Engage young people in volunteer programmes

One of the ways of empowering young people economically, socially and psychologically is through the promotion of volunteerism.

The majority of people participating in volunteer activities are mostly retirees. Young people seem to shun this activity largely because generally they do not benefit much from it in cash or in kind. However, recruiting young volunteers should be considered an important matter and be encouraged because they have the energy.

Most of the young graduates produced by our educational institutions will not be immediately hired to fill the few vacancies available in the country. Young people should, therefore, be empowered to contribute towards national economic development.

Volunteerism will help make young people become robust and resilient. It will enable them to acquire leadership skills that will make them become assets to their societies.

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

These competencies cannot be obtained by only listening to lectures. Young people should be encouraged to participate in social activities and volunteering programmes so that they get an opportunity to interact with others in an environment that has the potential to shape their characters to make them more valuable human capital in the country.

Institutions of higher learning have a role to play in volunteerism. In performing their function of educating students, these institutions should not focus on academic excellence only.

Volunteerism is a way of promoting active learning. It provides experience that will strengthen their commitment to political participation and expand their educational experience. As a result, they will better serve our communities.

As institutions of higher learning churn out younger graduates to various industries, efforts should be made to ensure that they are adequately equipped to thrive in an increasingly global and competitive environment through integrating volunteering in the curriculum, among other considerations.

MOTIVATION REASONS

There are various reasons that motivate volunteerism and it is important to understand them. Personal motivations include the desire to help others, exploring career options, gaining work experience and making social contacts and network for business.

Young people might also be motivated by the perceived need in their neighbourhoods. It is common to see young people in Kenya responding to situations such as natural disasters or health emergencies.

Institutions that engage professional and skilled volunteers enjoy some benefits, including high organisational capacity.

Regularly paid employees are able to focus on an organisation’s strategic direction while episodic volunteers attend to specific goals.

SPECIALISED KNOWLEDGE

It is also possible to engage volunteers who have specialised knowledge, skills and experience not found among the existing employees.

When these volunteers have a positive experience with an institution, they spread the information by word of mouth to their peer networks, leveraging the institution within the environments it operates.

This does not come without challenges though. Fitting volunteers into a project or task being undertaken can be difficult. A mismatch between a volunteer and the institution may lead to an abandonment of a project, causing disruption, loss of investment and creation of a horrible public image.

There is also the logistical challenge of integration of short-term and long-term volunteers. Creating cross-functional teams that work is important, no matter how long or specific the volunteer assignment may be.

CRITICAL MECHANISM

Volunteerism is becoming an increasingly popular and critical mechanism for young people to bring out transformative change in society.

It has the potential to create a conscious future generation that will take the country to greater heights.

The government and non-governmental organisations should identify well-structured progressive youth groups and link up with them for volunteering capacity building that will ensure sustainability in their economic and social development efforts.

Dr Kellen Kiambati is a management consultant and lecturer at Karatina University.

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Dr Anne Kariuki is a social scientist, management consultant and lecturer at Karatina University.

[email protected]