Sharing Happiness through Volunteerism

Former high school teacher Sohn Tae-gyu, 68, has been “veteran volunteer” for 38 years. Sohn, who has consistently dedicated his weekends to volunteering, began this service because of the wonderful sensation of life that he receives from it.

His volunteer career path, however, has not been a linear one.

Until 1998, Sohn invested his time and energy by assisting live-alone elderly or neighbors through cleaning projects. But since 1999, he turned to his career experience, engaging in educational activities like literacy programs for the elderly or counseling for minors who have been sexually abused.

During the past 38 years, however, one thing has remained consistent for Sohn: Volunteerism remains a joy that money cannot buy.

“It’s good to help a neighbor in need one person at a time,” Sohn said. “But it seemed that I could reach out and help more people with my knowledge and experience. That’s why I changed my focus.”

○ The Field of Volunteerism Widens

Volunteerism is changing.

When people talk about volunteer work, they think about community services for the socially disadvantaged, where a vast majority of volunteers work.

However, the number of volunteers helping the poor has recently been on a steady decline. Traditional causes such as environmentalism are also experiencing similar changes.

Instead, volunteers are opting for more institutionalized public services such as community development or administrative affairs.

The Korea Association of Volunteerism recently studied 248 volunteer centers nationwide. In the study, it found volunteers engaged in social welfare work dropped 7 percentage points from 36 percent in 2005 to 29 percent in 2006.

Similarly, volunteers involved in environmental work dropped from 21 percent in 2005 to 10.2 percent, while those assisting in neighborhood traffic control dropped from 9 percent in 2005 to 6.3 percent last year.

On the contrary, more people carried out institutionalized public service work like community development (16.5 percent) and administrative affairs (6.5 percent) in 2006, more than the previous year.

○ More than Just Volunteering

Experts attribute the widening field of volunteerism to changing attitudes of people.

In the past, people deemed volunteerism as simply helping individuals in need. Now, citizens understand volunteerism as contributing to the advance of the whole community through the utilization of knowledge and experiences. In the process, people feel happier and receive a sense of achievement.

Professor Lee Seong-nok, an expert in social rehabilitation, explains, “At first, people just wanted to help their neighbors in need, but as the quality of life improves, people help others to advance their own quality of life.”

Professor Lee adds, “As society gets complicated and economically more advanced, people feel lonelier and more agitated about life’s unpredictability. Thus, more and more people are countering these anxieties through the security and joy that volunteerism brings.”

Pyeongtaek University social welfare professor Kim Beom-su notes, “As the economy and society advance there is a greater demand for volunteerism. At the same time, common citizens expect higher quality of public services, which in turn widens field of volunteer services.”

○ A Hobby through Volunteering

These days, people tend to choose hobbies that can also serve the needs of the community.

The new trend has to a considerable degree erased the notion that beneficiaries of volunteerism are disadvantaged.

The Volunteer Art Troupe consisting of K-12 students interested in music in Ulsan City illustrates this new trend.

The troupe was originally formed to help organize volunteer crews for the 2002 World Cup games held in the city.

Its 140 members have performed various concerts, free of charge, for the elderly and orphans, as well as for common citizens.

“We don’t have to stick to the idea of helping the disadvantaged, “ says the troupe’s leader, Kim Dong-wuk. “Ordinary citizens also need volunteer assistance, and so we believe there’s great value in our work.”

Similarly, when an oil spill devastated Korea’s west coast area of Taean county last month, divers from various scuba clubs helped clean up oil from the sea.

Hanyang Cyber University social welfare professor Gu Hye-yeong observes, “People who cherish their hobbies and individual character seek their identity through their work. For modern people, this demand is also appearing in their volunteerism.”

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