Every year, the relevance of volunteering is increasing and sometimes striking in its scope. There are active and interested people who are not indifferent to the needs and problems of others in all corners of the globe, and they are the soul of society, selflessly making the world a better, more beautiful and kinder world. Perhaps not everyone understands what principles volunteer work is based on, so in this article we will take a closer look at who the volunteers are when the history of the volunteer movement began and what is its peculiarity.
What is volunteering?
In order to understand who the volunteers are, you need to determine the basic term, namely, what volunteering means. In fact, everything is simple: it is a form of any selfless activity, work that does not imply monetary payment. Any actions for the benefit of society or specific people that are rendered without reward and from a pure heart are called volunteer help.
There are a number of age requirements for a volunteer. Children under 14 years old must obtain permission for this activity from their parents and from the leader / curator of the volunteer unit. Minor children can take part in volunteer activities if it does not harm their health and does not interfere with their education. Only adult volunteers who have the necessary level of training can provide emergency assistance. In any case, the volunteer should do this really voluntarily, and not at the instigation of an authoritative person or parent, boss, etc. At first glance, this seems crazy or fiction with a hidden catch, because who wants to work for free, sometimes in rather difficult conditions, and while not getting anything in return? If everyone thought so, the history of volunteering, its lofty idea, would have remained in the past, having suffered a complete failure.
What is the benefit of volunteering?
In fact, modern volunteering has many advantages, especially for young people who are still not well established in society. For instance:
- Many companies refuse to employ young employees without work experience, but how to get it if no one provides a job? There is a solution: volunteers work for free, receiving in return significant experience and a good recommendation for future career advancement.
- The acquisition of the necessary skills, whether it is work in construction, agronomy, or in a hospital with seriously ill people.
- An excellent reason to learn a foreign language and learn new countries, because volunteering in Russia and abroad has common ideas and goals, and also practices an active exchange of employees.
- Sometimes a person simply does not have enough communication due to various circumstances, so volunteering for him is a great way to expand his circle of friends and meet new interesting people.
Types of Volunteer Assistance
To more clearly understand the essence of this movement, we can consider in detail the main areas of volunteering:
- Help for people with disabilities, the elderly or people with disabilities.
- Work in hospitals, sanatoriums, orphanages of a different spectrum: some work as doctors, orderlies, cleaners of the territories, while others simply organize moral support for patients, especially those without relatives, and also collect funds for treatment.
- Employment in the countryside. It can be anything: from dairy production, planting vegetables to fruit processing or working in greenhouses. This type is often chosen by senior citizens who do not want to stay at home, and families who want to make their children healthy in the countryside.
- Assistance in kindergartens and schools (kindergartens, schools, lyceums, as well as courses, circles and more). All sorts of rescue services, emergency assistance, helplines, search groups of the missing and others can be attributed to this category.
- Realization of social ideas: data collection, questionnaires, production of various flyers, brochures and their subsequent distribution.
- Conducting thematic events and evenings, lectures on a relevant topic and all kinds of trainings.
There are many areas of volunteering, and listing everything is simply pointless, since in almost every type of activity free assistance to others can be provided. At the same time, it is important to choose what is close in spirit, because it is pointless to do unloved work for free - no one will benefit from this. Forms of volunteering are temporary and permanent: the former involve participation in short-term projects, for example, assistance in organizing a festival, olympiad or planting trees in a park, harvesting apples or saving an animal from a sadistic host. A volunteer on a regular basis is busy in different ways: who every day for two to three hours, who once or twice a week after the main work or classes at the university.
First mention
The history of volunteering in the world dates back to the distant days of Yaroslav the Wise, when orphaned houses were created. They contained children on the donations of the laity. They learned to read and write, various sciences and then remained to work at the monasteries or went to the service of the nobles. In addition, the well-known Christian virtue throughout the world was the clearest sign of volunteer work, even on a small scale. The employees of the volunteer movement themselves like to mention historical figures: kings, kings, and even ancient priests who personally went out to ordinary people and distributed alms on significant days for them.
