YOUNG VOICE
Volunteers
My Tatay never grows tired on telling me that volunteerism is what our dear country lacks. Its absence keeps us stranded on the sticky mud of depression
Eighty junior college students pressed their behinds unto the rusting steel chairs. They were asked to stay after an eight-hour lecture for a batch meeting. The young man they knew to be their batch chairperson positioned himself up front, half cheery and half anxious.
“Batchmates, we will be making our year level’s mascot later after class. Who will volunteer to help?”
None dared to spare some calories to lift their hands. The chairperson smiled wearily. He cleared his throat and continued.
“Batchmates, dali na lang bala ang parade. Bululigay lang ta pwede? Tanan man ta busy. Sin-o da gusto mag-volunteer?” (Batchmates, the parade is nearing. Let’s help each other, shall we? We’re all busy. Who wants to volunteer?)
Still, the hands were paralyzed. Some were hesitant because of a long quiz, a date with someone that night, and just weren’t interested.
Then, memories of elementary and pre-school came to my mind. At that time, everyone were eager to volunteer to clean the chalk-infested board eraser or water the long array of potted plants. Hands would shoot up after the teacher requests for help.
A fourth-grade pupil who has six thick textbooks inside his back pack approached his teacher and said, “Ma’am you seemed like you need help. May I carry your things?”
It may appear to be ‘sipsip’ and just another effort to be a teacher’s pet, but the mere act was courteous and noble.
“Ha? Indi mo gets ang lesson? Dali di bala, I’ll help you,” said a third-grade pupil during recess time and sat with her classmate to help her understand the lesson. It may seem to be a juvenile attempt to practice the art of politics, but the mere offer of help had been unselfish and compassionate.
These weren’t solicited from the doers; these poured and flowed out of goodwill and less from personal motives. These arose from the now less known, less evoked and dormant spirit of volunteerism.
My Tatay never grows tired on telling me that volunteerism is what our dear country lacks. Its absence keeps us stranded on the sticky mud of depression. It is simply taking initiative actions not thinking whether or not these will benefit you, as long as you do because they need to be done. Because of the demands of everyday living, the stressors of survival, we tend to be self-serving, we want to save ourselves. No arguments there. Love thyself first, right? But, this tendency becomes a chronic ideology that soon it gives birth to another tendency, our tendency to forget about others and the greater good of all.
The public trust to the government is undeniably tainted and changing the underlying systems and forms of administration will not immediately solve the urgent need for the much sought change. Efren Peñaflorida, the recently proclaimed CNN hero, through the selfless inspiration of his mobile classroom, emphasized that we are the change that we seek. Efren could have established his own private school, accept a million’s worth of tuition, raise his profits and declare himself an educator, successful at that. Yet, he chose to do away with the pride and glory, he chose to volunteer in a job that a few people would tackle.
SOS, not save our ship but Save Our Selves, this is the principle that dominates Philippine culture. I think it would be safe to infer that because of this, habits and attitudes such as the crab mentality reigns in our native soil. These nevertheless extinguish the very core of nation-building.
My Tatay said our country needs more Efrens; those who can delay personal motives, those who have the rare ability to think less of themselves and more for the common good. But, I guess we do not need to have the same karitons and advocacy as Efren. We just have to have the same beneficiaries, the same people to serve and these would be each other, paying more attention to the less fortunate.
Helping a friend confused with the mind-numbing homework, yielding your car for an old lady to cross the street yet slowly even though you’re running late for a meeting, staying in line and waiting patiently for your turn to use the public toilet; these are all simple forms of volunteerism. And when we’re even more insightful and more blessed with resources, it would be nobler to also upgrade our service. Sending poor but deserving youth to school, putting up enterprises and opening job opportunities, medical missions; these are also routines of a volunteer.
Yes, oftentimes we find it hard, as if our hands are awfully heavy to be raised. We find it difficult to forget temporarily about our own whims and instead become martyrs. But, we opt for change, we opt for a progressive Philippines not just a progressive Reylan or whatever your name may be. So we need to take action that involves not just our personal redemption but most importantly the entire society’s.
I was among the 80 who sat in the rusting steel chairs. I thought about what my Tatay said. So, I heaved a deep sigh, forced out all the inhibitions and slowly raised my right hand.
Finally, “Salamat guid. Sin-o pa da mavolunteer please?”
A couple more hands were seen in the air.
Let’s be volunteers even in our own simple ways. Let’s SOS, SAVE OUR SHIP, otherwise we’ll all drown.
(Comments and reactions to reylangarcia@gmail.com)
Pic: volunteers1.jpg and 2 (main pic)
