How does volunteering make you become a better person?

Photo by Bryan Minear on Unsplash

As you may already know, volunteering has completely changed my life. You can find out how in this article How did volunteering change my life.

Now I am working for an NGO and I have to interact very often with volunteers. I actually have to “hire” them. They are a big part of my team. I really admire these people. Many of them work and study but when they can, they give us a bit of their free time which is amazing!

As I need volunteers for almost all of the projects I am working on, I often see different profiles and completely different people who have, of course, very different reasons for getting in touch with me. Some of them come once or twice and then decide they don't want to do that anymore. Others are really motivated and want to work even on bigger projects that need more self-discipline and personal investment. I also have volunteers who don't have enough time to work with us more than once per week or once every two weeks, but when they are available, they give everything they could to make a good work.

So as you can see, being a volunteer is not a “job”. You have the full freedom to come and go when you wish, to invest the amount of time and knowledge you want to and this is one of the reasons why people like being volunteers. They have the freedom to choose what kind of “engagement “is convenient for them.

I actually rarely look for volunteers, although, we need them. Very often they are the ones who get in touch with us. This is very important because the initiative comes from them. They are the ones wanting to be volunteers. It has to be a completely conscious choice. I am not trying to convince them! They make the first step and this is great because, as I said, being a volunteer means that you can come and go when you decide. I don't have to be in a position of “power” making people do something they are not sure they want to do. You become a volunteer because you like it, if you don't, just don't do it. It is pointless. Do only things you genuinely enjoy doing! If volunteering is not your cup of tea, this is OK. Maybe you have to find a different organization or something else to do

So working with many volunteers almost every day, I can also see how they change on the long run. Those who stay for longer than a couple of weeks, start seeing the world and the society we live in in a slightly different way. I believe that being a volunteer is making you a better person and the world a better place. This is an amazing experience that teaches you so many things about life, relationships, people, the world and yourself. So here I share with you how, in my opinion, being a volunteer is making you become a better version of yourself.

You discover something new.

Most of the volunteers, when they first come to me, they don't know much about the organization or about what they really want to do. They come with the intention to discover something new – new people, new ways of working, new environment. Others have a clearer idea about what they want to do or why they got in touch with us, but even they have to discover something new – a new team, new actions, new strategies to achieve the goals.

So if this is your first volunteering experience, you will definitely discover a whole new world, especially if you are not aware with the world of NGOs. Then, even if this is not your first volunteering experience and you have already worked with different organizations in the past, coming to a new one is a whole new experience itself – new working field, new people, maybe new country. Many NGOs work in a completely different way and have different values, so only changing the NGO will make you discover a new universe of new possibilities.

The feeling of gratitude.

Being a volunteer puts you very often in situations where you have to interact with people who are very different from you. They might have been victims of violence, maybe they are suffering from a sickness which has no cure, they may had a very traumatizing past, they escaped / survived a war, they live in extreme poverty and they don't have enough food or in some countries people don't even have enough water to drink, maybe they are way older than you or way younger, maybe they are from a different country and they don't speak your language and so on. You got the point.

All this can be very scary, very different and of course, very new to you. But this is also an experience that often wakes us up and reminds us that we have to be thankful about what we have. To appreciate every small stupid thing that we have in our life because for us it could be small and useless but for other people it could mean the world. We start feeling gratitude for the people we have in our life, for the house and the food we have, the fact that we don't live in a country where there is a war going on, that we have a job (even if we don't like it), that we are healthy, that we can speak, walk and see and so much more.

Giving without taking.

In my previous blog post I talked how the act of giving without expecting anything in return is maybe the purest and the most selfless act of love. And this is also my definition of volunteering – you give because you can and you don't want anything in return. In our society, we have been taught to think in a very commercial way – when you give, you definitely have to take something back, if you don't, you just got screwed.

I believe that when people have good pure intentions and do something in order to help someone else, they will definitely earn something back, something which I think is priceless – a smile, a “thank you”, a free hug, a good deep conversation, knowledge about something new, a new point of view, maybe even a new friend. If this can not make your day amazing, nothing can!

Interacting with people out of your usual circle.

