amit

I got opportunity to speak on Volunteerism today at St. Xavier College for the Bachelors in Social Work students.

I am Amit. I am a designer by profession. I work for a software company and I also own a design agency and event management. NO! I am not from any INGO or NGO. When someone talks about volunteerism and youth issues people have an impression that this person belongs to a certain NGO or INGO.

Perhaps, its been over 10 years of my life that i spend in voluntary organizations and it still continues. I was part of Rotaract as a volunteer.

To be a volunteer, for me, is giving your skills, ideas and time for free. There is no such thing called paid volunteering That’s what I believe.

I believe that service should not be commercialized. People often ask me how much I get paid by social work and volunteering. There is an adverse influence in our society that if someone participates in social service, they are earning out of it. We have to change this. You have to change this.

Volunteerism has taught me a lot, helped me get exposure, and given me opportunity as that of today’s for instance. to address this this number of youth about volunteerism.

Volunteerism helped me understand the importance of empathy. Few years ago, I volunteered as a traffic police helper in Thapathali for an hour. Now, whenever I pass that road I remember that time and make sure I follow the traffic instruction. That hour of volunteerism helped me understand the effort that traffic police need to put in their work.. It taught me to be respectful towards others profession.

Volunteerism helped me meet new people. Helped me understand the importance of ownership in everything you do. Today I took 2 hours of leave from my office and I am speaking with you here. That’s volunteerism for me.

I was looking for o+ve blood and I posted about it in facebook, my friend called me from Jomsom saying he is ready to come Kathmandu immediately just to donate. That’s volunteerism.

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