In 1985, the United Nations officially proclaimed December 5th as International Volunteer Day to honor and highlight the role of those who have contributed and continue to contribute, in a wide variety of ways, to the common good, the well-being of all the inhabitants of this shared planet, and the planet itself.
The United Nations reports millions of people performing charitable actions around the world. In Spain, this figure reaches 2.7 million, according to data from the Volunteer Platform in Spain, published in a recent study. The numbers are impressive, but even more so when they refer to people who have been able to step outside their space of individuality and self-care, open up to other circumstances and causes that also require care and attention, allow themselves to be touched by these causes, and take action, becoming examples of generosity, solidarity, and responsibility.
When we talk about volunteering, we refer to people with very different profiles and motivations, who participate through volunteer organizations in different areas or spaces of intervention such as social, social-health, educational, development cooperation, environmental, animal protection, cultural, sports, civil protection, leisure and free time, etc. These areas and the ways of intervening in each of them have been enriched over time and with new situations that have emerged, such as the recent COVID-19 epidemic. Once the paralysis experienced by most of society in the early stages of the epidemic has been overcome, both volunteer organizations and the volunteers who are part of them have been able to look up, look around, and reinvent themselves. Not only has the voluntary work already carried out been continued, incorporating other methods, but it has also responded to new needs, demonstrating once again that "wherever there is a need to improve reality, there is voluntary action."
Every cause, motive, or field of volunteering is important and worthy of attention, so the diversity of human interests is fortunate. In a recent conversation with a Missionary Brother of St. John of God, a great advocate of volunteering, discussing what motivates a person to volunteer for a specific cause or field, he told us that "love is a thing of God," referring to the fact that it transcends the individual. However, it is in our hands and is the responsibility, both of the volunteers themselves and especially of the organizations that promote them, to care for, encourage, and improve volunteer work every day.
In the field of international development cooperation, where volunteering is promoted by organizations such as Juan Ciudad ONGD, which works in the social and healthcare fields for sustainable human development and the defense of human rights, focusing primarily on the right to health, the COVID situation, whose consequences have been especially harsh in countries with already fragile healthcare systems, has encouraged us as volunteers to expand our online or virtual participation options. During this time, volunteers have been able to continue collaborating to improve various disadvantaged situations in the countries with which we cooperate, but also, and more recently, reminding society of the interconnectedness that exists worldwide, that we are part of the same human family, and the responsibility for the common present and future that we cannot neglect. THANK YOU, VOLUNTEERS!
