Volunteering: the history of origin and formation. Activities of the volunteer movement

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Every year, the relevance of volunteering is increasing and sometimes striking in its scale. There are active and interested people who are not indifferent to the needs and problems of others in all corners of the globe, and they are the soul of society, disinterestedly making the world better, more beautiful and kinder. Perhaps not everyone understands what principles volunteer work is based on, so in this article we will take a closer look at who volunteers are, when the history of the volunteer movement began and what makes it special.

What is volunteering?

In order to understand who volunteers are, you need to define the main term, namely what volunteering means. In fact, everything is simple: this is a kind of any disinterested activity, work that does not imply monetary payment. Any action for the benefit of society or specific people, provided without remuneration and from a pure heart, is called volunteer help.

There are a number of age requirements for a volunteer. Children under 14 years of age must obtain permission for this activity from their parents and from the leader / curator of the volunteer squad. Minors may participate in volunteer activities as long as they are not harmful to their he alth or interfere with their studies. Only adult volunteers who have the necessary level of training can provide assistance in emergency situations. In any case, a volunteer should do this really voluntarily, and not at the instigation of an authoritative person or a parent, boss, etc. At first glance, this seems like madness or fiction with a hidden catch, because who wants to work for free, sometimes in rather difficult conditions, and while getting nothing in return? If everyone thought so, then the history of volunteering, its high idea, would have remained in the past, having undergone a complete failure.

What are the benefits of voluntary service?

In fact, modern volunteering has a lot of advantages, especially for young people who are not yet firmly established in society. For example:

• Many firms refuse to employ young employees without work experience, but how to get it if no one provides a job? There is a way out: volunteers work for free, in return they receive significant experience and a good recommendation for future career advancement.
• Getting the right skills, whether it's construction, agronomy, or in a hospital with seriously ill people.
• A great reason to learn a foreign language and explore new countries, becausevolunteering in Russia and abroad has common ideas and goals, and also practices an active exchange of employees.
• Sometimes a person simply lacks communication due to various circumstances, so volunteering is a great way for him to expand his circle of friends and meet new interesting people.

Types of volunteer assistance

To better understand the essence of this movement, you can consider in detail the main areas of volunteering:

• Helping the handicapped, the elderly or people with disabilities.
• Working in hospitals, sanatoriums, orphanages of various kinds: some work as doctors, orderlies, cleaners of territories, while others simply organize moral support for the sick, especially those without relatives, and also raise funds for treatment.
• Employment in rural areas. This can be anything from dairy production, planting vegetables to fruit processing or working in greenhouses. This type is often chosen by pensioners who do not want to stay at home, and families who want to improve their children's he alth in the countryside.
• Help in children's and school institutions (kindergartens, schools, lyceums, as well as in courses, circles, etc.). All kinds of rescue services, emergency services, helplines, search groups for the missing and others can be attributed to the same category.
• Implementation of social ideas: data collection, questionnaires, production of various flyers, brochures and their subsequent distribution.
• Holding thematic events and parties, lectures athot topic and various trainings.

There are many areas of volunteering, and listing everything is simply meaningless, since almost every type of activity can provide gratuitous assistance to others. At the same time, it is important to choose something that is close in spirit, because it is pointless to do unloved work for free - no one will benefit from this. There are temporary and permanent forms of volunteering: the first involves participation in short-term projects, for example, helping to organize a festival, an olympiad, or planting trees in a park, harvesting apples, or saving an animal from a sadistic owner. A volunteer on a regular basis is busy in different ways: some every day for two or three hours, some once or twice a week after the main job or classes at the university.

First mentions

The history of volunteering in the world goes back to the distant times of Yaroslav the Wise, when orphanages were created. Children were kept in them on the donations of the laity. They learned to read and write, various sciences, and then remained to work at monasteries or went into the service of nobles. In addition, the well-known Christian virtue around the world was the clearest sign of volunteer work, even if on a small scale. The employees of the volunteer movement themselves like to mention historical figures: kings, kings and even ancient priests who personally went out to ordinary people and distributed alms on significant days for them.

Someresearchers of antiquity claim that the history of volunteering began later, in the 17th century in Europe: people who willingly went to war were called volunteers, which in French sounds like volontaire. There was no compulsory military service in those days, and not everyone wanted to volunteer in it, so the facts of volunteering attracted everyone's attention and were quite unusual. The word that came to Russia was somewhat distorted to "vulenter" and over time acquired the form that it has now. At the turn of the twentieth century, volunteers began to be called not only volunteers going into the army, but also everyone who was ready to voluntarily, disinterestedly and with dedication to work for the good of society.

How did it all start?

It is believed that the history of the volunteer movement began during the rampage of the Black Death in Europe - a plague that claimed thousands of lives every day. Many townspeople voluntarily united in groups to collect corpses along the streets and burn them, cleansing their cities of infection - this was the first massive step in volunteering, which gradually involved more and more volunteers who wanted to devote themselves to a good cause. They, like no one else, understood that the only way to save the world from suffering: through self-giving and investing in the common cause of joint efforts.

The same manifestation of the breadth of the soul was shown by the Russian nuns of the St. Nicholas Convent, who in 1870 voluntarily went to the front as nurses. It is this act that is considered the main starting point for the beginning of the history of volunteering. Within a short time they were joined by manywomen around the world, forming the Red Cross movement to help the wounded.

A little later, in the twenties of the last century, after World War I, another movement of voluntary assistance was formed in Europe: active youth decided to eliminate the consequences of the war as soon as possible. The first gathering was near Strasbourg and consisted mainly of French and German young people who helped local residents rebuild housing destroyed by clashes between opposing forces. From that moment on, the history of volunteering gradually began to acquire new cases of selfless help: people gathered in large artels and rebuilt schools, livestock farms and new roads.

How did this movement develop?

Practically in every country of Eastern and Western Europe there were people who selflessly abandoned their usual lives and devoted themselves to the world, which was often described in the novels of that time, publications were made in newspapers and magazines. Closer to the 60s of the twentieth century, when after the Second World War relations between countries were strained due to military operations, separate groups began to form, seeking to establish former friendship. Thanks to the persistent efforts of interested people, the ice between Europe and Russia gradually melted: international volunteer programs of a different spectrum of influence began to be carried out.

The development of the volunteer movement was so powerful that in 1985, on December 17, a new holiday was appointed at the UN World Assembly: Volunteer Day,which began to celebrate the fifth of December at the international level. At the same time, the organization IAV E, a volunteer association, was created, which includes more than a hundred countries of the world. The idea of selfless help to those in need so swept the world that 2001 was proclaimed the Year of the Volunteer.

Several prominent volunteer organizations

One of the earliest examples of volunteerism was the Civil Service World (SCI), founded by Peter Ceresoli in 1920. It is this year that is considered to be the official date of birth of the volunteer movement, despite earlier references in history. A group of young French people focused on promoting and developing respect for other nations, beliefs and traditions: pacifists from many countries of the world annually participate in numerous SCI campaigns, calling on all inhabitants of the planet to treat different cultures with understanding. Every year more than four thousand people become representatives of this pacifist movement.

"UN Volunteers" - a community that was created in 1970 and differed from the rest in that it consisted mainly of middle-aged and older people, while the rest of the movements were more youth. Moreover, the conditions for participation in it were quite demanding: you must have a higher or professional education and work experience in your profession for at least five years. Only relatively recently a separate branch was created, in which young volunteers take part. The range of influence of the "UN Volunteers" is quite voluminous, but the preferencegiven to work with the disabled and children, refugees. Women's rights are strongly supported in the Third World.

