Let’s assume that you have read our article about the benefits of volunteering. You close your browser tab, rise from your comfy bed, and finally promise to yourself that you want to be a volunteer. So, what’s next? While having a good intention is an important start, it is also important to adjust yourself into the right mindset. Through an interview, our founder, Aya, shares some essential points that we need to understand before deciding to be a volunteer.
1. We need to learn before helping
Emptying our glass is a key to every good deed. At this point, all prospective volunteers need to be mindful that volunteering is more like a chance to learn instead to give. In Project Child Indonesia, we provide our personnels with key learnings about voluntarism and some important teaching skills in order to make them become better volunteers in the future.
2. Become a part of the solution
We know that everyone wants to be an impactful person, but we have to admit that some impactful things take a long time to achieve. Social problems are so complex that it is naïve to think that our volunteering will eventually solve every single problem. Therefore, we have to humbly acknowledge ourselves as a mere part of the solution instead of being trapped in a superhero syndrome. Always try to immerse yourself with the social system by listening to the people, because not every good intention is relevant with the real needs of the people.
3. Random act of kindness is not enough
Not to say that random act of kindness is useless, not at all. However, we just cannot alleviate poverty by giving coins to beggars, or by giving free meals to the homeless on a specific day. As volunteers, we need to turn our simple efforts into a collective social movement. Creating a sustainable social cause is what we do at Project Child Indonesia, and by joining us, you can have a first-hand experience of it.
Ario B. Utomo – Media Intern at Project Child Indonesia
