Ethics of Volunteerism

Ethics of Volunteerism
By Santosh Timilsina

Volunteerism

A volunteer is a person who offers his service/skill/expertise selflessly i.e. without any desire or profit to self. This is by any means a universal assumption of the word “volunteer”. Going merely through the meaning of the word is not enough to understand the dynamics of volunteerism. The main thing is the difference in understanding and its implication in the different parts of the world. In east volunteerism means serving for a cause without getting anything in return whereas in west it is serving for a cause without getting anything only when his/her will says so. We must first understand this difference.

Let’s take an example: I used to work as a volunteer for the Community Based Rehabilitation Project, Kirtipur. My perception of volunteerism was that I must exert all my energy to the task assigned to me. Being a volunteer, I should sacrifice my family, profession and needs a little bit. It was very unethical for me to lend more time for my personal causes. I always use to query myself: what would happen to my volunteerism if I gave more time to my profession/family. I was very proud to be an ideal volunteer!

A few days later, a Canadian volunteer joined our team and started working with us. We use to visit the clients (disabled children).She was very caring and passionate to each and every child we used to visit. I always wondered how could such a person from advanced and developed country like Canada, who is literate and expert in her field, feels comfortable among us. As days passed, I gradually became obsessed to her volunteerism. I thought I was nothing in front of her. She was beyond compare regarding the volunteerism. Let’s say it was like I was less “volunteer” than her. So I started to exert more energy in my work which resulted in me just going home to sleep.