NGO presentations – Volunteering Best Practices

The afternoon was spent discovering the best practice examples from participants’ organisations and voluntary experiences. Open space method was used to allow participants to choose those projects or organisations that were of more interest to them.

Participants prepared a poster of their organisation identifying why they use volunteers, how they use volunteers and what role the volunteers play in organisations and in the community.

So, how do youth organisations use volunteering as a tool for change?

• Volunteers may have a more independent and heartfelt approach to the target group as they ‘opt in’ to the project or task.
• Volunteers replace paid staff; they increase the capacity of organizations.
• You can create ownership if the community member themselves implement the project; realize grassroots projects with local ownership.
• Volunteers can be more motivated than paid staff. To create inclusive on a specific theme/issue.
• Volunteers are more flexible, young volunteers are enthusiastic, take risks and are more open to change.
• Volunteering to enlarge the outreach of the organization; a tool for recruitment
• Personal development of the volunteer. Volunteering contributes to the self-development of the volunteer, to empower them to learn new skills.
• Volunteering is to improve human qualities; to develop normative shifts and develop attitudes.
• To foster active citizenship for the volunteer and simultaneously promote it in the community
• Volunteering can show community solidarity and to help people in need
• Volunteering can promote intergenerational bridges and/or link subgroups in a society.
• Volunteering to create more dynamics organisations.

Concepts of volunteering

Concepts of Volunteering

Volunteering is a value-laden term that means very different things according to ones context. Participants of the seminar are in a very unique position to explore the different meanings and connotations of the word.

From a theoretical perspective, volunteering can be:

• Formal and non-formal
• Structured and un-structured
• Long or short term
• Taking place at a local, regional or international level
• Paid or unpaid
• Full time or part time

Each country group reflected on the evolution of volunteering in their context. They analyzed the deconstructed meaning of connotation and discussed

The meaning of volunteering in:

• Azerbaijan – ‘Konulluluk’ is ‘from the heart’. The general understanding is to do something for someone else for free.
• Armenia – ‘Kamavorutyun’ is to do something from “will”. Volunteering in Armenia is not necessarily associated with an organisation. Many people volunteer to help their neighbours or communities but do not necessarily.  refer to it as volunteering
• Germany – ‘Ehrenant’ is a ‘honorary position’ that often refers to delivering services on a social level.  ‘Freiwillingen’ originally existed as an alternative to compulsory military service, but now is very popular among young people. It is supported by government structures and policies.
• The Netherlands – ‘Vrijwilligerswerk’ is “doing work out of free will”. It generally refers to doing unpaid work for others rather than for one’s self. The government now uses volunteering as a tool for bottom up development. Different programs also exist were young people can pay to volunteer in foreign and less developed countries.  Therefore it can be both institutional and non institutional.
• Spain – ‘Voluntaria’. According to the first definition in the dictionary, the meaning of volunteering is attached to military service. After a natural or man-made crisis many people come together to help others out and assist in the recovery process. Sometimes it can have negative connotations because it implies working for free and replacing the work of a paid employee.
• Georgia – ‘Mokhalise’ means ‘fun’. To do something that one enjoys; it is an expression of goodwill and of one’s own volition. The concept of volunteer service is new, but the tradition of helping each other out is longstanding.

My Roadmap to Volunteering

Before the participants made their roadmap, Yana woke everyone up with an energizer!

Self-reflexitivity is an important tool for volunteers to think deeply and meaningfully about their motivations for and context in which they volunteer. Participants were invited to go on a personal journey to discover their volunteering history – at which points in their life did they volunteer, why did they volunteer, what where the enabling environments, and what factors influenced their decision to become a volunteer?

After the creation of their roadmaps and small group discussions, participants compiled a list of motivations for volunteering. By identifying these different experiences and intentions, volunteers become more aware about their realities and can greater understand the motivation of those around them.

List of motivations:

• Adventures
• Self-confidence
• Personal-development
• Changes in the community
• Experience both professional and personal
• Helping other people
• Raising awareness
• To be part of the change
• To meet new people
• Searching for recognizing
• Satisfaction
• Fighting for equality
• Get experience when you cannot find paid work

Intercultural Night

Azerbaijani dancing, German trivia, Armenian desserts, Dutch songs, Georgian wine and Spanish tapas characterized a highly energized intercultural night.

Each country group presented an aspect of their country’s culture, with the aim of learning something truly local that could not be discovered with a quick internet search.

Exploring the city

The participants explored Kobuleti in the afternoon by undertaking different exercises. The team building exercises included research about local perceptions and experiences of volunteering.  The different groups found out that most of the locals weren’t  active as volunteers themselves and didn’t have much knowledge about volunteering.  Only a few people talked about working in the military and cleaning the beaches.

 

 

 

Non-Formal Education

The methodology of the week long training is non-formal education. Non-formal education is based on mutual learning and learning by doing. We are all learners. Participants attend out of their own free well – the outcome is thus more participatory. The most important feature of non-formal education is that it is needs based; although a programme is established it will guide participant learning but is flexible enough to adapt to changing needs.

The second notable feature of non-formal education is competency based-knowledge, skills and attitudes!  This will develop throughout the week.

Objectives of the training

The training is a unique opportunity to share best practices of the role of youth in volunteering. Particularly, we will explore the role youth can play in transforming conflict settings by using volunteering as a tool. The main output of the training will be guidelines for young peacebuilders to integrate volunteering into their projects.

Kobuleti

On the 1^st July, the Volunteering for Peace: Structural and Strategic Development for volunteering training started.  Twenty-two youth from Georgia, Spain, Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, Armenia and Germany traveled to the Georgian town called Kobuleti to share their experiences concerning volunteering and to learn from each other. We started with some energetic ice breaking games to get to know each other a bit better! Including speed dating, drawing portraits together and trading the letters of their names.