It is an activity that is becoming a common practice by many individuals. Many institutions are also taking the opportunity of volunteers in order to save on costs while realizing their goals. This paper seeks to determine the factors that motivate volunteers in the leisure sector.
It also aims at providing some of the challenges faced during the management of volunteers and the succession planning that done for the volunteers in the sector.
As a means to develop an understanding of these topics, the paper will review previous research on volunteering and outline some of the motivating factors, challenges and importance of volunteering.
The review shows that individuals are motivated due to the benefits that come with volunteering in the sector and the nature of the activity. The main challenge outlined includes the process of recruitment and management of the volunteers.
This calls for proper succession planning by the institution and organizations. The visitor attraction operations have determined the volunteers to be of great importance due to various reasons including increase in workforce and reduction of costs.
Introduction
Volunteering is the provision of free service to an institution or organization. Due to reappraisal of the social policy in various areas, the voluntary groups have found new roles to play. Many areas including community development and other welfare issues are becoming more dependent on the intervention from volunteers.
The voluntary sector is increasing and in the UK, for example, almost half of the population is involved in voluntary services (Bussell and Forbes 3). The leisure sector is also becoming preferred by volunteers due to several motivating factors.
The institutions recruiting volunteers face several challenges in the management of the volunteers. The leisure sector is increasingly becoming dependent on the volunteers due to their importance in the sector.
Literature review
Volunteers are usually from diverse cultures and may work in various social, religious and social frameworks (Lockstone-Binney, Holmes, Smith, and Baum 3). Volunteering has been often associated with sustained and continuous form of commitment.
This is where by volunteers work for a particular company over a long period of time. This way, the employers and employees maintain a long-term working relationship. However, various changes in the demographics and certain social changes have increased the need for the volunteers.
Their commitment and their time have been considered of great importance in various settings in the leisure sector (Lockstone-Binney, Holmes, Smith, and Baum 3).
For example, other forms of volunteering are temporal and are opportunities that are provided due to high demand. They are usually provided on a one-time basis or only during specific occasions. In the leisure sector, volunteering takes place in various areas.
Examples of these areas include the sporting activities and events, visitor information centres, heritage cites, conservation areas and museums.
There are several motivational factors that encourage the volunteers to focus their attention to the leisure sectors (Boz and Palaz 645). One of the major factors that motivate volunteers to venture into the leisure sector is the perceived benefits.
It has been suggested that human beings perform activities that usually result in the exchange of costs for benefits. Some of the costs that a volunteer incurs include their time, energy and finances.
The perceived benefits may include rewards that the volunteer may receive after offering his or her time and energy. The exchange theory argues that a person is motivated to perform volunteer activities if the profits to be received exceed the costs incurred.
Other factors that motivate people to volunteer in the leisure sector are the conscious reasons. They may be divided into three categories. Firstly, they may be the reasons that are to do with the particular activity to be undertaken for volunteer or the location.
For example, many people like to volunteer during the Olympic Games. Approximately 47000 people volunteered for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Paralympic Games (Holmes and Smith 5). The UEFS EURO 2012 event is highly anticipated and many volunteers will be willing to sacrifice their energy and time for the event.
Secondly, others decide to volunteer due to the client population. These include the altruistic responses. Thirdly, other reasons include those related to the volunteers themselves.
Managing volunteers may be challenging in many ways. Selecting the qualified persons to perform the particular task may be time consuming. For example, the pioneer volunteers of the 2000 Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games had to be recruited four years before the event.
Succession planning for the volunteers in the leisure sector may include the recruitment of the persons with regards to their qualifications and depending on the roles to be played. Sometimes, age is a factor (Holmes and Smith 4).
Therefore, recruiting the specific age group is essential in order to ensure that the task will be effectively performed. This may include recruiting persons who are fluent in specific languages, those with medical qualifications, or those with technical know-how.
These volunteers are usually referred to as the specialist volunteers. There are also general volunteers who usually perform general activities. These may include acting as spectators, providing transport and various other activities.
The volunteers are also asked to familiarize themselves with the rules and regulations of the organizations. If the performance of the volunteers does not match the standards of the institution, they are withdrawn (Holmes and Smith 8).
Volunteers in visitor attraction operations are very important for many reasons. Firstly, they help the organizations to save a lot of money (opportunity cost) that they would have otherwise used to perform the particular task if the volunteers were not available (Holmes and Smith 6).
The volunteers also help to reduce the bulk of the task since some tasks require a huge number of personnel. Another benefit organizations get from the volunteers is the technical support that is provided by the volunteers (Holmes and Smith 7).
Methodology
For this assessment, the data was collected using secondary sources. This involved the consultation of academic and industrial reference sources. Peer reviewed journals were used in order to compare the works of various authors and come with a consolidated approach.
The searches were conducted for articles written between 2002 and 2011. The articles were in English and were searched using the key word volunteering in leisure sector. Articles that were more recent were given priority for inclusion.
The titles and abstracts of the sources were reviewed in order to determine their relevance to the particular topic of discussion. Those that touched on the four topics of discussion were selected as relevant material.
Due to the limited time allocated for the assessment study, four references were used for the study. There were four areas that were being studied. The first one was on the factors that motivated volunteers in the leisure sector. The second one was on the challenges that organizations and institutions faced while managing volunteers.
The third was on the succession planning that was prepared for the volunteers in the leisure sector. Lastly, the importance of the volunteers in the visitor attraction operations was also studied.
For analysis, the articles were reviewed in order to find the ideas that were common or related in the articles. The information that was related to the four areas of the study were outlined and presented.
Analysis and discussion
Several factors were provided as reasons why volunteers were motivated to venture into the leisure sector. The first factor was described as the perceived benefits from the volunteering work. This could be the opportunity that volunteering brings to the person. This may be due to the particular activity of the venue.
The person may be motivated to volunteer if, for example, the volunteering work would enable him or her to go to places that one could not normally go. Attending events such as the Olympic Games may be costly and volunteering would grant someone easy access.
Other people prefer to volunteer in the leisure sector due to the nature of activity. The activity may be enjoyable and fun.
Other reasons include the expected satisfaction (Edwards and Graham 22). Some experience satisfaction when they achieve their own goals while performing volunteer activity. Others find satisfaction when they see other people achieve their goals through their volunteer services.
Satisfaction in achieving ones goals may be through receiving rewards and recognition at the end of the volunteer service. However, some are satisfied by the mere fact that they were able to benefit the society at large (Boz and Palaz 648).
There are several challenges that may face institutions and organizations while managing volunteers. This is because of the selection process that may be challenging. Despite providing volunteer services, the volunteers should have certain qualifications.
Some volunteers also may not take the work seriously due to the fact that they are not being paid for it. This proves challenging to the institutions.
The succession planning for volunteers involves several steps including the recruitment of individuals based on age and qualifications (depending on type of volunteer work). The institutions also ensure that the volunteers are conversant with the rules and regulation of the institution, and their roles as volunteers.
Institutions that deal in visitor attraction operations benefit greatly from the volunteers. This is because the volunteers help in easing some of the strenuous activities that the institutions have to perform.
Some of them provide technical help due to their expertise and this provides the institutions with a helping hand in realizing their goals within the set deadlines.
Conclusion and recommendations
Volunteering is the act of sacrificing time, energy or resources to an organization or institutions in order to get satisfaction in one way or another. Many people volunteer in various areas and sectors in the economy.