Some researchers of antiquity argue that the history of volunteering began later, in the 17th century in Europe: people who voluntarily went to war were called volunteers, which in French sounds like volontaire. Obligatory military service in those days was not yet, and not everyone wanted to serve in it voluntarily, therefore the facts of volunteering attracted general attention and were quite unusual. The word that came to Russia was somewhat distorted to “volunter” and over time acquired the form that it has now. At the turn of the twentieth century, volunteers began to be called not only volunteers going to the army, but also everyone who was willing to voluntarily, disinterestedly and with dedication to work for the good of society.
How did it all start?
It is believed that the history of the volunteer movement began during the riot in Europe of the "black death" - the plague, which claimed thousands of lives daily. Many townspeople voluntarily united in groups to collect corpses in the streets and burn them, clearing their cities of infection - this was the first mass step of volunteer work, which gradually involved more and more volunteers who wanted to devote themselves to a good cause. They, like no one else, understood that the only way to save the world from suffering: through dedication and investment in a common cause of joint efforts.
The same manifestation of the breadth of soul was shown by the Russian nuns of St. Nicholas Monastery, who in 1870 voluntarily went to the front as nurses. It is this act that is considered the main reference point for the beginning of the history of volunteering. For a short time, many women from all over the world joined them, forming the Red Cross movement to help the wounded.
A little later, in the twenties of the last century, after the First World War in Europe, another voluntary movement was formed: active youth decided to eliminate the consequences of the war as soon as possible. The first gathering was near Strasbourg and consisted mainly of French and German young people who helped local residents rebuild housing destroyed by clashes between the opposing forces. From that moment on, the history of volunteering gradually began to acquire new cases of selfless help: people gathered in large artels and rebuilt schools, livestock farms and new roads.
How did this movement develop?
In almost every country in Eastern and Western Europe there were people who selflessly abandoned their usual lives and devoted themselves to peace, which was often described in novels of the time, and published in newspapers and magazines. Closer to the 60s of the twentieth century, when after the Second World War relations between the countries were strained as a result of military operations, separate groups began to form, striving to establish former friendship. Thanks to the persistent attempts of interested people, the ice between Europe and Russia gradually melted: international volunteer programs of a different spectrum of influence began to be carried out.
The development of the volunteer movement was so powerful that in December 17, 1985, a new holiday was appointed at the UN World Assembly: Volunteer Day, which began to be celebrated on December 5 at the international level. At the same time, the IAV E– volunteer association was created, which includes more than a hundred countries of the world. The idea of selfless help to those in need so overwhelmed the world that 2001 was proclaimed the Year of the Volunteer.
Several well-known volunteer organizations
One of the first examples of volunteering was the activities of the World Civil Service (SCI), founded by Peter Serezoli in 1920. This year is considered to be the official birth date of the volunteer movement, despite earlier mentions in history. A group of young Frenchmen focused on promoting and developing respect for other nations, beliefs and traditions: pacifists from many countries of the world annually participate in numerous SCI campaigns, urging all people on the planet to treat different cultures with understanding. Each year, more than four thousand people become representatives of this pacifist movement.
"UN Volunteers" is a community that was created in 1970 and differed from the rest in that it consisted mainly of middle-aged and older people, while the rest of the movements were more youth. Moreover, the conditions for participation in it were quite demanding: you must have a higher or professional education and at least five years of experience in your profession. Only relatively recently has a separate branch been created, in which young volunteers take part. The range of impact of the UN Volunteers is quite voluminous, but preference is given to working with people with disabilities and children, refugees. The rights of women in the Third World countries are substantially supported.
