Volunteering gives people an opportunity to change people’s lives, including one’s own. It gives you the satisfaction of playing a role in someone else’s life, by helping people who may not be able to help themselves. By giving up a few hours of your day to clean up the local community park, you may bring a lifetime of happiness to a child’s life. Why not spend a little time helping others? In the end, what goes around comes around.
In our modern and capitalistic world, the idea of doing something for free might sound strange. I feel that everyone should, at least once in their lifetime, try volunteering, due to a number of reasons. Although it may sound paradoxical, volunteering is one of the easiest ways to find a job. After graduating from a college or university, many get stuck in the situation of trying to find a job, but require work experience.
Volunteering is a natural way of socialising and getting to know your surroundings, meeting new people and making useful contacts. Regularly meeting with a group of people who share the same activities, way of thinking and goals, can make it easier for you to make friends.
Besides this, volunteering sets a great example for your children, if you want to teach them responsibility, compassion and how one person can make a difference by personally participating in resolving it. Children tend to learn through observing what adults do and, with your example, they would have a great role model to follow. Of course, through volunteering, you can find a lot of useful contacts, resources and activities for your whole family.
Giving is not only done through donations or charity. Real giving is making a difference in one way or another. Our environment requires much giving, such as cleaning up our beaches, deserts and looking after the trees or being kind towards those who live here. So, volunteer for an hour, a day or a week. In this Year of Giving, make a difference in your community by volunteering.
- The reader is a student based in Dubai.