However, many volunteer in the leisure sector. This preference is due to various reasons that may include the satisfaction that comes with it or the rewards that are expected.
Due to the large numbers of volunteer in this sector, succession planning is necessary in order to select the right candidates for the job. This involves conducting a recruitment process.
Institutions recruiting volunteers are mostly faced with several challenges while managing the volunteers. This may be due to the recruitment process itself or their performance after recruitment.
Many institutions are resorting to the recruitment of volunteers due to the benefits that come with it. Volunteers increase the workforce and make work easier.
Volunteers may also have certain skills that may be helpful for the institution to realize their goals. Therefore, with proper management of volunteers, organizations may realize their goals while at the same time saving on costs.
Works Cited
Boz, Ismet, and Serap Palaz. Factors influencing the motivation of Turkeys community volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 36.4 (2007): 643-661.
Bussell, H, and D Forbes. Understanding the volunteer market: The what, where, who and why of volunteering. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 7.3 (2002): 244-257.
Edwards, Deborah, and Margaret Graham. Museum volunteers: A discussion of challenges facing managers in the cultural heritage sectors. Australian Journal on Volunteering, 11.1 (2006): 19-27.
Holmes, Kristen, and Karen Smith. Managing volunteers in tourism: Attractions, destinations and events. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009. Web.
Lockstone-Binney, Leonie, Kristen Holmes, Karen Smith, and Tom Baum. Volunteers and volunteering in leisure: Social science perspectives. Leisure Studies, 29.4 (2010): 435-455.
Community service as a concept has gained popularity throughout the world for various reasons. Perold & Rahmat (1997:14) are of the view that this concept is gaining popularity in discourses taking place throughout the world. This is especially the case in community development discussions.
Bryant & West (2011) views community service as service or activity that &..is donated or performed by an individual or a group of individuals to benefit the community (p. 82). The aim of community service is to benefit members of the public or the various institutions that are found in a contemporary society. It is noted that not every individual who provides community service can be referred to as a volunteer.
This is a common misconception among members of the public. It is not everyone who is contributing to the wellbeing of the community is doing so at their own free will. This is given the fact that the individual may be compelled to provide community service by various factors.
Such an individual cannot be conceptualised as a volunteer. However, those who provide community service on their own volition with the sole aim of benefiting members of the society and the various social institutions can be regarded as volunteers (Hustinx, 2005: 530).
So what are some of the reasons that compel someone to provide community service? According to Jones & Hill (2003: 539), there are various reasons why one may feel compelled to provide community service against their will. For example, the government may require some people to provide community service as a policy.
This is for example when military officers are required to provide humanitarian assistance to members of the public during war. Another reason may be an order from the court especially for those criminals who are serving their sentence on probation.
A school may also require the students to provide community service before they graduate. These are just some of the various reasons that may compel someone to provide community service against their will.
Jehan (2004: 297) opines that recent developments in the world today have greatly affected community service. For example, globalisation has made the community so complex such that several communities around the world are dependent on each other. This being the case, community service in one community may have impacts on another society in a different part of the world.
The issue of interdependence among communities is especially significant given the fact that globalisation has created a situation whereby limited resources have to be shared by the various communities around the world (Jehan, 2004: 297).
As a result of globalisation, it is noted that community service requires the engagement of various stakeholders in the society. This is given the fact that a single sector or a single segment of the society cannot effectively meet the requirements of community service in a given society (Hustinx, 2005: 526). Collaboration between various stakeholders such as businesses, schools and such others is needed to improve the welfare of the community.
So what are some of the benefits of community service? According to Vermeulen, Nawir & Mayers (2003: 12), both the community and the person providing the service stand to benefit from community service. For example as far as the individual is concerned, community service leads to a sense of pride and satisfaction after helping the needy (Dwayne & Palmer, 2006: 399).
The individual feels needed and feels that they have contributed to the wellbeing of the society. Community service also fosters a sense of responsibility on the part of the volunteer or the person providing the service (Bednarz et al., 2008: 92). The person feels indebted to the community and feels that they have a duty to perform. It is noted that community service strengthens the community benefiting from the service.
For example, a business enterprise providing free medical services to the members of the community improves the overall health of the whole community (Altman, 1995: 529).
As the volunteer gets to interact with other members of the community, a sense of tolerance develops between the members of the community and the volunteer. This is especially so in regions such as Africa where ethnic and tribal animosity is rife. A volunteer should ideally provide services to all members of the society without discriminating on the basis of ethnicity or other differences.
It is important to note that as much as the community and the individual stands to benefit from community service, there are various challenges facing the provision of this service in a given community (Bebbington & Farrington, 1993: 202). The challenges vary through time and space. This means that they vary from one community to the other and from one time or period to the other.
Such challenges may include the resistance on the part of the members of the community. The members of the community may resist help from outsiders even when it is obvious that such help is to their own benefit. For example, a country in Africa may decline humanitarian help from a Western nation claiming that such assistance may threaten the sovereignty of the country.
Another challenge may be resistance and lack of cooperation on the part of the community service providers. A case in point is when students resist providing community service when it is made mandatory by the school management.
It is also noted that community service may be threatened by lack of funds which will hamper the ability of the organisation or the individual to provide such services. A case in point is when there is lack of donor funding to support famine relief programs in Africa.
Problem Statement
As already noted in this paper, community service can be provided by different individuals and organisations from within and without the target community. This may include businesses providing community service as part of their corporate social responsibility program, faith based organisations as part of their outreach program or individuals interested in giving back to the community (Booth, 2006: 13).
A university is such an organisation that may find it necessary to provide community service as part of its academic and professional program. The university may require the students to participate in community service before they graduate.
This is for example when the department of dentistry requires the trainee dentists to participate in dental camps organised in the community to provide members of the community with free dental services. Other activities in which the students may participate include planting trees, cleaning, caring for the needy among others.
Perold & Rahmat (1997) are of the view that universities in Africa have embraced community service as a program and strategy aimed at addressing various problems facing such an institution.
For example, the universities may require the students to engage in community service in order to gain practical experience as far as working within the community is concerned (Cooke & Kothari, 2001: 13). The universities may also participate in community service as part of the institutions efforts to give back to the community.
According to Perold & Rahmat (1997: 15), advocates of community service are of the view that such a program can be used by the university to address various issues facing higher learning. To this end, advocates of such a program are of the view that community service benefits not only the community but also the student and the institution as a whole.
The community benefits by having its welfare and wellbeing of its members improved while the student benefits by gaining working experience among other benefits. The university on its side is able to establish and sustain working relationship with the members of such a community as a result of the community service (Wilson, 2011: 19).
One is able to identify the various stakeholders involved in community service in Africa by analyzing the benefits that community service provided by a university has. The stakeholders in such a case may include the students, the university, the government and the community as alluded to above (Mobley, 2007: 129).
Out of all these stakeholders, it is noted that the university students who are participating in community service are perhaps the main beneficiaries of such a program.
As already indicated in this paper, the students acquire professional skills as a result of their participation and they may also be earning in the process (Perold & Rahmat, 1997: 15). This is for example when the students are financed by various donor agencies to participate in community service.
It is noted that youths actively advocate for community service programs in African universities. This is perhaps given the fact that they have come to realise that they are the main beneficiaries of such programs.
Authors cite the example of the annual South African Students Congress (also referred to as Sasco) held in 1996 which passed a resolution supporting compulsory community work for all students in institutions of higher learning (Perold & Rahmat, 1997: 16).