As I said, being a volunteer makes you meet people who are very different from you and who had a very different experience than yours. Even people working for NGOs are very different. They have different degrees, background, work experience. Stepping into this world of social organizations gives you the opportunity to meet people who are out of your usual circle of friends and family.

Also, don't forget that the people you might have to help are the greatest teachers. This is one of the things which fascinates me in my work. We think that we know everything until we meet someone who is completely different, with a very different experience and then, we understand that we didn't know anything. You will definitely learn many new things from the people you help. They will open a whole new spectrum of visions about the world for you.

Going out of your comfort zone.

While meeting new people, learning new things and interacting with different people than us sounds pretty great, that also means that you are going to be pushed to go out of your comfort zone. Depending on what you have to do, you will be put in situations that will make you face some of your fears and insecurities. You may have to work with people who are sick and not very joyful or you will have to live in an extremely poor country with people who don't have the same lifestyle as people in the Western world, the weather or the food conditions could be very difficult as well. Sometimes it could be really difficult to keep going. Maybe you will see violence, fear, starving, depression, hopelessness...

You have to know that it is not always easy to be a volunteer and this is why is a life-changing experience. No change is easy!

You forget about your ego.

If you volunteer at an organization which goal is to help certain type of people, you will quickly understand that you will learn many things from them even if you don't think that it is going to happen. I work almost every single day with people who live in extreme poverty and I can say that even if these people don't have a college degree, even if some of them can not read or live on the street, I learn so much about life from them. That also makes me forget about my ego and remember that diplomas, titles and salaries are not what defines you as a person and it does not determines your worth.

People you are going to help, know so much more than you about certain topics, you will be so fascinated that your ego is going to run away or at least become smaller.

Expanding your vision about the world.

Volunteering gives you the great opportunity to expand your vision about the world, the society and people. It is a great way to enrich your culture and your knowledge. Maybe you have to go to a different country, maybe you have to learn a new language or maybe you are just going to do something you have never done before. It could be a small thing like giving flyers on the street (I remember my first time - the first hour I was so nervous and didn't want to talk to anyone, but now is something I really enjoy doing).

Often when you get involved in such social kind of work, you also learn a lot about politics, economics, human rights, the law system, the media etc. so you are definitely going to get out of there smarter!

Learning how to be empathetic.

Being empathetic is not easy. It is always challenging to put yourself at the other person's place and try to understand their pain, especially if it makes you go against your values and believes. A good example is volunteering in prisons and working with inmates. In my previous post I talked about my experience working with inmates, you can check it out to have an idea of what I am talking about.

One thing is sure, volunteering makes your capability of feeling empathy towards others to grow. You will meet people who are suffering or have suffered in their life and this is something which leaves a mark forever. Also, empathy is all about accepting what is different. Sometimes people will tell you or will do things that will shock you or leave you speechless but accepting and trying to understand a different point of view without judging and going immediately to conclusions, is definitely going to make you grow as a person.

You are worthy and can really help someone.

Volunteering can be very different depending on the organization you volunteer for. Everybody can be a volunteer because everybody can do something. You don't need special skills and qualifications and this is the beauty of it. For example, with some of my volunteers we read books to children, with others we organize summer festivals or we talk and try to work with people in extreme poverty... Maybe you have to cook, clean, write letters, teach a language, paint, work with animals... whatever. The point is that you help someone and everybody can do it.

Having a strong position about what is going on in the world and how we can make a change.

NGOs fight against injustice. They all have different causes but one thing is true for all of them – they want to make this world a better place where everybody can feel fulfilled, heard, understood, acknowledged and appreciated. Being a part of an NGO is making you develop a strong position about what is right and wrong in this society, what is acceptable or not and what kind of changes we all have to make, so we could live better lives on this planet.

In my opinion, it is very important to be socially engaged in what is going on in the world and try to figure out what you can do as a person and as a citizen to actually change it. You are not accepting the injustice, you are actually helping to destroy it. Maybe what you do as a volunteer seems like a small thing, but I can assure you that it makes a big change in the world.

Well, these are some of the reasons I think being a volunteer is making you become a better version of yourself. This is an amazing experience which gives you the feeling of fulfillment because you do something good for the world, for the society, for someone else and, of course, for yourself. You have a cause, you fight for something and it gives you a purpose. It is never too late to try volunteering. You can start now! Peace, Elena