“Volunteering is at the very core of being a human. No one has made it through life without someone else’s help.” – Heather French Henry

Volunteerism is the center of the strategy for many NGOs and civil society organizations working for the upliftment of the weaker section of the society. It is an unequivocal need and opportunity to employ highly motivated and skilled individuals into the development sector to perform a host of functions contributing towards the cause.

Caritas India firmly believes in the power of volunteerism and have been engaged with volunteers for decades for its several development programmes. Volunteers in Caritas are called ‘Caritas Samaritans’ who undergo a holistic development through accessing capacity and skill-building programs, the diverse scope of hand-on experience and engaging with a national and international network. 

In alignment with the strategy of Caritas India, two days’ volunteer training was organised for the IDEAS partners of Chhattisgarh from 5th to 8th Jan 2021 for Ambikapur and Jashpur partners. The objective of the training was to orient volunteers on Key strategic pillars and enhance their skill in communication and resource mobilization.  

Heading the Volunteering pillar of Caritas India, Jenny Joy explain all four Key Strategic pillars of Empowering animation, Dialogue, Volunteering & Sharing Community of Caritas India with the volunteers. They were given certain situations and asked to find solutions based on their skills, qualifications and backgrounds. Each group presented their suitable solution embedded with the values, solidarity and goodwill. 

As volunteer communication becomes a very important skill in building networks and sharing information, the session on communication helped the volunteers on understanding the importance of verbal and non-verbal mode and methods of communication. The orientation also stressed on type of audience and modern means of communication such as social media i.e. Facebook, YouTube, blogs and other social networks. The session also covered a few aspects of writing a post for the right audience and with the right message along with some input on key skill for photography.  

The volunteers were also given orientation on enhancing volunteers’ skill in resource mobilization. Jenny explained the importance of fundraising and its needs in reaching to the people in need. They were made aware of the 5 rights while mobilizing funds or any resources i.e. Right person, Right prospect, Right Amount, Right need & Right Time. 

All the 40 volunteers of the training were invited to join Caritas’ Christmas Campaign and mobilize fund in reaching out to those who are in need through the Blanket drive, Joy of meal and photo shot activities. The training concluded with the volunteer registration and planning session. They were oriented on Online volunteer registration portal developed by Caritas India. A live demonstration was done for volunteers wherein they can create their login ID and select task online they are interested to get engaged in. This registration helps Caritas India to have a database of volunteers across India. Moreover, planning was drafted with volunteers for their engagement with Caritas India through their voluntary involvement in some of the project activities.