According to the resolution passed by the students, community work should be in line with what the student is studying in the university. For example, a Social Work student may be involved in the provision of free social services to street children in the cities.
The South African National Youth Commission also advocates for a program targeting university students in the country. The commission is of the view that such a program can be used as a creative strategy to finance higher education in South Africa (Hellebrandt, 2008: 222). The commission proposes that students who cannot meet their higher education expenses can collect credits by providing their services to the community.
The discourse above illustrates a university-community development partnership in Africa. This is where the university and the community come together to improve the welfare of the members of the society. This paper is going to address the university-community partnership in Africa.
The author is going to specifically address the impacts of undergraduates engagement in community service on stakeholders as far as Africa is concerned. The researcher will adopt a literature review methodology which will involve a critical review of literature that found in this field.
The aim of such a critical literature review is to organise the knowledge base that is found in this field by identifying the various agreements and disagreements among authors and scholars. The literature review will also identify knowledge gaps in the field and propose areas for future studies.
Research Objectives
This study will have one main research objective and several specific objectives. The main objective is the overall aim and goal of the study. The main objective will be attained by addressing the various specific objectives. The main and specific objectives are as listed below:
Main Objective
To address the impacts of undergraduate engagement in community service on stakeholders as far as university-community partnership in Africa is concerned.
Specific Objectives
Analyse the various stakeholders in university-community partnership in Africa
Analyse the various impacts of undergraduates engagement in community service on the various stakeholders in Africa
Analyse the various strategies adopted by universities in providing community service in Africa
Analyse the various benefits of community service provided by universities in Africa
Analyse the various challenges affecting the impacts of undergraduates engagement in community service in Africa
Analyse the various strategies that can be used to improve the quality of community service provided by universities in Africa
Provide recommendations for universities in Africa regarding university-community development partnerships in the continent
Research Questions
Like research objectives, this study will have a major research question and various specific research questions. It is important to note that the research questions are related to the research objectives. This is given the fact that by answering the research questions, the researcher will have addressed the objectives of the research.
Major Research Question
What are the various impacts of undergraduates engagement in community service on the stakeholders as far as university-community partnership in Africa is concerned?
Specific Research Questions
Who are the various stakeholders in university-community partnership in Africa?
What are the impacts of undergraduates engagement in community service in Africa?
What strategies are used by African universities to provide community service?
What are the benefits of community service provided by universities in Africa?
What are some of the challenges facing community service provided by universities in Africa?
How can universities in Africa improve the quality of community service provided?
Which areas of university-community partnerships in Africa can benefit from future research?
Thesis Statement
Undergraduates engagement in community service has various impacts on stakeholders as far as university-community partnership in Africa is concerned
Methodology
As already indicated in this paper, the author is going to use critical literature review as a research methodology. To this end, the researcher is going to identify the findings of various studies in this field and try to identify the various agreements and disagreements between the various authors.
One major advantage of critical literature review as a methodology is the fact that the study benefits from the various perspectives of different authors in the field. A major weakness of the methodology is the fact that it generates no new knowledge in the field. All the researcher does in critical literature review is reorganise the knowledge that already exists in a given field.
The researcher will identify articles from journals, books and such other academic sources that address the issue of university-community development partnership. Several criteria will be used to select articles that will be included as sources in this study. For example, all the articles must come from academic or professional journals that are peer reviewed or from books.
This criterion is aimed at providing credible sources for the study. Another criterion has to do with the fact that all the articles must address the issue of community service in the society.
This criterion is aimed at providing this author with articles that are relevant to the topic of the research. All the articles should also be written in English. However, this criterion does not exclude those articles that were originally written in another language but translated later to English.
Scope and Limitations of the Study
Overview
It is noted that it is not possible to carry out a single study that is capable of addressing all the aspects of a given research topic. This being the case, it is important for the researcher to identify the boundaries within which the study will be conducted. Delineation of such a boundary helps the researcher in focusing the study.
The issues that will be covered by the study are separated from those that will not be addressed. This reduces ambiguity and lack of clarity in a given study.
This study is not different. It is noted that the study has various limitations that may affect the quality of the findings if not addressed. The limitations can emanate from within and from outside the study. Following is a list of the scope and limitations of the study. The researcher will provide strategies to address the limitations where necessary.
Scope and Limitations of the Study
The study will be limited to community service provided by universities in Africa. Community service from other agencies such as businesses will not be considered
The study will be limited to university-community partnerships in Africa. Such partnerships in other countries outside Africa will not be considered for the study
It is also noted that the study will be limited to the participation of undergraduate students in community service. Participation from other stakeholders in the university such as lecturers and the university administration will not be the main focus of this paper
The study will use information from other studies conducted in the field before. This means that the study will not generate primary data. To uphold the integrity and quality of the study, the researcher will use stringent measures in selecting the literature that will be used for the study
Significance of the Study
At any given time, there are a number of studies which are being conducted in a given field. This being the case, any new research or study that is being conducted in the field has to be justified. The study can be justified on the basis of the value that it is going to add to the field. Following is an outline of the significance of this study in this field:
The findings of this study will help African universities in identifying the benefits of community service and the challenges facing such programs. This will help them improve such programs in the future
The findings of this study will also help universities in other parts of the world to improve their partnership with the communities by learning from the African experience
The findings of the study will help policy makers such as government agencies, community based organisations and such other agencies interested in community development identify the importance of university-community partnerships in Africa. This will help the policy makers come up with policies that will support such partnerships in the future
Summary
In this section, the author introduced the reader to the various aspects of the study that will be conducted later in the paper. Major aspects of the study were highlighted. The researcher started by providing background information on the topic. This was followed by problem statement, research questions and research objectives, methodology of the study, scope and limitations of the study and finally the significance of the study.
The following section will provide information on the theoretical framework that will be used.
Theoretical Framework
In this section, the writer will provide information on the theoretical framework that will be used for this study. The researcher will use the participatory theory to critically analyse undergraduates engagement in community service in Africa.
It is noted that there are various models or theories of participation that are to be found in this field. Most of these theories are borrowed from political participation literature and adapted for participation in the context of community development. The researcher will highlight some of these theories and provide the main assumptions and arguments of the theories.
Theoretical framework is an important aspect in any given research. This is given the fact that the assumptions of the theory guide the researcher in conducting the study. By analyzing the various provisions and assumptions of a theoretical framework in the field, the researcher is able to explain and analyse what they observe when conducting the study.
Theories are also important since they are used in organising knowledge in a given field in a coherent manner. This makes it easier to retrieve and access the knowledge stored in such a field.
Participation in Community Development: Theoretical Models
According to Andrea (2000: 28), participation is a very important aspect of community development. Given the fact that university-community participations are aimed at developing the community, it is noted that community development theories are applicable in such a case. Such a community development theory is the one addressing participation in development activities in such a community.
According to Chambers (2007: 23), there are various factors that affect participation of various stakeholders in community development activities. These may include the form of motivation that such individuals are receiving, the socio-psychological orientation of the participants among others (Hartslief, 2005: 12).
Community Development Participatory Models
As already indicated earlier in this paper, there are several participatory models explaining the level and intensity of participation among stakeholders. These models can be borrowed and adapted from political participatory models found in political science literature. Following are the major participatory models that can be applied in the field of community development specifically university-community partnerships in Africa:
The Mobilisation Model of Community Development Participation
According to this participation model, it is assumed that stakeholders in community development participate in the activities as a result of the availability of opportunities in their surroundings (DExelle & Riedl, 2008: 12). As far as political participation is concerned, individuals can only participate in political activities such as elections if they are presented with opportunities to do so.
