Volunteerism helps everyone involved

This summer I went to Tanzania to help fight the AIDS epidemic.
In my imagination, I created visions of what my AIDS seminars would
accomplish ““ the men of the villages would start using
condoms, and everyone would flood clinics to get tested.

As ridiculous as these thoughts were, somewhere in the back of
my head I thought I could change a community. But after my first
seminar, I realized the volunteer experience was more rewarding for
me than for the community I was serving. In my more cynical
moments, I wondered whether I had even helped anyone at all. What
if the whole program was created so First-World children had the
chance to feel like martyrs?

A mandatory community service requirement may be added to the
University of California curriculum. When I first heard of this
requirement, I hated the idea of mandatory volunteering. But as I
look back on my own experiences, I realize that required community
service is not a contradiction.

Though there may be many logistical problems with such a
requirement, the concept of required public service is a good one.
Organizations do not care why volunteers came to their doorstep,
and whether forced or not, volunteering gives individuals a sense
of accomplishment. As anyone who has done volunteering knows, it is
hard to be purely altruistic. We all volunteer for myriad reasons,
from meeting a cute boy to putting experience on a resume. But
whether filing papers or playing with orphans, I never felt that
those I was serving cared about my motivations; they just
appreciated having someone come and help out.

For my AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases course, I had to
volunteer in order to pass. PAWS L.A., where I volunteered, was
grateful for the extra hands and did not resent that I was there
because of a class requirement. Filing and data entry were
desperately needed, and whoever could do it was welcome.

What about the volunteers themselves? Will they acquire the
experience that the UC system wants them to have? It is sometimes
hard to find volunteer positions that are beneficial to the
community and to the volunteer. Often organizations need help with
paperwork more than anything else. But as the volunteers are not
receiving a physical reward, their work should give emotional
satisfaction. If hours of filing are not as fulfilling as volunteer
opportunities, how will the university guarantee that volunteers
will do rewarding work?

Sometimes five minutes is all a volunteer needs to make a whole
day or even a month fulfilling. As my cynicism grew in my first few
weeks in Tanzania, I had a moment that made it all worthwhile. I
helped two other volunteers deliver food to patients too ill to
leave their homes. Scratching off names as we went, we came to the
door of two sisters who had AIDS.

“She’s dead,” a woman said, point-blank.

In shock, we were led to Sharise’s old room. The eldest of
the siblings came in and slowly tried to explain. “Sharise
““ she died on Friday. We had no idea what to do ““ all
of a sudden she was gone. And now the other one won’t eat,
and””mdash;” she trailed off.

We explained that we had no idea what had happened, that the
community health worker had not informed us. As we again tried to
express our sympathy, the eldest gave a faint smile. “The
health worker has not been here. She does not know, so thank you
for coming. For bringing the food. It means so much to us. I think
it helps. It is so nice for all of you to help.”

One rewarding moment makes volunteering an amazing experience,
and this moment is often completely independent of the motivations
for volunteering. Along with my altruism went plenty of selfish
motives for my trip to Africa, but I feel that those motives never
overshadowed the trip.

Even though I had not changed a village or even a single person,
I helped let one woman know that her family was not forgotten, and
having that experience was more than I could have hoped for.

Subas is a fourth-year history student.