Is Volunteering only for the Rich and the Privileged

In a break with previous issues which have tested our Your Sayers to resolve such questions as 'does God exist?' and 'what is the purpose of life' this month the Your Sayers were supposed to look within themselves for the answer. Interestingly, this seems to have been the hardest question ever set!

"Is volunteering only for the rich and the privileged?"

'I do not believe that volunteering is for the rich and privileged - anyone can do it!'

I do not believe that Volunteering is for the Rich and Privileged. When i say this I do mean in the local sense not in jetting off to Africa to work with the poor where you need substantial funding. Most Community Development Projects and Youth Projects are originally set up by concerned citizens or parents.There is no set socioeconomic grouping that they come from. In fact in Ireland most Youth Projects and Community Development Projects are set up by people who are not rich or privileged. The majority of these people are working class and see these projects as helping the community as a hole.
 
As with most things times are changing and professionalisation is major a obstacle now facing volunteer projects as governments introduce legislation and red tape for funding. Increased numbers of 3rd level courses in Youth Policy and Community Development (a module i myself is taking as part of my degree in Government and Public Policy in UCC). This is advantageous to many projects but can make volunteers feel uneasy as they do not have the training per se or cause many volunteers to leave projects. The volunteers get as sense of ownership of projects when they are working there so when professional youth workers or community development workers come in they loose out.  Stephen, Ireland

'It’s a matter of who’s willing or not.'

Most certainly not. A person who wants to volunteer does not have to do it as a primary job. I know people who volunteer but are not wealthy and also have a proper job. Volunteering is about giving, and it is about helping people and communities who need it. I am aware that sometimes doing chores as a volunteer helps students to get into higher education institutions so that’s not entirely  “non-profit “ Of course a person who has no worries as to working to earn a living has to ability and the free time to volunteer. I don’t think that somebody has to be wealthy to volunteer. It’s a matter of who’s willing or not. I mean, how many people volunteer for the Olympics every 4 years? I doubt all of them are wealthy. I volunteered for the City of Athens when we hosted the Olympics and I’m certainly not wealthy. Especially for people of youngsters who are not working, who are students it’s a perfect opportunity to volunteer, it’s also appealing on your CV. Of course it’s also a matter of background, but I don’t think that being wealthy or not is something that determines weather you should volunteer or not.  Dimitra (Dimi) Greece

'Volunteering can be done on many levels.'

It can be done as a career, where, on the most part, it implies a certain degree of financial comfort.

However, it is becoming more common that volunteering is carried out by all types of people, at different stages of their academic or professional careers. For example, students at university may volunteer as tutors to primary school children, or city bankers may volunteer at a home for the elderly on weekends.

I don’t feel that it is an elitist occupation, unless perhaps, one chooses it as just that- an occupation. Nonetheless, whether it be that, or an additional activity in someone’s life, it is very worthy.

The countries that need volunteers the most will now, as always, have to rely on those people who are kind, self sacrificing and perhaps privileged to help them.

I think it is important for people who have some spare time to volunteer, because there is always a place that relies on that kind of help. However, it goes without saying, if you don’t have the time, or the money to volunteer at all, then don’t.

However, it should not be unpopular, as in its own way, it does help the world go round. Sharmin Islam, UK

''Volunteering is for the rich and it is not the solution as not enough rich people are willing to help!"

I believe that volunteering is, indeed, something that only the privileged can do, at least on rather long term periods. Of course, in poor countries, only the rich can allow themselves to spend time without earning any money. But even in our countries, the same problems exist: if they have trouble paying for your rent and-or studies, why would students spend their holidays volunteering when they could be earning money? The only possibility is to spend part of one's free time like this, and still many people work when they're not studying, or, if they've finished their studies, work too much to be ready to spend a long time volunteering.

This is why I think volunteering can't really be a solution because there'll never be enough rich people willing to help those in need. What could be done is to help people with money and structures raised by NGOs etc. through events that make people want to participate. The media play a big part in helping these organizations. If an organization is really famous, they can pay those who work for them, even if they don't earn much money: it will incitate people to work for them. Araceli, France

'Good point, bad consequences.'

The concept of organised volonteering that we have in developed countries, which requires a certain engagement and often also knowldege, is definitely not possible to carry out by people that do not have a confortable economic or social situation, that need to work hard every day to get something to keep on going.
Unfortunately, because of this, I think that volunteering is not a way to significantly change the overall situation of the world: there are too many
people in need of help compared to those that can actually provide it. Andres, Spain

'You need good will not money!'

I wouldn’t consider volunteering a hardly-afforded luxury at all. It doesn really require that much of money but instead, good will. That is why we have so many young people active in voluntary actions, that’s why there are so many grassroot initiatives in communities etc.

Richer people have a wider range of tools for helping – in addition to contributing their voluntary efforts they can also provide with financial aid. But I do believe that people who are not that priviledged are better at volunteer actions. They are usually more close to problems, they know what kind of help is needed the most, and they understand the importance of helping someone. Of course, when people are indeed so close to the problems that they only have to concentrate on their struggle, there is no way those people could or should be forced into voluntary work. Maarika, Estonia

''Volunteering is about how ready a person is to do something for other people.'

 It is not necessary to be rich or privileged. There are many different ways to be a volunteer and I am SURE that every willing person – does not matter from which background he comes from – can find a path to be volunteer. To give some concrete examples from Turkey; people who do not have money share their knowledge. They teach, they give consultancy, make research, prepare documentation etc. People who are ignorant may do some handcrafts to sell and collect money for aids. Everybody has either a talent or knowledge of something to share with others.
 
In my country, as a characteristic of people we are ready to help others and many things have been done by volunteers. Presently there are many projects especially for education and women workforce. There is a strong public support behind those. The volunteers are not mostly rich or privileged people. Also, Turkey is not one of the richest and most developed countries. I believe that this is a good proof showing that volunteering is not only for rich and privileged. We have a saying “Lakes are composed of droplets”, so every small contribution helps.

It is about how people are affected by poverty and about mentality. One can say “How we can be volunteers if we do not have money” and another may say “We do not have money and we know better about the poverty so we should be volunteers to help others even with our limited sources. If somebody had helped us at that time, we would have been in a better situation”. In my opinion, countries having the second way of thinking will develop much faster for sure. For the ones that adopt the first opinion, I just say “stop complaining, work hard and do something for your people!”. It is not true that they are poor so they can not interest in volunteering but it is true that they are poor because they are not interested in volunteering.  Selen, Turkey