In the context of community development, mobilisation participation model holds that an individual will participate in community development if such an opportunity is made available to that individual (Edmunds & Wollenberg, 2002: 244). For example, a student will only participate in community service activities if they are provided with the opportunity to do so.
To this end, universities should ensure that they provide the student with the chance and opportunity to participate in community development through community service.
This is perhaps the motivation behind the Congress for South African Students cited earlier when members proposed that community service programs should be mandatory in all institutions of higher learning. By making community service mandatory, the university will effectively provide the student with an opportunity to participate in community development (Perold & Rahmat, 1997: 100).
Mobilisation model theory also stipulates that individuals participate as a result of stimuli from other persons around them (Colby et al., 2011: 55). As far as political participation is concerned, it is noted that people will participate in politics as a result of persuasion and influence from other people around them.
The same can apply to community development participation. Individuals may participate in community service as a result of influence from other people. In other words, students in African universities can participate in community service if they are motivated by other people around them. The university can provide such motivators to the students.
Community Development and the Social Psychological Model of Participation
According to Hellison (2009: 28), stakeholders such as the youth can resist community service for various reasons. It is also noted that there are various strategies that can be used to resist community service or participation in community development activities. This is for example individual rebellion, collective action such as demonstrations among others.
Social psychological model of participation can be used to explain such extreme behaviours. In politics, the model can be used to explain political uprising and mass actions such as the ones experienced in Egypt, Libya and other African countries.
This theory provides that individuals are utilitarian actors who are able to analyse the costs and benefits of various actions (Ugochi, 2007: 27). They can analyse the benefits and costs that are associated with their participation in community service activities and they will act based on this analysis.
If the student feels that they will not benefit from community service, they are bound to resist and rebel against efforts made to compel them to participate in such activities (Horm & Warford, 2003: 144). It is also noted that the individual is an actor who subscribes to a network of social norms and beliefs (Ferraiolo, 2011: 100).
It is this network which provides the individual with internal and external motivations to act in a given manner. It is the reason why a student will support calls to make community service mandatory to all students in higher learning institutions in South Africa given the fact that they are tied to such students bodies.
Participation in Community Service and The General Incentives Model of Participation
According to Gillette (1985: 373), there are people who participate in community development with a lot of intensity than others. This is for example those students who will organise community service activities and lobby their teachers and students to join them.
The general incentive model can be used to explain such observations. In the context of politics, the theory can be used to shed light on high- intensity forms of participation in political activities. This is for example running for office, campaigning, canvassing and such other activities.
In the context of participation in community development and specifically through community service, it is noted that stakeholders need incentives to participate in such activities (Vermeulen, 2005: 34).
However, it is noted that we should consider a wider array of such incentives as opposed to limiting ourselves to individual incentives that motivate the stakeholder (Vermeulen et al., 2003: 12). This model is somehow similar to the motivation model given the fact that the stakeholder needs a push to participate in community service.
There are various forms of incentives that will motivate a stakeholder to participate in community service (Goulding, 2009: 38). A university should be aware of such incentives to ensure that they are put in place where necessary to encourage students participation in community development.
Such incentives may include the satisfaction that the stakeholder derives from such participation, the recognition that they get among others (Osvaldo & Gustavo, 2011: 29).
Addressing Impacts of Undergraduates Engagement in Community Service in Africa
In this section, the researcher will critically analyse issues surrounding the impacts of undergraduates participation or engagement in community service in Africa. Among the issues that will be covered include the impacts of such an engagement on stakeholders, the challenges facing such an engagement and strategies used by universities in community development among others.
Stakeholders in University-Community Partnerships in Africa
Before looking at the various benefits of community service by university students, it is important to first identify the various stakeholders that are involved in university-community partnerships in Africa. It is after identifying such stakeholders that we can then look at what each of them stands to gain from undergraduates engagement in community service. The following are some of the stakeholders:
The Student
This is perhaps the most important stakeholder in university-community development partnerships (Timms et al., 2005: 9). It is the students enrolled in various departments in the university who are involved in community service most of the time.
For example, Perold & Rahmat (1997: 102) cites the case of the South African Students Congress which was advocating for mandatory community service for all students in institutions of higher learning in South Africa. From this analysis, we can conclude that the student has a very important role to play in university-community partnership. The student is the link between the university and the community in this partnership.
The University
As much as one would like to argue that the undergraduate is the most important stakeholder in university-community partnerships in Africa, it is important to note that the student cannot exist or carry out their duties without the support of the university. It is the university which gives such a student the mandate and the authority to provide community service in the society (Hewson et al., 2010: 12).
When the members of the community interact with the student during community service sessions, they see the student as a representative of the particular university that they are coming from. This being the case, it can be argued that the university is an equally important stakeholder in the university-community partnership in Africa.
It is the university administration which provides the students with transport, finance and other facilities that are needed in carrying out community service. It is also the university which is tasked with the duty of equipping the student with the skills that are necessary in carrying out community service (Long, 1999: 23).
The Community
It is noted that the community is the major beneficiary of community service provided by the university through the students (Platteau & Gaspart, 2008: 34). The participation of the community is very important in community service. It is important to ensure that the members of the community are involved in the process of identifying their needs and coming up with possible solutions to their problems (Shortall, 2004: 120).
According to Chambers (2007: 41), it is important to ensure that community service activities are not imposed on the community by the university and the students or any other agency involved in community service.
This is given the fact that when that happens, the community is likely to resist such efforts in effect neutralising the intended benefits. This is despite the fact that the community service endeavours may have been tailored to benefit the community and not the student or the university.
Impacts of Students Participation in Community Service in Africa on Stakeholders
As already indicated earlier in this paper, there are several impacts of students participation in community service in Africa and elsewhere in the world. It is noted that the impacts may vary from one stakeholder to the other depending on the form of community service that is being offered.
One thing that has not being noted is the fact that the participation of students in community service can have both negative and positive impacts on the various stakeholders (Madzivhandila, 2005: 3). The impacts on the various stakeholders will be analysed in detail here:
Impacts on Students
One of the positive impacts of community service on students is the fact that they gain professional experience from their participation (Ribot, 1999: 34). Take the case of a medical student who is about to graduate. Going to the village and providing medical services gives them an idea of what it is like to work in a real life situation
It is also noted that participation in such endeavours leads to a sense of satisfaction on the part of the student. The student feels that they have done something useful for the community and this increases their sense of responsibility (Ribot, 2005: 89)
It is noted that participation in community service may have financial benefits for the student. This is for example when the student gets paid to perform extra community service or when they perform community service in exchange for credits to finance their higher education
However, it is also important to note that participation in community service may have various negative impacts on the student in Africa. For example, participation may take a lot of the students time. This is time that could have been used in other activities such as reading for an exam (Arnstein, 1969: 222)
At times community service may be irrelevant to the student. This is especially so if the student is involved in community service in an area that is not related to what they are studying in school. This may also happen when the student is compelled to perform community service in order to graduate (Sithole, 2005: 177)
Impacts on the University
Participation in community service has several impacts on the university as an institution of higher learning in Africa. One of the major positive impacts is the establishment of links between the university and the community within which it is located (Andrea, 2000: 18)
However, the participation of undergraduates in community service may be expensive on the part of the university. This is especially so if the type of community service the university is involved in is capital intensive (Timms et al., 2005: 2). This is significant given that most of the universities in Africa are underfunded
Student participation in community service may also enhance the quality of education that is offered by the university. This is given the fact that the education is not only theoretical but also practical. This being the case, the status of the university as far as potential employers are concerned is enhanced
Impacts on the Community
The welfare of the community is enhanced when the university engages such a community in a university-community partnership initiative. For example, the health of the members of the community improves when the university provides free or affordable medical services to them (Durham, 2004: 600)
Participation of undergraduates in community service may lead to what Platteau & Gaspart (2008: 1) refer to as elite capture. This happens when a few members of the community hijack the services provided by the university and excludes other members of the society. This will in effect lead to community development that is skewed in favour of a few members of the society or the elite
Improving University-Community Partnerships in Africa
Having looked at some of the benefits and costs of community service as far as university-community partnership in Africa is concerned, it is now important to look at various strategies that may be used by the various stakeholders to improve the partnership in Africa.
