SCI-India Maharashtra State Group Observes International Volunteer Day with a Webinar on
Back to the Basics? Volunteering and Workcamps:
What has changed and what to look forward to.
[Held on Tuesday, 5th December 2023; 16:00 IST to 17:30 IST]
SCI-India Maharashtra State Group held an international webinar on volunteering and workcamps, with special emphasis on participation of overseas volunteers in Asian workcamps. The webinar was held on 5th December 2023, the International Volunteer Day, as a tribute to the spirit of voluntarism.
The speakers at the webinar hailed from SCI branches of India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, as well as from the International Secretariat. The Zoom meeting was attended by 18 people. (A few more joined near the end of the webinar.) The recorded event can be viewed on the Group’s YouTube channel (see link above).
The main theme of the webinar was ‘workcamps as a platform for introducing SCI’s aims and methods to new volunteers’, although speakers were free to choose their own topic.
The webinar was hosted by Shriniwas Sawant, SCI-India Maharashtra State Group’s long-term volunteer, who is also involved in social work through a local NGO ‘Committed Action for Relief and Education’ (CARE), which he has co-founded. In his introductory comments, Shriniwas acknowledged with gratitude the invaluable contributions of SCI volunteers through workcamps, long-term projects and peace education activities throughout the organizations 103-year-old history. International Volunteer Day, he said, “serves as a reminder that despite our diverse backgrounds, we are united by a shared commitment to building a more compassionate and equitable world. It is a day to express gratitude to the volunteers who, through their actions, inspire others to join the noble cause of service.”
The first speaker was Alexandra Vasileiou, SCI’s current International Secretary and founder of SCI-Hellas (SCI’s Greek Branch; founded in 1983). Alexandra has extensive expertise in pedagogy and decades-long experience in teaching and voluntary work, which was reflected in her insightful presentation on one of the recent problems facing voluntary work: the issue of ‘voluntourism’ (a portmanteau word combining voluntarism and tourism) and the risks it poses to genuine international voluntary service, such as SCI.
Titled “Mountains Too High To Climb”, Alexandra’s slide-show presentation described how, over the past 20 years, new agencies and organizations (the ‘mobility industry’), mainly from the global North, have entered the short, medium and long term voluntary field, offering a tourism-style volunteering experience that often comes with very high fees. These custom-made program packages are presented as rewarding, stress-free experience, offering participant satisfaction, entertainment and a sense of being useful. However, important aspects, such as project quality, follow-up, impact on the local community, and challenging aspects of inter-cultural exchanges (ideologies, politics, critical thinking) are not part of the feel-good experience, and conveniently ignored.
The genuine international voluntary service organizations like SCI, now face direct competition (in terms of volunteers as well as funds), from the business-like voluntourism, and a dilemma about whether to continue to adapt to the changing times, or blindly follow the dangerous trends imposed by the mobility industry.
To compete successfully without losing our original identity, vision, mission, and values in a rapidly changing world, Alexandra suggests we need to know our target group of young people, who are less driven by conventional political or ideological motivation. Instead, she says, citing English sociologist Anthony Giddens’s concept of Lifestyle Politics, the millennial youth express their values based on daily behaviors, for example, caring what they consume, vegetarianism, environmental awareness, inclusivity, etc. ‘To change the world’ is perceived as one of the strongest drives among the young people wishing to join a voluntary project, and many show a strong interest in experiencing and practicing lifestyle alternatives to consumerism and hyper-achievement. We need to take all this into account, Alexandra said, when designing our activities. “The voluntourism sector is not interested in transformational change and promotion of critical thinking. It is only the IVS movement that is very sensitive to these values,” she added.
To avoid the pitfalls of voluntourism or blindly following it, Alexandra suggests that the IVS movement as a whole should work together toward harmonization of guidelines, quality standards and exchange procedures as one body rather than as individual organizations. Efforts must be invested in identifying and preparing exchange volunteers by working together (sending and hosting) rather than simply ‘attracting’ through social media. The prospective volunteers must be made aware of our horizontal, participatory, grassroots approach (rather than the top-down, North-helping-South approach) to avoid misunderstanding. They should be also warned about voluntourism.