Volunteering in Russia also takes place, although it was formed relatively recently: in the late 80s of the last century. Unfortunately, the Russian spirit of selflessness still does not reach the European level of altruism, but it offers certain hopes: there are more and more responsive people who are ready at any moment to help the suffering, not for profit or advertising, but for human compassion. The most effective organizations include:
- “The Seventh Petal” - volunteers collaborate with cancer patients, providing them with significant moral support: they visit, make small pleasant presentations, talk on different topics, trying to make the world of these people a little brighter.
- “I am without mom” - aims to work with orphans.
- "Lisa Alert" is engaged in the search for missing persons (established in 2010).
- The Sofia Fund. Work with older people and people with disabilities.
- "The city against drugs." This organization pays great attention to working with drug addicts and promoting a healthy lifestyle.
- “Donors to children.” Moscow organization interacting with seriously ill children. Volunteers collect funds for expensive surgeries, visit children in hospitals, arrange various evenings and performances for them, walk with them, talk, and unselfishly give the warmth of their heart.
Youth Actionfor Peaceand & Greenpeace
The youth campaign “For Peace” is an organization that cooperates with fifteen countries of the world, actively promotes pacifism, works with refugees and participates in resolving military conflicts through anti-war rallies and seminars. It was founded in 1923 and at the moment has great weight in the activities of the volunteer movement.
The large-scale movement of the Greenpeace is known around the world for its actions against animal violence, the destruction of forests. Also, modern volunteering by Greenpeace Corporation has a significant impact on the problem of pollution of the planet with toxic waste, and is actively opposed to the use of nuclear weapons and air pollution. Information on their actions is widely published in all media, and the organization’s branches are located in forty countries of the world! The Greenpeace movement was founded in Vancouver in 1971 by a simple businessman who protested against nuclear tests and instantly received strong support from like-minded people. Over time, the range of influence of pacifist volunteers expanded and became distinguished by the fact that the organization never joins a single party, does not accept support from commercial structures, and exists solely on donations from people interested in the purity of nature.
2018: Year of the volunteer in Russia
The Union of Volunteers of Russia believes that the actions of volunteers should be primarily socially significant, with tangible benefits for the population. Therefore, the activities of this organization are aimed at helping people with disabilities and older people below the poverty line. Work is also being carried out to eradicate child pornography, prostitution and pedophilia: the Internet is being cleaned, a monitoring center has been created.
This year is notable for the fact that President V. Putin recognized the merits of people who selflessly devote their time and energy for the good of the country and the world, pointed out the importance of the volunteer movement in the country's development. Therefore, back in 2017, he signed a decree declaring 2018 the Volunteer Year and urged everyone to support the movement in order to make it more popular.
The President pointed out: it is necessary to make it clear to people that selfless good deeds significantly affect the country's global prestige, showing the broad Russian soul, which has long been famous for its kindness, philanthropy and mercy. Even a special emblem was developed in the form of several hands with hearts in the palms that stretch upwards.
Some statistics
Volunteer movements are so popular in European countries that:
- In Germany, over two million (!) People take part in voluntary work every year, that is, one in three, which is an indicator of the high moral standards of the inhabitants of this country. It is noteworthy that after graduation, the German has the right to a “social year”, which makes it possible to work as a volunteer in a place you like, which subsequently will significantly affect the resume when applying for a job.
- In Ireland, 32% of the total population are volunteers. They claim that they are doing something that a person who demands payment for his labor will never do.
- In Japan, a quarter of the population has volunteer experience in the past, claiming that it is a good school of life and testing a person for positive moral qualities.
- 18% of the French at least once participated in the work of volunteers, while most of them devote their whole lives to this, giving selfless service to people at least twenty working hours a month.
In the United States, until recently, volunteering was not very popular, because President Reagan did not support such undertakings: during his tenure as a post, only 8 thousand Americans were employees of voluntary services. Fortunately, with the advent of B. Clinton, the situation has changed dramatically, and currently 26% of Americans give themselves up as volunteers.
In any case, no matter what happened in the past in the process of the emergence of the movement of volunteers, this created a response in the whole world, proving that not all people's hearts were stained in pursuit of material wealth and pleasures.