We can analyse this by looking at some of the key features of a successful university-community partnership in Africa and elsewhere in the world. The following are some of the features:
Using Faculty Work to Improve the Welfare of the Community
According to Wilson (2011: 21), higher learning institutions using university-community partnerships to engage the community must start by analyzing the importance of such a partnership in achieving the mission and objective of the university.
To this end, it does not benefit the university or the community for that matter to engage in community service activities that are seen as dumbing down the agenda of the institution (Wilson, 2011: 21).
As one step towards improving the quality of community service offered by their faculty members and students in general, the university should review the intended community service activities and how they are related to the objectives and mission of the university.
Understanding and Respecting the Community
A unique feature of students participation in community service is the fact that the activities bring together students and members of the community drawn from different racial and ethnic backgrounds (Vermeulen, 2005: 65).
This being the case, there is need for the university and the students to respect and appreciate the unique culture of the community within which they are providing community services. A successful community service program is marked by this respect and understanding.
It is noted that more often than not, universities make their way into the community and start imposing programs on that society. This is especially the case when universities from the western nations are involved in a university-community partnership with communities from the African continent.
Such a university may enter such an African community with what Wilson (2011: 23) refers to as a know-it-all attitude. Such a university will practically force the community to adopt the policies that are proposed by the so called know- it- all partner.
Wilson (2011: 22) provides the university wishing to improve the quality of community service with a strategy calculated to gain acceptance from the target community. The author is of the view that the university should first immerse itself fully into the target community before initiating engagement. This will make the community accept the university and thus support the activities of such an institution.
Africa may be regarded as a backward and primitive continent by many students who are not aware of the diversity of communities in this continent. Such students may be stereotypical when engaged in community service in African communities. This will compromise the community service activities initiated by universities in this continent.
Establish Long-Term and Sustainable Partnerships with the Community
Wilson (2011: 24) notes that a successful university-community partnership is not an episodic phenomenon . It is not something that develops overnight. On the contrary, such an engagement is &.programmatic, research-based and more often than not long term (Wilson, 2011: 24).
Most communities in Africa are plagued by challenges and problems that have accumulated over the years as a result of negligence from the rest of the world. This is for example problems brought about by colonisation and exploitation of resources by the western nations (Colby et al., 2011: 56).
These are some of the challenges that are addressed by university-community partnership initiatives in Africa. For example, such an initiative may be addressing rampant poverty in Africa which has been brought about by interplay of factors such as bad governance, exploitation, illiteracy among others.
To better address such challenges in Africa, the universities should adopt a long term strategy as opposed to a short term form of intervention (Bednarz et al., 2008: 88). As already noted, the problems did not develop overnight. This being the case, a strategy aimed at addressing these challenges should also be long term just like the challenges themselves (Dwayne & Palmer, 2006: 400).
As a step towards building long term engagements with the community, it is noted that the university should seek the collaboration of other agencies in community development. These are agencies such as the government, faith based organisations and other non-governmental organisations (Osvaldo & Gustavo, 2011: 25).
It was mentioned earlier in this paper that recent developments in the word such as globalisation and the rise of technology has changed the community completely. This is especially so for African communities which were under the rule of colonialists for a very long time.
This being the case, the challenges that are facing these communities cannot be effectively tackled by one agency alone. This is the reason why the university requires other strategic stakeholders to ensure that the university-community development partnership is sustainable (Booth, 2006: 13).
Types of Community Service Programs Initiated by University-Community Partnerships in Africa
Community service programs take various forms in Africa. The following are just some of these forms of community service programs:
Volunteer Service Programs
According to Perold & Rahmat (1997), a volunteer is a person who takes community service as a form of extra-curricular activity. The volunteer is involved in community service during holidays or when they are not having classes in the case of a university student.
In volunteer programs, the student is expected to perform general tasks and not necessarily tasks that are related to their academic field. This means that volunteer programs are not taken as part of class work by the university.
The student engaged in volunteer community service is not paid. However, it is noted that the university may fund the activities of the volunteer but this should not be taken as payment on the part of the volunteer student (Bryant & West, 2011: 85).
Work-Study Programs
According to Hustinx (2005: 530), this is a form of program that combines studies and working at the same time. For example, the student may be involved in assisting their lecturers in conducting research, teaching other students among other things.
A major aim of work-study program in African universities and other universities around the world is to support the student financially. This is especially so if the administration feels that the student is bright but is needy and cannot afford the tuition fees. This is one way of giving back to the community on the part of the university.
Placements
A well known form of placement program is internship. Internship has become part of the curriculum in many universities in Africa and in the world in general. However, it is important to note that placement is not strictly structured to give back to the community on the part of the university (Perold & Rahmat, 1997: 100).
On the contrary, the major aim of placement is to provide the student with a link between theory and practice in learning. However, a critical analysis of the program will reveal that it has some aspects of community service in it. This is especially so when the student is attached to community based organisations such as NGOs which are providing free social services to the public.
Conclusion
This study critically looked at the impacts of undergraduate students engagement in community service in Africa. The researcher started by defining what community service is and what it entails. Some of the benefits and costs of community service to various stakeholders were analysed. The various forms of community service were also analysed as well as the various strategies that can be used by the universities in Africa to improve their community service programs.
Recommendations for Future Research
Future studies should make an effort to analyse how universities can improve their development partnerships with the communities. This is given the fact that there is very little data in this field touching on this topic
Future studies should also try to analyse the impacts of other students apart from undergraduates as far as their engagement in community service in Africa is concerned. This is as a result of the realisation that other groups of students such as post-graduates are also involved in community service
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Voluntary organisations engage in the delivery of public services for various reasons in different nations across the globe. One such reason is to ensure that services are brought closer to the communities. Communities and voluntary sector organisations are critical since they help in reforming public services and reinvigorating civic life (Ponikiewski 2002, p.91).
This argument implies that, within a nation, such organisations are pivotal in linking operations and repairing gaps in service delivery within communities.
They boost the mechanisms of available services through petitioning the government to improve ways of delivering public services and goods that help to advance the lives of its people. From this line of thought, voluntary organisations have important roles to play. However, while playing their roles, they encounter a myriad of challenges.
This paper aims to examine and discuss how voluntary organisations may participate in public service delivery. The article first discusses the roles of voluntary organisation in the delivery of public services followed by the challenges encountered by such organisation while executing their roles.
