by Landere Naisbitt
In regards to community service aka volunteer work at EMMC ...
Me: Why do you do it?
Him: I sometimes feel that there is no specific 'why' when it comes to volunteering. It just kind of makes sense that if there are those in need of a service and others able to perform it, then naturally the volunteerism occurs. Of course, one could look around the world and cite several examples where this co-existence is lacking, but where there is someone pointing a finger at a lack of help is also a hand that could be used for helping.
Me: Is it important to you to contribute to your community in some way?
Him: It is important for me to contribute to my community. At least through my experiences (specifically volunteering) it opens the door to understanding a much different demographic than what I am used to socializing with on a regular basis and has only been beneficial in the sense that genuine human-to-human interaction is not differentiated when considering "different" groups of people. On a more philosophical note it's important to help and identify one's own community for reasons of limiting misunderstanding, which I have always associated [misunderstanding] with the "seed of conflict". When we don't understand, or better yet don't try to understand, then the opportunity for conflict and frustration rears its ugly head considerably.
Me: Does it affect your sense of self worth?
Him: Volunteering affects my self-worth in a motivational sense. It instills the sense that no matter what community I am in, the drive to volunteer within that community always exists. Over the course of my volunteering experience I've had the benefit of getting to know a number of senior citizens that I may otherwise not have known... and the development of those relationships makes me feel "good" and that their enjoyment is reciprocated. It is indicative of not only fulfilling my volunteer obligations, but going a bit further where it was not required and building interpersonal relationships within my role.
Me: How does it help form your identity?
Him: My hope is that what I choose to do is not necessarily indicative of my own identity, but that of all people. I think that there is inherent good within everyone, but true identity comes through when it is exemplified. So, volunteering is simply my choosing of the "good" within myself while at the same time identifying it as a universal sense.
Me: What do you feel like you gain from the experience?
Him: I'd hope to think that any personal gain received from volunteering is expressed equally in the those in which I volunteer for. I began volunteering with a gentleman who has logged the most hours of anyone in the history of EMMC and I remember him expressing the importance of non-monetary gain from volunteering. That it as about the connection with the people that is most important and that anything gained should be a feeling of "good" because those you genuinely effect will feel that same sense of "good".
Me: Is there any community service work that you would delegate specifically to women or men?
Him: I think that I must hint at my earlier responses and reiterate that if there is a service that is requested and someone can fulfill that service with their skills and abilities, then they should help those in need. Whether it is a male or a female that possesses such skills and attributes to help those needing them, then such a distinguishment does not mind.
Me: How common is it for guys your age to volunteer?
Him: I am not able to speak on how many men my age volunteer, but in the department I volunteer at I am definitely in the minority... by about 30 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment