A Life of Service – and fulfilling my Purpose

A Personal Testimony of Volunteering John Cornwell

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth” Mohammed Ali

What is Volunteerism?

• Giving of yourself (ku-jitolee) • Service to other people & to humanity as a whole • Altruism towards the development of society • Willingness to work without tangible financial rewards • Rewards may be skills development, sense of personal

achievement & contribution to society

My Story

• 1st volunteering experience with my sister’s creche at age 11 • Volunteerism with children’s & youth projects during 1980s-

90s, leading to “career decision” • Understanding volunteerism and community/youth

development as a means of fighting injustice • International volunteerism in different African countries since

1999 • Volunteerism as a means of development & learning

Recent volunteer experiences

• As a Development worker with Skillshare International, placed at Ngei 1 Development Youth Group (Huruma, Nairobi), 2007-10

• As co-founder of Tujiendeleze Youth Trust Fund, supporting young people in their educational development

• As a VSO Jitolee volunteer working at Kisauni Polytechnic in Mombasa

VSO Jitolee – as a volunteer community development worker Myself and fellow volunteers during pre-departure training in Nairobi, 2010

Kisauni Polytechnic, Mombasa – as a VSO Jitolee volunteer Kisauni Wildlife Club members (and volunteers themselves)

undertaking tree-planting activity

Tujiendeleze Youth Trust Fund – as co-Founder & Secretary Some young people who have been supported to study Community Development and Social Work in Huruma, Nairobi

Experiences & Learning

Commitment to Social Justice • Learning community

organising & development skills as means of impacting on social change

• Enabling networking and advocacy for change at grassroots level

• Each one, teach one • Be the Change you wish to

see in the world

Personal Development • Development of inter-

personal communication & networking skills

• Development of range of work-related skills

• Sense of personal growth and fulfillment of life’s purpose

Lessons to Share

• Need for appropriate volunteering – effective research, clear

partnership & agreements for all parties • Importance of supportive policy environment (at all levels,

organisational to national & international) • Importance of training, mentoring, support & coaching within

volunteerism (i.e. “professionalising volunteerism”) • Understanding motivations for volunteering • Need for understanding the potential of volunteerism to

significantly contribute to development at all levels

A final thought….

EVERYBODY CAN BE GREAT. BECAUSE ANYBODY CAN SERVE …. YOU ONLY NEED A HEART FULL OF GRACE

Martin Luther King Jr