The well-known Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore once wrote, “A flower sweetens the air with its perfume, yet its last service is to offer itself to you.” Those people who dedicate themselves to help others and serve society, just as Tagore said, are like flowers devoting themselves to sweeten the lives of others. Such people, we call “volunteers”. What they do for others and for society we label “voluntary service”.

III. Why Become a Volunteer? — The Motivation to Serve Voluntarily

To serve voluntarily is a personal contribution and sacrifice to others full of difficulties and hardship. However, many people are willing to participate. Why?

A great deal of research has been done on this topic. Some believe that human beings are born to be gregarious; offering assistance to others is his/her innate instinct.

Others believe that kindness and helping others will bring a good result and joy to the parties. Still others believe that volunteers join in these activities just to satisfy their curiosity, to make friends and to obtain social experiences. However, if we look at the nature of voluntary service, all the above reasons are not adequate to motivate people to serve voluntarily. What on earth are sufficient motivations for voluntary service?

1. Spiritual Pursuit

2. Social Mission

Voluntary service originates from charity donation. Today’s volunteers carry forward this mission and actively respond to the calling. In many ways they devote themselves to this work and blessings to others around.

When volunteers work for the public interest, they not only contribute themselves, but they also establish an active interaction with society. They stimulate people’s sense of duty to society. When they demonstrate a spirit of humanism and service, they also help reduce responsibilities of the government, solve social problems, and they are in fact changing society. Again as Albert Einstein said“, Only in devoting oneself to serving society, human being will discover the meaning of his short and risky life.”

3. Knowledge Learning

When a volunteer serves, he/she is not only helping others, but also learning new knowledge and skills. This will help them mature and build good character. Voluntary service is team work. In the team, volunteers learn how to establish good relationships with others, as well as how to strengthen a spirit of teamwork and effective team coordination. This is especially helpful among young volunteers because they can improve their professional skills in the process of learning good teamwork. They will know society better, understand the theories (which they learned from school) better, and also receive inspiration and education. Today’s voluntary service is becoming more professional and more formal. Before beginning their work of service, volunteers have to receive formal training. This is a very important aspect toward a comprehensive improvement in the quality of voluntary service.

4. Self - fulfilling Values

The famous American psychologist Abraham H. Maslow believed that the ultimate goal of life is self-fulfillment. In his definition, self-fulfillment includes caring others and going beyond oneself. Though people seek material gains in their daily lives, their hearts never stop seeking a mere fulfilling sense of personal goodness. To fulfill one’s spiritual needs, to pursue higher personal spiritual level, to develop one’s potentials and to fulfill personal values are perpetual goals of volunteers. Voluntary work not only makes their lives meaningful, also satisfies their spiritual needs and fulfills their personal goals for doing something valuable in life.

5. Life Experience Enhancement

Different experiences make our lives colorful. Voluntary service, even if it is of short duration, can be delightful and beautiful. Some volunteers have tasted much of the spice of life, and at the same time have received the experience of a life time. The teachers who participated in the Supporting Rural Area Education Program said, “We are touched by the villagers and the villagers also touched us.” As volunteers, they felt deeply the heart-to-heart communication.

In order to broaden their sense of life experience and build a more meaningful life, more and more people are joining the team of volunteers.

6. Mental Well-being

Voluntary service can help volunteers cultivate a joyful heart and a more active mentality. When caring for and helping others, volunteers’ own mental stress is relieved and more wholesome characters are built. We learned the story of Katherine Pener from an introductory article on American volunteers.

Katherine, as a volunteer, counseled cancer patients for 22 years. She writes, “I can guarantee that all the volunteers will feel better emotionally, physically, and mentally, no matter whom you are and what you do. All the volunteers I know are always smiling.” Through serving voluntarily, people build good character of self-respect, self-reliance, and independence, all of which contribute to sound mental health.

Download Manual for Beijing Olympic Volunteers (PDFs):

• Cover
• Contents
• 1: Volunteers and Volunteering
• 2: Olympic Movement and Volunteers
• 3: BEIJING 2008 and Volunteering
• 4: Organization and Administration
• 5: Volunteer Positions & Requirements
• 6: Volunteering Skills

Organized by: Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Edited by: Beijing Olympic Games Volunteer Work Coordination Group
China Renmin University Press

Visit Beijing Olympic Volunteers Official Website

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