BAGUIO CITY – An official of the Cordillera office of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD-CAR) recently highlighted the importance of voluntarism in the life of a person during the Women’s Summit held here recently.
DHSUD-CAR regional director Antonette Anaban defined voluntarism, volunteering and voluntary activities as a wide range of activities undertaken of free will for the general public good for which monetary reward is not the principal motivating factor.
Further, she added that volunteer work is unpaid non-compulsory work that is time individuals give to activities performed either through an organization or directly for others outside their own household or related family members.
She claimed that among the important things one can give when volunteering are time, talent or skills, and treasure.
According to her, people volunteer because of community concerns, personal values, self-esteem or enhancement, personal development and a need to understand others.
Anaban pointed out that the basic components of volunteering practice are structure, site, intensity, aspiration and category.
Structure refers to formal volunteering done in an organized structure or on a platform that provides support; site refers to informal volunteering done as part of everyday activities, people helping people, online or the use of technology both as a channel and a tool for volunteer activities; intensity refers to onsite or face-to-face volunteering at the community, national and for international leaders, episodic is sporadic emergent and short-term volunteering engagement which may be a one-of-event; aspiration refers to regular recurring volunteering following a regular pattern, often long-term engagement, community-building altruistic motivations and sense of obligation towards helping others’ and self-building refers to the benefits of volunteering for the volunteer also considered.
Among the categories of volunteering are environmental volunteering which refers to conservation, such as tree planting, wildlife protection and habit restoration, sustainability and promoting eco-friendly practices and educating communities about environmental issues; community service which refers to local initiatives in the neighborhood, cleanups, food drives, supporting local shelters, public service volunteering at libraries, community centers and local events; educational and tutoring which refers to academic support and mentorship, disaster relief and humanitarian aid such as emergency response assisting in disaster affected areas with relief efforts and recovery and humanitarian projects supporting international development and aid programs; health and social care; skills-based volunteering; virtual volunteering and advocacy and campaigning.
She explained that the rights of a volunteer are to be given accurate and truthful information about the organization; work in a safe and healthy environment; reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses; not fill a position held by paid staff; have a job description and agreed working hours; have access to a grievance procedure; be provided with sufficient training to do his or her job; be adequately covered by insurance and have confidential and personal information in accordance with the Data Privacy Act. By Dexter A. See
