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VOLUNTEER WORK

Realising the need to do good

Zubeda Hamid

Last Updated : 10 Jun 2011 09:03:48 AM IST

Its not easy being Prem Kumar Dasari. As

manager of an IT firm, he works 12-hours,

five days a week. Weekends are the only

respite he gets from having to stare at a

screen, his only time to catch up on sleep

and spend time with friends and family. And

yet, for about six hours every Saturday and

Sunday, Dasari goes to Kannagi Nagar, on

the outskirts of Chennai to spend time with

the children there, talk them into not

dropping out of school, find out about

problems they face, and do his best to make

their lives better.

Earlier I used to go there only on weekends. Now, I visit even in the mornings Im free andevenings when I get off early, says Dasari, who volunteers for Child Rights and You (CRY). Pridedripping from his voice, he says, Weve managed to get four dropouts back to school. Amember of the Chennai Trekking Club, the 27-year-old has even talked his friends intovolunteering.

Dasari is one of a growing breed of professionals who work hard, and volunteer even harder,spending their free time in anganwadisto check on the quality of food, meeting government

officials to get teachers appointed in vacant posts, cataloguing, entering data, writing exams fordisabled children, or even simply spending time with the mentally illanything that is useful to anon governmental organisation (NGO) working in such fields.

Slowly but surely, Dasari and his contemporaries from different professional fieldsas well ashomemakers, elderly retired folks and young studentsare changing the face of vounteeringacross India. According to eminent sociologist Shiv Viswanathan, it used to be membership ofRotary and Lions Clubs which gave people both status in the community, as well as the feelingthey were doing good work. The motives might have remained the same even today, but fromthose institutions, volunteering has spilled over into almost every organisation, both political andapolitical. There is the NGO-kind of volunteering. Then theres political volunteering which, inIndia, has diminished with the rise of NGO-volunteering, he adds. Mostly faceless and behind thescenes, volunteers are nowadays essential to the success of an NGO.

It is not always easy to find and hold on to dedicated volunteers a group sorely needed byNGOs to help. Its a field where there are no funds to hire a full-time employee, or whereparticular skills are needed but hard to find.

As Prarthna Unkalkar Kaul, head (South and East) of iVolunteer, an organisation specialising inbringing volunteers and NGOs together, put it, The concept of volunteering is not familiar toIndians. So, even about five years ago, it was difficult to find many. Now thats changing.

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Awareness has increased, and more people from different walks of life want to give us their time,she said.

iVolunteer co-ordinates some 10,000 volunteers across India.

When G S Venkatramans wife died in 1998, it left him determined to do something for other

sufferers. The storage inspector, who worked for a Union government enterprise, retired in 2000and found he had a lot of time on his hands. Both my daughters were married and settledabroad. I was used to working from 10 am to 8 pm. So I began volunteering, he said. At firstVenkatraman volunteered for CRY, doing some clerical work, fundraising and entertainingchildren. But his urge to do something for ill patients remained unabated. So he beganvolunteering at the Cancer Institute, Adyar, as well as Vasantha Memorial Cancer Centre. I wroteletters to donors and did the follow-up with patients to check on their health. Im also involved inthe anti-tobacco campaign, he said. The 71-year-old spends practically all day with his variousvolunteering activities.

These days, organisations rely heavily on senior citizens to bear the brunt of the volunteer work.Some years ago, most retired people would have been involved with their families. That is nolonger the case now, with many whose children emigrate elsewhere. Thus, physically active

senior citizens who are used to working long hours, turn to volunteering. Its great for us, really,said Michelle Baxter, assistant manager (volunteer action) at CRY. Since they are free in themorningsa time of day professionals cant give usthey can coordinate with governmentofficials and do official work that can be done only during weekdays, she said.

Its not easy being a volunteer. The hours often clash with work, meetings get in the way, eventscollide with planned trips and there are no more lazy Sunday afternoons. Its easy to motivateyourself in the beginning when the cause is fresh and disappointments unknown. Sustaining thepassion however, takes worka reason why NGOs find it easy to get volunteers, but difficult toretain them.

But do we, as a country, make it easy for our working citizens to volunteer? VaishnaviJayakumar, co-founder of The Banyan, an NGO for mentally ill women, doesnt think so. It

should be possible for a professional to request her employers to adjust her work hours so thatshe gets time to volunteer. Productivity and output would remain the same. But while this is easyto fix abroad, its not so simple in India. The culture of giving back is yet to arrive, she says.

Many however, claim our systems are changing. Lots of firms have corporate social responsibiltyprogrammes that get employees involved in charitable work. Schools and colleges too, make itcompulsory for students to volunteer, said Prarthna. But, she admits, Doing something of yourown will, not because its thurst upon you, and not expecting anything in return, is what makes agood volunteer.