May 20, 2021
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It's National Volunteering Week, and we’re asking people to think small! Whether it’s an action you can take to support your community like picking up litter or doing something for yourself like meditation or enjoying a hot bath, even the smallest acts can have a big impact. The last year has been hard on us all but there are small things we can do for ourselves, and for each other, that make a big difference.
Our in-country ESC volunteer, Maria, wrote some reflections about the impact volunteering with VSI has had on her. Check it out!
"Volunteering for me has become second nature. I started volunteering around the age of 15 and haven’t looked back since. My volunteering escapades throughout the years have brought me on a series of self-development journeys, from working as a general steward for Body and Soul Festival to volunteering in a grassroots human rights NGO in Athens, to now volunteering with Voluntary Service International (VSI) as a Communications and Marketing Officer. While volunteering has its practical benefits in increasing your professional capacity, it also has a profound effect on not just your wellbeing but also the wellbeing of others and the local community. The relationship between volunteering and wellbeing has always been significant but for me personally, it has acted as something of a life-source and makeshift emblem of positivity during these challenging times. Volunteering with VSI has provided me with invaluable learning tools and insights into the functioning of a tight-knit international community driven by their determination to change the world for the better through their voices of peace and actions of solidarity. 7 months later it still amazes me how global the VSI/SCI community is and yet, I feel as though we are all neighbours, both in geographical proximity and in mind and soul. While the actions I take might be small drops in the ocean for the larger SCI community, I know the impact volunteering with VSI has been huge on me. And that’s been priceless."