These challenges include accountability issues, policy formulation and implementation, collaboration, and the pulling together of resources, improvement in working conditions for paid staff, and better means of funding practices.
Role of Voluntary Public Sector Organisations in Public Service Delivery
In the UK, there are about half a million voluntary and community-based organisations. These organisations range from small and local community-based groups to large, established, national, and international organisations (Billis & Harris 2006, p.35).
Although some of these organisations have their mechanisms for raising income, others largely depend on voluntary members for their operation. In reality, paid professionals manage most of the larger voluntary organisations, thus necessitating a significant sourcing of income, which presents major challenges.
In scholarly discussions of the roles of voluntary organisations in the delivery of public sector services, one dominant matter that attracts discussion is whether voluntary organisations have any purpose in charity work. This subject culminated in a conference entitled Charity Law Conference held in London in 2006.
The main concern raised in the conference was a discussion of the role of voluntary organisations in the delivery of public services. Some issues identified could affect an organisation in a negative way.
From the research findings of a survey conducted by the Directory of Social Change (DSC) in London, 68 percent of respondents surveyed thought that voluntary organisations do not play any roles of charity in the societies within which they are established (Directory of Social Change 2006). In the Public sector, modes of service delivery can be described as being benevolent and socially responsible.
Voluntary organisations need to deliver services from this theoretical point of argument. Conversely, if the public sector service delivery could be described as involving the delivery of service through charity, voluntary organisations engaging in delivery of such services, therefore, ought to be described as charitable organisations.
However, voluntary organisations fail to meet the classification of being charitable. Charitable organisations are not subject to introspection in the public domain to reveal whether they deliver their mandates precisely.
This argument implies that in charitable organisations, the proof of accountability and responsibility does not attract the public interest since the public has no central role in framing certain expectations that must be fulfilled by the organisations.
As opposed to charitable organisations, voluntary organisations are often subject to greater scrutiny and monitoring processes than the private sector organisations (Bovens 1998, p.457). Charity is conducted to ensure that the organisations remain accountable.
The public anticipates particular roles that voluntary organisations need to play in the delivery of public services. One such role is to ensure improved service delivery by the organisations. In this respect, it means that voluntary organisations may act as overseeing organisations for the manner in which the government bureaucratically manages the process of delivery of public services.
This case helps in ensuring that government services reach all persons who deserve them. Where the services fail to reach such persons, voluntary organisations act as the voice of the people. The operation of the voluntary organisations must be conducted with an expenditure of funds. Therefore, apart from facing the challenge of where to source funds, issues of internal and external accountability also emerge as discussed below.
Internal and External Accountability
Public accountability is one of the noble concepts that are universally supported by scholars in the discipline of public administration. In political discourses coupled with policy documents, the term finds an imperative usage since it portrays an image of trustworthiness and transparency (Forrer et al. 2010).
These two aspects are crucial in the discussion of the challenges facing the voluntary organisation that engages in the delivery of public services.
Citizens who are also the clients of voluntary organisations have to be satisfied that a system of service delivery through voluntary organisations is able to meet their expectations of the public sector, without exposing funds to the risk of fraud. To this extent, accountability emerges as one of the critical values in public administration and voluntary organisations.
Accountability entails making organisations transparently responsible in their dealings, with efforts to enhance their trustworthiness. For this goal to happen, a number of issues must be addressed by organisations seeking to be accountable. One such issue is the development of the facility to deal with emerging issues that could impede the organisations efforts to become and remain accountable.
For instance, the advent of globalisation presents many challenges to corporations, institutions of public administration, and voluntary organisations that seek be accountable to many nations. Kearns (2003) supports the argument by adding, Globalisation plays the role of shaping the current trends in the global economic markets and the increasing interactions among nations and people from different parts of the world (p.76).
Emergence of new interactions that are driven by the advent of globalisation introduces challenges to institutions of public administration, including voluntary organisations in that they handle the emerging new roles to expand their sphere of functionality.
The more expansive an institution or any system requiring checks, the harder it becomes to handle all the individual facets of its organisation.
This issue may provide loopholes for acts of fraud. Emerging new issues such as those prompted by globalisation also present challenges to an organisations public liability due to the need to understand the dynamics of global value chains, creating trade facilitation structures, developing partnerships, and the establishment of value chains and networks (Kearns 2003, p.81).
Existence of such new challenges means that voluntary organisation officials have to change their tactics for enhancing accountability, which is due to traditional approaches or styles for public administration cease to be effective in handling all contemporary situations. This aspect may prove to be a challenge to their efforts to become transparently responsible.
From the above discussion, it is essential that an organisation that seeks to be accountable in a globalised market needs to consider looking for new approaches to enhance transparency as opposed to traditional approaches. In fact, this point is yet another crucial issue involved in making voluntary organisations answerable both internally and externally.
The history of public administration reveals that the primary approach for enhancing accountability is through exercising control and close monitoring of persons who are mandated to execute general duties. This task entails bureaucratic discretion through compliance with tightly drawn rules and regulations (Forrer et al. 2010, p.477).
Voluntary organisations form some of the administrations that are subject to a tight control in their operations, as they aim to set an example of good governance that ensures that resources are equally distributed across nations and organisations.
Alteration in the approach of bureaucratic discretion as a methodology for enhancing internal and external accountability in voluntary organisations is critical in a modern world that is driven by significant interactions.
Rather than direct control, an organisation has to consider implementation of strategies for enhancing accountability based on the concerns of delegation as a methodology for breaking down the bureaucratic approaches to public answerability.
The relevance of this issue for a voluntary organisation that wants to be responsible internally and externally rests on the platform that, although delegation is an effective way for enhancing accountability, it has its limitations.
A challenge facing a voluntary organisation that is determined to be responsible is thus establishing a balance between and a determination of the extents and permissible thresholds of accountability in the organisation.
Voluntary organisations engaging in the delivery of public services also face the challenge of dealing proactively with the issue of balancing the levels of accountability that is anticipated from various stakeholders. In support of this argument, Forrer et al. (2010) believe, public managers report not only to a multitude of elected officials, but also to a plethora of interest groups, clientele, media, and other actors (p.478).
This argument means that public administrators serve many conflicting interests of different stakeholders, both formal and informal, through the deployment of appropriate mechanisms for enhancing accountability.
The balancing mechanisms that an organisation that seeks to become responsible must deploy include hierarchical accountability and public accountability while not negating deploying of mechanisms for enhancing accountability to impersonal standards.
Voluntary organisations that embrace the relevance of accountability as a way of development of trust among various stakeholders must appreciate that one of the important issues they must put into perspective is that they must conform to their established models of accountability in their internal and external structures.
Policy Formulation and Implementation
Organisational success is measured by the achievement of the purpose for which it was established to serve. This goal cannot be achieved without the development and subsequent implementation of a variety of policies.
In case of voluntary organisations, challenges in policy formulations and implementation arise due to the difficulties associated with those who should ensure compliance and which methodologies are required to ensure that the established policies that aim at increasing the ease of accessibility of public goods are implemented.
This challenge is significant primarily upon considering the argument, the scale of voluntarism and the relationship between voluntarism and the state have driven to the top of third sector research and policy debate (Frumkin & Andre-Clark 2000, p.331).
The main aim of voluntary organisations is to enhance the lives of people. For instance, voluntary organisations operating in the healthcare setting alert people to the risk factors of specific ailments e.g., anti-smoking publicity.