Alexandra’s thought-provoking presentation was followed by Silvio Martinelli sharing his thoughts on peace with nature in volunteer movement. In his 33 years in SCI, Silvio has worked in various capacities: as LTV, as staff member of Italian and Finnish branches, workcamp organizer in Guatemala, etc. He also has been active with other NGOs working on health issues, including HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Currently he is the Vice President of SCI.
At the outset, Silvio alluded to the rapid changes happening in the world in the last few years—the wars, the Covid pandemic and climate change being the big events—and asked if SCI is responding and adapting to these changes fast enough to remain relevant in the rapidly changing world.
Quoting India’s Mahatma Gandhi who had said, “The Earth has enough resources for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed,” Silvio added a peace component to it, saying, “the humanity’s greed has led to what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called ‘a war on nature’ … a senseless and suicidal” pursuit. In 2021, the United Nations Environment Programme published a report titled ‘Making Peace with Nature’. This new dimension of peace with nature, beyond the conventional meaning of peace as between people, is relevant to linking SCI’s peace work to climate justice in today’s changing world, Silvio said. SCI’s online courses on peace in practice include peace with nature as one of the four components. “Lack of peace with nature leads to wars over resources, mass migrations, starvation, and in general social injustice between Global North and Global South.
“It is time,” he said, “that SCI takes this concept of peace with nature very seriously. It’s important for the world, and it’s important for SCI’s relevance in a changing world.”
A lot of work is being done toward this goal, says Silvio. This work can be grouped into three areas:
- a) mitigation, sustainable living, lowering our footprint; the latter through supporting front-line communities, opposing fossil fuel projects, improved recycling, using composting in communities, and education for resource saving, etc.
- b) adaptation and social justice: This includes disaster relief, which SCI has been involved in, but relief work has become more intense and frequent due to fast-changing climate.
- c) adaptation to build resilience to the impact of climate change: These adaptations include small-scale agriculture, permaculture, restoring habitats, and post-fossil fuel era, e.g., urban farming, local food distribution (instead of international movement of products) and sharing economic projects.
In conclusion, Silvio observed that SCI has been adapting to the changing world, but “maybe we could go a bit faster, and with more acknowledgement of the importance of making peace with nature,” because as a peace organization, SCI has a niche. “And as Pierre Cérésole, our founder, over a hundred and three years ago initiated reconciliation between peoples of war, the French and the German, now we can initiate reconciliation between people and nature.”
Stephen Nah, SCI-Malaysia’s long-time SCIer, and co-founder of SCI-Kuala Lumpur and SCI-Penang, shared his experience of working with SCI. Aged 72 and “semi-retired”, Stephen is still active in SCI, having balanced his personal, family, study, work, and voluntary life pretty well. Volunteering in SCI has been both a challenge and a joy, said Stephen, and working in different capacities (treasurer, secretary, president etc) has given him a wealth of experience and knowledge that has been useful in his career as well as personal life.
“The challenge of working with SCI is to know what you want or aspire to be,” Stephen said. Beyond the physical, material and social achievements one strives for, there are spiritual and emotional satisfactions that last much longer, and SCI and other NGOs provide the opportunity to have these in one’s life. The challenge is to find interest and devote time for it, find resources and develop skills, so as to be meaningful in this venture. When we engage in this voluntary service, a lot of interactions and connections happen. We reach out to people whom we help improve in their wants and needs, and with whom we share moments, work, sing, dance together and through this lasting friendships are formed and this is the source of joy. Another satisfaction, he said, is when we see smiles on the faces of people we meet, who are happy to see us.
Volunteering requires right attitude and motivation. It also needs resources, such as time and funding. A volunteer must plan for all this. “To be a volunteer, you must know there are challenges ahead, and also joys and rewards,” Stephen said. “And the reward, besides making people happy, is your own personal development.”
The next speaker, Dr. Shobha Sudarshan, from SCI-India Karnataka State Group was unable to attend, but had sent her speech in advance. A gynecologist by profession, Dr. Shobha is currently an IEC (International Executive Committee) co-opted member. She has been with SCI for the past 30 years, working especially on women-related projects and issues. Her speech was read by host Shriniwas.
