving party introduces the volunteers to the nature of the work, the project and aims to achieve the result. Also provides the camp with the necessary tools.
Supporting the volunteer movement is one of the priority areas of state policy
In Russia, such public associations, as a rule, are oriented towards young people who are not burdened with labor or family obligations. That is why volunteer organizations are often organized in universities. Often their activities intersect with the learning process. Future doctors, teachers, social workers selflessly apply their knowledge in practice.
Unfortunately, volunteering is not very popular with us, which cannot be said about the countries of Europe, America or Asia. This is explained by the economically difficult situation of citizens, the underdeveloped social consciousness of debt in society and the extremely low level of work of state and non-commercial enterprises.
In Tsarist Russia, not only the Russian intelligentsia, but also the entrepreneurial class provided assistance in hospitals and shelters to the poor and orphans. After the revolution, volunteering took on other forms, became more forced. In this regard, the main principle - voluntariness - was violated, which formed a negative attitude of citizens towards gratuitous work.
In addition, the lack of a regulatory framework, the inability to stimulate the growth of the volunteer movement, as well as the absence of seniority in this type of activity also pushes people away from participating in volunteering.
In America, the state stimulates voluntary movements.For example, citizens participating in volunteer programs enjoy various discounts on products, receive free educational services, and enjoy other privileges.