While it is easy to develop policies to ensure that this aim is achieved, implementation of specific policies in the healthcare setting requires the action of bureaucratic structure (ODonnell 2005; Taylor 2007), i.e., laws. Where the person charged with implementation of individual segments of the policies is not paid for the work, compliance to bureaucratically established roles becomes almost impossible.
Although the goal of many voluntary organisations is to work with all people, they tend to attract those who are disadvantaged in society. Such persons are marginalised and/or disadvantaged. Consequently, voluntary organisations require large funds to run the various policies that are in place.
The challenges associated with financial capacity to handle large programs as proposed by some of the voluntary organisations make policy implementation experience a major drawback (ODonnell 2005). In this context, it is paramount to note that voluntary organisations at best identify the needs of the people they serve, although meeting the needs becomes a significant challenge.
This case makes it impossible for such organisations to run effectively. Implementing some policies without a voluntary organisations social projects can only be done within financial constraints hence making it hard for the organisations to operate as entities that are independent of the state.
Even though the state does not interfere with the policies developed, where the implementation of the developed policies requires the support of the national government, such policies must be consistent with the extents to which the government is able to fund various projects that are developed by voluntary organisations for societal gain.
Collaboration and pulling together of resources
Stemming from discussion raised in the previous section, voluntary organisations in health care cannot operate without close collaboration with the government.
Collaboration and pulling together of resources among the government and other organisations that provide health care services, as a public good, is vital since collaboration would aid in reduction of competition, duplication and costs and the sector would become more effective (Ponikiewski 2002).
With collaboration, it becomes possible for all stakeholders operating in the organisations to speak with a single voice, especially when talking to the government.
In the UK, there are about half a million voluntary organisations (Wilding & Wainwright 2006). Coordination and close collaboration of this magnitude of organisations, which have their own procedures and ways of operation, present a major challenge.
A research by Barr et al. (2009) that was aimed to deduce the collaboration issues that hinder voluntary organisations to pull resources together found that 43% of voluntary organisations in Canada cited competition with other organisations for funding or revenues to be a major problem (p.15). Twelve percent of these organisations identified competition as the main challenge that hinders proper coordination of the sector.
This finding implies that within the organisations in the sector, several challenges hinder collaboration of all voluntary organisations because small organisations feel that their voice would be engulfed by the voice of the large voluntary organisation when they collaborate on some matters (Hall et al. 2004).
Improvement of working conditions for paid staff
Large voluntary organisations require human capital to operate effectively. Tantamount to other profit-oriented organisations, voluntary organisations must balance the costs of paying for labour services provided to them and other activities, which must be accomplished for the organisations to fulfil the purpose for which they are established (Hall et al. 2007).
In an effort to keep employees motivated, voluntary organisations must deal with the challenges of improving the working conditions for the paid staff (Glennerster 2008). Where organisations provide low-cost services or free services, the efforts to improve the working conditions for the paid staff present significant challenges to them.
In a research to determine the impacts of the challenge of improvement of conditions of paid staff in the UK, Voluntary and Community Action (2009) found that among the organisations interviewed in its research, all participants noted that low salaries coupled with poor working conditions presented significant problems.
This aspect resulted in high labour turnover rates, thus making it difficult to hire staff with requisite skills and professional expertise (Voluntary and Community Action 2009, Para.8). These challenges can be offset by providing more external, constant, and stable funding to the organisations by the government so that voluntary organisations can become labour competitive.
This argument underlines the need for involving the roles played by non-voluntary organisations in the development of public policies at the national level. This strategy is crucial in the effort to ensure that public goods and services provided by the voluntary organisation remain competitive and of similar quality to those offered by profit-making organisations (Hall, McKeown & Roberts 2001).
For example, even though health care services are offered free of charge in the UK, benchmarks of quality are available elsewhere in the world. However, it is crucial to note that free at point of service does not make the NHS a voluntary organisation.
For voluntary organisations dealing with healthcare issues, such as inaccessibility of reasonably priced health cover, quality healthcare to the elderly, for instance, cannot be offered without highly qualified professionalism. Recruiting and maintaining hired employees when impaired by inadequate funds implies that major problems arise in any voluntary organisation.
Better Means of Funding Practices
In the performance of voluntary organisations, a myriad of practices requires a commitment of funds. Considering the funding challenges encountered by many voluntary organisations, Packwood et al. (2007) argue, Funding of operations, the time, and money required when applying for funding to fulfil the reporting requirements of funders amplify the challenge (p.19).
Dealing with these challenges calls for voluntary organisations to construct mechanisms of dealing with operating costs to increase service delivery gains (Hall et al. 2005) such as better healthcare to the public.
However, arriving at a collective formula common to all organisations in the sector that will enable all unpaid organisations to operate efficiently presents challenges because the need to remain relevant hinders cooperation amongst various organisations.
Research conducted in various charitable organisations reveals that they encounter problems while seeking to source funds from the government. For instance, in a research conducted in Canada by Hall and Andrukow et al. (2003), 48 percent of the studied organisations reported experiencing significant challenges in getting funds from foundations, government, and corporations.
Although only 20 percent of the organisations argued that the problem was serious, it is arguable that, since a similar challenge is experienced in the UK, better means of funding remain a major challenge to charitable organisations on the global dimension.
Engaging Volunteers
Volunteers participate in voluntary organisations through their altruism and to help essential services to the public become realised. This argument implies that volunteers form interest groups for voluntary organisations (Championing Volunteering and Civil Society, 2012).
They must then be engaged in the development and implementation process of the unpaid organisations policies (Community and Voluntary Service 2008; Moxham 2010). Although this role is necessary, not all volunteers contributions in the voluntary organisation can be incorporated in the final policies implemented by the organisation.
This case may create perceptions of inconsideration of particular peoples contributions. Therefore, engaging the volunteers in the development and implementation of policies within charitable organisation may attract conflicts of interest. Resolving these conflicts encompasses one of the major challenges that these organisations have to deal with in any sector, including those in the health care sector in the UK.
Conclusion
Voluntary organisations play pivotal roles in ensuring that public services are brought closer to the most deserving persons, such as the marginalised and disadvantaged within communities.
They do this by consulting with local and central government on the most successful communal projects, for instance, elderly healthcare services. This paper argues that realisation of these roles encompasses seeking mechanisms of dealing with the challenges encountered along the way.
These challenges include engaging volunteers, seeking effective ways of ensuring both internal accountability and external accountability, and policy formulation and implementation. Other challenges discussed in the paper include the need for collaboration and pulling together of resources, improvement of working conditions for paid staff, and seeking better means of funding.
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Simply put, the objectives of any community service organisation are to – Act with high standards of ethics and integrity. Honour and respect the privacy and confidentiality of clients and staff, acting reasonably and competently to deliver a quality service to clients and stakeholders. Act fairly, responsibly and observing their duty of care to clients and staff. Honour diversity in the community and the workplace, allowing all employees and clients to be treated without prejudice or bias. Treat all clients and colleagues with respect, dignity and kindness, ensuring the provision of a safe environment for staff and clients.
Employer obligations towards their employees include: obligations regarding employees pay and entitlements (ensuring workers and employed under the correct award and renumerated appropriately as per Fairwork legislation. Including, taxation – an organisation must ensure it withholds the correct amount of tax each pay period for each employee as per Pay As You Go Tax. Taxation obligations also change somewhat depending on the organisation and its number of employees.