Mentioning the slogan “The Power of Collective Action: Together We Can”, Dr. Shobha stated that “volunteering is not a one-time action, but an on-going, continued programme we need to plan how beneficial it is to the society in maintaining peace, and what is my contribution to bring in the [desired] change.” She stressed that with team efforts everything is possible.
Sheherbanoo Gullar, SCI-India’s Central Working Committee Chairperson, and former president of the Group, spoke next. A cyto-technologist by profession, now retired, Sheherbanoo has done considerable work on women’s development, particularly Muslim women.
Noting that volunteer is a latin-origin word (meaning wish or free will), Sheherbanoo said that volunteering is a rewarding venture, because despite contributing for a social cause one’s time, energy, talents and often money, it gives the volunteer tremendous satisfaction.
Sheherbanoo then gave a brief description of SCI-India’s recent and planned volunteering activities. These include Maharashtra Group’s recently concluded workcamp; Tamil Nadu Group’s forthcoming mobile camp in February, with an education-cum-cultural exchange along the way from Chennai to Trivendrum; Karnataka Group’s donation of 30 wheelchairs to physically challenged persons; West Bengal Group’s plastic refuse collection drives; and Delhi Group’s recent distribution of school stationery to children on India’s Independence Day (15th August). Maharashtra Group has also planned a sea-beach-cleaning campaign in Mumbai. The Group has a regular, ongoing weekend activity at a local school for visually disabled girls where the Group’s women volunteers read books to the students, help them in studies and play with them. Furthermore, the Group has, in collaboration with other NGOs, conducted workshops for women’s empowerment.
Sheherbanoo’s own NGO also conducts summer workshops for young women in collaboration with other organizations, including SCI. “It’s a grooming program,” she said. “The idea is to change a young girl into a fine lady, a woman of substance,” who is capable of carrying herself with dignity in a changing society. Through lectures, practicals and sports, the girls and young women are trained in a wide variety of activities and occupations. The organizers even bring in trainers for swimming and horse-riding. The activities are selected according to the local surroundings, beliefs, and the aspirations of the participants.
A good volunteer, she said, has no ego, is humble and polite, has respect for other people’s views, helps create congenial atmosphere and wins the respect of others.
Sooriya Bhandara, SCI volunteer from Sri Lanka spoke about his unique experience of SCI. In his 25 years in SCI, Sooriya has worked in various capacities, including at the International Secretariat preparing for SCI’s centennial celebrations in 2020, and as a member of the AIWG (SCI’s Asia International Working Group).
Associated with SCI for more than half of his life, Sooriya’s entry into SCI is an interesting story. After finishing his studies, he was about to join the military academy for further studies, like most young people during Sri Lanka’s civil war years. His brother had just returned from an SCI workcamp and told Sooriya, “It was fantastic. They were different people.” Curious, Sooriya joined a two-month workcamp, then another and one more, and at the end of six months, he longer wanted to join the army. “It was a kind of different exposure that we hadn’t had before,” he said. With many conflicts going on around the world, people need alternatives to what they are living in, he says. “That day if I had joined the military, I might not be alive anymore.”
Workcamps have become shorter, 10 to 11 days, due to local people not having enough time. However, for overseas volunteers it’s not worthwhile to attend just one short-term workcamp after spending a lot of time and money on preparation and travel. Therefore, he suggests, Asian branches look into organizing long-term volunteer (LTV) programs, in addition to the short-term workcamps. “This is all about adapting to changing realities,” he said, noting the strength of SCI’s partner organizations. Soori stressed on keeping the quality of our work high, even if we had to do less.
Vivek Patil, former treasurer of the Maharashtra Group, and associated with SCI for nearly four decades, spoke about his involvement in SCI as well as how SCI groups can improve their day-to-day administration and become more effective and efficient in their volunteer work.
“My introduction to SCI started with a small pamphlet ‘What is SCI’ given to me by Nitin Vengurlekar,” he said. The little pamphlet describing SCI’s work and methods had a profound effect on him and he joined SCI immediately. Since the Maharashtra Group’s revival in 2022, Vivek and his contemporaries from the early 1980s have taken a keen interest in rejuvenating the Group.
