Responses
to February 2005 Hot Topic
After
the wave subsides
By
Andy Fryar
Response posted on February
22nd, 2005 by Jayne Cravens, Bonn, Germany
You
wrote:
"But
what are the likely long term outcomes of such an
outpouring of generosity? Should we, in the volunteerism
community celebrate this acknowledgement of the vital
work of volunteers and the not-for-profit community,
or should we be concerned about the some of the potential
longer term consequences that may occur?"
How
about a third option? What about looking at this as
an opportunity to create long-term outcomes, and to
reframe the way we talk about volunteering? To me,
this was more than an outpouring of support for the
people affected by the tsunami; the overwhelming response
indicated to me that people are hungry to connect,
to not feel so powerless, and to volunteer in such
a way as to make a real difference, to feel like they
are making a contribution that has value. Perhaps
it's time to look at how we talk about opportunities
to volunteer -- are we framing opportunities in such
a way that shows people they can make a real difference
in the issues they care about?
Response
posted on February 4th, 2005 by Kerrie Spinks, Volunteering
Central West, NSW, Australia
I
too have been concerned that the Tsunami Appeal may
ultimately result in donor fatigue and that a lot
of local organisations will be struggling to raise
money for their ongoing activities. My other concern
is that there has been a huge contribution made to
the Tsunami Appeal, which is a good thing, but the
stories of starvation and devastation on the African
Continent (to name just one locality) seem to not
create much interest. I am sure as many or more people
die there each year as were lost in the Tsunami. I
am not for a minute ignoring the devastation caused
by the Tsunami and I am well aware that there was
huge amount of infrastructure destroyed as well as
the significant loss of human life.
I guess my point is that the problem of "in your face"
issue attracting volunteers and money as opposed to
the "ongoing" issues is something we all need to develop
strategies to deal with. If I put on my eternal optimist
hat I would say we could educate people to realise
that we all need to contribute in terms of hours and
money on regular basis and if we did that it would
be a wonderful world. However I have realist tendencies
too so know that is not going to happen.
My challenge to our sector is that we all work towards
increasing the awareness of ongoing need - maybe one
of the first sectors we need to work with is the media.
The messages they present doesn't always help the
cause. Our local media highlighted that people were
bringing in clothes and toys - and saying what wonderful
people we all were. This was despite the fact that
they message I was hearing from all the organisations
was that the greatest need was for money. The costs
alone of transporting clothes and toys back to an
area where they were undoubtedly manufactured in the
first place seems to be mildly crazy. Surely the greatest
need is to re-establish local industry and local industry
is not going to benefit from already manufactured
goods being shipped in. If the media focussed on that
side as opposed to lauding the goods donors it may
be a starting point for changing the community perceptions
and reactions in time of crisis. It may have the effect
of people looking at the issues and the community
in general in a more long term fashion.
Response
posted on February 3rd, 2005 by Richard Irvine, Volunteer
Coordinator, Careres NT Inc, Darwin, Northern Territory,
Australia
I
can't help but agree to some extent with the comments.
There is an undeniable trend internationally towards
episodic volunteering. Short term, one off activities
(particularly high profile ones) can attract huge
numbers of volunteers who are willing to give up a
day or two here and there, or even a couple of weeks.
There will be a huge response to volunteer for the
Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
Part
of the reason for this is because of the intrinsic
recognition that comes with being involved in these
events. To tell people you were involved with the
Sydney Games, the Melbourne Games or tsunami relief
and everyone knows what you are talking about. There
is also a lot of official recognition for the volunteeres
involved such as uniforms, getting in to see the events
free of charge, public thanks and so on. This is not
denigrating the work that these people at all. They
do a fantastic job and deserve all the recognition
they can get.
But
smaller organisations who need regular, ongoing volunteer
effort are still finding it difficult to recruit.
There is little public recognition of the effort put
in by volunteers who just work along quietly in the
background making a huge difference in people's lives.
Let's
hear what you think!
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