Volunteer work; a small cog in a big machine
- Details
- Created on Thursday, 09 March 2017 13:07
- Written by norway
(by Ola - Norway)
When I think of volunteer work, I do not think about big projects and charities. Because here in Norway most volunteer work is groups of people or communities that comes together to do something. That could be hosting an event or saving cost by building something though volunteer labour. Like in my town, the new artificial grass football field was build/made by the locals to save cost. One weekend people got together and put in some works, so that we now have a brand new football field. That for me is the Norwegian volunteer spirit. Local places get together to do something for the community.
So when it comes to what the volunteer get for volunteering it depends. Because in my example above. The towns folks get together and do something for the community that they live in. so they all benefit from the volunteering they are doing. But there is of course volunteer work were you get something out of it. In bigger Norwegian places, like Bergen, Oslo and Stavanger there are groups and organisations that do volunteer work. Where they give homeless people food and blankets to stay warm. And here all the people that volunteer get perhaps the good feeling of helping others. And I salute the people that take some of ther time to give some to other, and expect nothing in return. Except the feeling of kindness.
And personally I think that volunteer work is not a thing that can or will be used to effect the job market. It may aid the job market. Like helping a local store with renovation ore soothing like that. But to directly affect the job market, I don’t think so. Volunteering is all about helping or aiding something or someone with their struggles. Without expecting much in return. But without it some people would struggle. So volunteer work is needed to make the world go round in a smooth way
by Ola Ullebø