Volunteering in Russia also takes place, although it was formed relatively recently: in the late 80s of the last century. Unfortunately, the Russian spirit of selflessness does not yet reach the European level of altruism, but it gives certain hopes: there are more and more sympathetic people who are ready at any moment to come to the aid of the suffering not for profit or advertising, but for the sake of human compassion. Among the most effective organizations are:

• "The Seventh Petal" - volunteers cooperate with cancer patients, providing them with significant moral support: they visit, make small pleasant presents, communicate on various topics, trying to make the world of these people a little brighter.
• "I'm without a mother" - aimed at working with orphans.
• Lisa-Alert searches for missing persons (established in 2010).
• Sofia Foundation. Working with the elderly and disabled.
• "City against drugs". This organization pays great attention to working with people addicted to drugs and promoting a he althy lifestyle.
• “Donors for children”. Moscow organization interacting with seriously ill children. Volunteers raise funds for expensive surgeries, visit children in hospitals, arrange various evenings and performances for them, walk with them, communicate, disinterestedly give the warmth of their hearts.

Youth Actionfor Peaceand & Greenpeace

Youth Action "For Peace" is an organization thatcooperates with fifteen countries of the world, actively promotes pacifism, works with refugees and participates in resolving military conflicts by holding anti-war rallies and seminars. Founded in 1923 and currently has a great weight in the activities of the volunteer movement.

The massive Greenpeace movement is known around the world for its actions against animal abuse and deforestation. Also, the modern volunteering of the Greenpeace corporation significantly affects the problem of pollution of the planet with toxic waste, actively opposes the use of nuclear weapons and air pollution. Information about their actions is widely published in all media, and the organization's branches are located in forty countries of the world! The Greenpeace movement was founded in Vancouver in 1971 by a simple businessman who protested against nuclear tests and instantly received strong support from like-minded people. Over time, the range of influence of pacifist volunteers has expanded and has become different in that the organization never joins any party, does not accept support from commercial structures, but exists solely on donations from people interested in the purity of nature.

2018: Year of the Volunteer in Russia

The Union of Volunteers of Russia believes that the actions of volunteers should be primarily socially significant, bearing tangible benefits for the population. Therefore, the activity of this organization is aimed at helping the disabled and the elderly who are below the poverty line. Also, work is underway toeradication of child pornography, prostitution and pedophilia: the Internet is being cleaned, a monitoring center has been created.

This year is notable for the fact that President Vladimir Putin recognized the merits of people who selflessly give their time and effort for the good of the country and the world, pointed out the importance of the volunteer movement in the development of the country. Therefore, back in 2017, he signed a decree declaring 2018 the Year of the Volunteer and called on everyone to support the movement in order to make it more popular.

The President pointed out: it is necessary to make people understand that selfless good deeds significantly affect the world prestige of the country, showing the broad Russian soul, which has been famous for its kindness, philanthropy and mercy since ancient times. A special emblem was even designed in the form of several hands with hearts in the palms that stretch upward.

Some statistics

Volunteer movements are so popular in European countries that:

• In Germany every year more than two million (!) people take part in voluntary work, that is, every third, which is an indicator of the high morality of the inhabitants of this country. It is noteworthy that after graduating from an educational institution, a German has the right to a “social year”, which makes it possible to work as a volunteer in a place he likes, which will subsequently significantly affect the resume when applying for a job.
• In Ireland, 32% of the total population are employees of volunteer services. They claim to do what a man who demandspay for your work.
• In Japan, a quarter of the population has a history of volunteer work in the past, claiming that this is a good life school and a test of a person's positive moral qualities.
• 18% of French people have volunteered at least once, and most of them dedicate their whole lives to selfless service to people at least twenty working hours a month.

Volunteering was not very popular in the US until recently, as President Reagan did not support such initiatives: during his tenure, only 8,000 Americans were employees of voluntary services. Fortunately, with the advent of B. Clinton, the situation has changed dramatically, and currently 26% of Americans give themselves to volunteer work.

In any case, whatever happened in the past during the birth of the volunteer movement, it created a reciprocal resonance around the world, proving that not all people's hearts are hardened in the pursuit of material goods and pleasures.