CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO CHANGE THE WORLD!

REVIVE THE SPIRIT OF VOLUNTEERING IN GHANAIAN YOUTH

A group of young people volunteering for International Service and in partnership with NFED- Kumbungu to alleviate women groups in Beigu in the Kumbungu district from poverty.

Volunteering is one of the powerful tools towards national development. It creates avenues for individuals to make use of their knowledge and skills to help promote a good course of action. Empirically, volunteering comes with many benefits to the individuals, the target group and the nation at large. But in most recent times, the youth of our country have virtually ignored the idea of volunteerism and therefore deem it as somehow a waste of time due to the fact that, one has to offer services for “free” without a promised salary, wage or any form of payment.

Volunteering is generally considered a self-sacrificing activity where an individual or group provides services for no financial gain "to benefit another person, group or organization". Self-sacrificing here means to offer your time, energy, knowledge and skills and to some expect incurring some cost to in order to reach out to people to create a positive change. Yes, volunteering involves making sacrifices but the good thing is that, the sacrifices are ultimately rewarded in the end either to the person offering services or to the target group. You can imagine the joy it brings to you when someone tells you that “you are the reason I reached this level, your selfless services you offered to me has brought me this far, thank you”.

Research has found that, volunteering improves not only the communities in which one serves, but also the life of the individual who is providing help to the community. It has the ability to improve the quality of life and health of those who donate their time. Volunteering is also renowned for skill development (personal development) and is often intended to promote goodness or to improve human quality of life. One great benefit of volunteering is that; it is intended to make contacts for possible employment. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work which improves their employability.

Volunteering comes in different form which provides flexibility in selecting the type to enrolled based on one’s knowledge, skills or field. The types of volunteerism among others include:

Environmental volunteering referring to the volunteers who contribute towards environmental management or conservation

Skills-based volunteering is leveraging the specialized skills and the talents of individuals to strengthen the substructure of non-profits, helping them build and sustain their capacity to successfully achieve their missions. This is in contrast to traditional volunteering, where specific training is not required

International volunteering (volunteering in developing countries) is an increasingly popular form of volunteering among young people, particularly gap year students and graduates, is to travel to communities in the developing world to work on projects with local organisations to engage in activities such as teaching, working in orphanages, conservation, assisting non-governmental organizations and medical work. International volunteering often aims to give participants valuable skills and knowledge in addition to benefits to the host community and organization.

Talking about volunteering, I believe there is some form of mutual benefit to the one volunteering and the target groups as discussed above. However, the institution which one is volunteering for should see to it that this is achieved. I therefore recommend International Service ICS to anyone who wishes to volunteer to create a positive impact in the lives of people. 

International Service is an organisation that runs the International Citizen Service programme funded by the DFID and the UK Government to help alleviate people from poverty in deprived areas in the world. The organisation is an international development charity protecting and promoting the rights of the most marginalised people in Latin America, West Africa, and the Middle East. It has adopted the human right based approach to development to extend a helping hand to marginalised people. International Service operates in Ghana, specifically in the northern and eastern regions of Ghana. Volunteers are offered opportunities to utilize their skills and knowledge for a period of 10- 12 weeks to work on projects that seeks to alleviate people from poverty and providing them with skills and knowledge to sustain their lives.

International Service is dedicated to ensure that volunteers develop new skills and also improve on the skills they already have which will help them improve on their lives. I can testify to the fact that, volunteering at International Service has brought to me many benefits which I am grateful for the opportunity I had. Young people between the age of 18-24 can apply to volunteer at International Service ICS. All expenses of volunteers are catered for by the organisation. Be part of the team that challenge themselves to change the world.

Follow the link below to download the application form

http://www.internationalservice.org.uk/ghana/ or ghanarecruitment@internationalservice.org.uk

Written by: Justice Boakye Tumfour

       Volunteer alumnus

                   International Service Ghana