“I saw that people are really interested in voluntary work, and so we came together [again], met people and involved other organizations.” Some of the current SCI members are associated with other NGOs, and partnering with them has helped get more volunteers and organize more activities. In addition to annual short-term workcamps and regular weekend volunteering activities, the Group has held numerous online webinars on various topics and published relevant e-booklets, and organized peace walks and poster exhibitions. “The activities gained momentum, and the people were so interested that we didn’t spend a single rupee from SCI’s account. Everybody contributed [from their own pockets].”
A chartered accountant and stock-market consultant by profession, Vivek has a very busy schedule, but still finds time for SCI activities. “As a working professional, I always insist upon efficiency, and I see there are lacunae, for example, in maintaining [meetings’] minutes books and accounts properly.” Volunteers today need to have some basic computer and communication skills. In view of this, Vivek conducted an online training session on preparing power-point presentations, writing reports and minutes, creating and handling text and data files, etc. The Group has launched its own YouTube channel on which these videos, as well as records of online webinars and other activities are regularly posted.
These days, Vivek is learning about Artificial Intelligence and large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Copilot, as they help in doing administrative jobs (preparing accounts, writing reports etc) within seconds and minutes instead of days or weeks. As an example, Vivek used ChatGPT to write a poem about the recently conducted workcamp, highlighting the work being done and praising the volunteers and support staff for their contribution.
Since international workcamp was the main idea behind the beginning of SCI, Vivek insists that SCI workcamps need be truly international, with active participation of overseas volunteers in local workcamps. He suggests those involved in organizing international workcamps and North-South volunteer exchange should come together and discuss ways to increase international participation in local workcamps.
In the question-answer session, Sunil observed that participating in a workcamp can be a life-changing experience, and suggested the presence of senior, experienced volunteers who could inspire new, young volunteers through their words and actions, and provide insights not just about SCI, but peace and volunteering in general.
- P. Yadav thanked Nitin for organizing a “wonderful” seminar, praised Stephen Nah for his ‘from the heart’ presentation, and observed how we have silently moved over the past five to six decades in organizing activities and motivating volunteers. “Let’s move ahead with new ideas, new people and new volunteers as well as the experienced ones.”
Sheherbanoo acknowledged the hard work Vivek and Nitin have put in reviving the group, organizing the activities, and inspiring new volunteers. “Because of you people, I’ve also got the energy and inspiration to do something,” she said.
From SCI-Malaysia’s Penang Group, Dato Dr. GP Doraisamy Govindasamy thanked Maharashtra Group for commemorating the International Volunteer Day with this webinar, and acknowledged the pioneering work of Stephen Nah, whom he has known for the past over 25 years. Dr. Doraisamy has been involved in voluntary work since the 1970s, as part of Malaysia’s youth leadership movement, having earned the Best Youth Leadership award of Malaysia in 1992. For the past five years, he has been the secretary-general of the London-based World Humanitarian Drive’s (WHD) Malaysia chapter.
Stephen Nah, who is also part of WHD, added that SCI-Malaysia plans to have the next ICM (International Committee Meeting) in Penang and both him and Doraisamy welcomed all to visit Penang during the event.
Abinash Ganesh, National Secretary of SCI-India, sent a message congratulating the Group for organizing the webinar, and wished more SCI volunteers had joined the meeting.
Tapas Sur, from the West Bengal Group, thanked the organizers and expressed his appreciation for Alexandra’s “very useful and effective” presentation on how to improve the international voluntary service movement, focusing especially on SCI’s real issues and challenges ahead. He commended Stephen Nah’s “from the heart” speech, and took the opportunity to comment on Prabhakar Kamble’s quiet but genuine work in SCI. “His zeal for voluntarism should be noticed on today’s occasion,” Tapas said. Noting Prabhakar’s selfless and genuine work in SCI over the decades, he added, “Genuineness is very much required in volunteering. That is the essence of voluntarism.” He also thanked Sheherbanoo for her strong character.
The meeting concluded with the participants waving goodbyes and promising to meet again soon.
Summary of Webinar by Sunil Pednekar (Thailand)