Superannuation must be correctly calculated and paid into each employee’s superannuation account monthly. Private sector companies have different obligations from government organisations regarding employees’ salary-sacrificing superannuation.
Employees with HECS debt or child support payments have their financial obligations deducted from their wages fortnightly (or per pay cycle). HECS debt is overseen by the taxation department and child support payments by the Department of Human Services.
Training: – employers or organisations must ensure 10% of their yearly income is utilised for staff training, otherwise the organisation will face taxation penalties. Staff must possess the knowledge and skills (through experience or qualification), to function in accordance with benchmark standards for their service role. Appropriate training programs as provided by registered training organisations are regulated by the national quality framework. The national quality framework assists with monitoring and compliance with training legislation.
Support workers are expected to maintain currency in their roles, keeping abreast of current models of practice, theory and research. All workers should be willing to evaluate their own personal bias or prejudice, acknowledging if their own personal beliefs are impacting upon their service delivery. If necessary, support workers may require further self-reflection or training to improve their service delivery.
New employees should be given the correct training and orientation so as to be able to work safely within the workplace. Opportunities for ongoing professional development and training should be provided to staff.
Workplace health and safety / Occupational health and safety: Employers /organisations must ensure they provide a safe working environment for their employees. If personal protection equipment is required for the workplace, the organisation has an obligation to provide it. Employees must be trained in the correct use of personal protective equipment. If they fail to do so and sustain an injury, the employees’ WorkCover entitlements may be restricted.
If chemicals such as cleaning products for example, or dangerous goods are required in the workplace they must be appropriately stored with appropriate signage in place and material data safety sheets readily available in the event of injury. Any equipment required to contain a spill or exposure must also be readily available to staff to comply with workplace health and safety guidelines. A workplace policy and procedure regarding safe storage and use of chemical must also be available and employees must be declared to be competent in their use prior to handling.
Health and safety guidelines are not restricted to physical safety, employee emotional and mental health must also be accommodated. Procedures and policies must be in place and enacted in the event of bullying, harassment or vilification on the basis of gender, race, religion or sexuality for example. Employee assistance programmes which provide confidential counselling for staff and their clients may be included as a measure of care for staff.
A community service organisation is expected, due to the diverse nature of clientele and diversity and equal employment opportunity guidelines and legislature, to have in place, robust anti-discrimination or harassment policies. A clear complaints process must be in place to protect workers and clients. There must be strategies available for staff to deal with aggression in the workplace.
This may include providing workshops or training in de-escalating workplace violence, or physical measures such as exclusion zones or exclusion of aggressive clients, family members, staff or the general public. Workplace re-organisation to enable safe access and egress, or improved vision – such as increased lighting or the inclusion of (safety) glass walls or windows internally, may also be necessary to ensure the safety of staff and clients.
Emergency policies and procedures to manage threats in the workplace are very important in the community services sector to maintain safety for staff and clients. They can be easily established and reinforced with the use of security cards for all staff containing international colour codes relating to specific types of threats.
Privacy and confidentiality legislations impact on community welfare organisations, especially as they may often interact with government entities such as Centrelink, Medicare, health service and mental health providers or children’s services and the family law court for example. Employees must receive training to be conversant with their obligations to the client regarding privacy and confidentiality and the storage of client personal information and case details. There are specific obligations pertaining to the treatment and storage of staff personal, wage and financial institution details.
The freedom of information act may impact a private organisation which liaises with the government sector. This may have ramifications for the confidentiality of information concerning the organisation – this may include interventions, funding, private investment, and the record keeping and accountability practices of the organisation.
If a centre is dealing with child clients, all staff must be aware of their mandatory reporting obligations if they suspect a child is at risk of, or is experiencing neglect, abuse or sexual exploitation.
Any business or organisation operating in Australian must have an appropriate insurance policy providing coverage for injury, accident or harm, as required by legislation. Insurance protects all persons who access or utilise an organisation whether staff, clients, visitors, contractors or other stakeholders. Insurance coverage may include damage to property, work-cover insurance, injury to visitors or others, negligence or public liability for example.
Employees must understand and work within relevant legal frameworks and legislation that underpins their work sector, their role in the organisation and employees must work within the norms of their profession.
Employees must be able to demonstrate an understanding of their responsibilities, in respect to legislative requirements, when working with their clients, their families, colleagues, and community members.
Good organisations begin with good intentions and good people, to continue operating effectively good systems must be utilised for success. Community sector and support services deal with the most vulnerable populations of our communities. It is essential our communications with and our advocacy for our clients and families is of the highest ethical standard.
All employees, contractors and all members of the board, management and advisory committee are expected to behave ethically, at all times, in accordance with the Australian Community Workers Code of ethics.
It is expected all staff in the community services sector, practice highly ethical behaviour, in every aspect of care, advocacy and communication with our clients and their families and for the common good.
All employees in the community services sector are to utilise the principles of respect, human dignity, equity and self-determination when communicating with, or advocating for our clients, their families and all other stakeholders, irrespective of the service user’s beliefs or behaviours.
All employees in the community services sector are expected to behave transparently, for the good of their clients and for the benefit of their community when using public monies and public resources. Community service workers must utilize their resources responsibly, ethically and for their specified purpose. These resources should be utilised to best meet our clients and family’s individual requirements.
All community service sector employees are expected to utilize their skills and knowledge for the benefit of the organization, clients, stakeholders and the common good. Community service sector employees are expected to participate in annual performance appraisals and conduct regular reviews and reflection of their personal performance, communication and commitment to their workplace, colleagues and clients.
All community sector service staff must be committed to protecting the safety of their clients, families, staff, volunteers and all other stakeholders through respectful communication. Honouring the privacy and digital safety of staff and clients assists to ensure their physical and emotional wellbeing.
Community sector staff should be open to continuing their personal learning, encouraging creativity and innovation amongst colleagues and in the workforce. In this way, staff members are able to respond to the needs of clients and their families with flexible and responsive advocacy.
Diversity should be embraced in the community sector and workplace, adhering to equal opportunity employment principles and anti-discrimination legislation. Being open to diversity allows greater employment opportunities and flexibility in workplace employees. This greater diversity in employees may contribute to an increased sense of trust amongst clients as they see themselves reflected in staff members, or a find the organisation more inclusive and accommodating than white mainstream society.
A diverse workplace does not tolerate discrimination, bullying or harassment of any kind towards staff or clients. All employees treat their colleagues and clients with dignity, honesty and respect. Staff are encouraged to deal with conflict in a positive and timely manner and to be proactive taking personal responsibility for their actions and behaviour.
Staff members should not be placed in situations in which they are expected to behave unethically or in an unsafe manner which contravenes their professional code of practice.
All staff are encouraged to work with the bounds of their role as defined by their job description and organisation policy and procedures, maintaining high levels of personal integrity. If employees have any concerns about provisions of care, policies or workplace behaviour, they are encouraged to pursue their concerns with their appropriate supervisor or manager.
Employees are encouraged to seek advice or input from superiors or other appropriate sources when faced with situations which they feel is beyond their expertise. Employees are encouraged to admit to conflicts of interest in their workplace, without penalty. Transparency in all workplace practices promotes high ethical standards amongst team members. Promoting a cohesive workplace through positive behaviour, acknowledgement of good work actions or behaviour encourages pride and ownership in the workplace and of one’s role. Compensating staff appropriately for their work, acknowledging a positive team spirit, whilst holding all staff to the highest standards can assist a community support team to provide excellent care and service
Volunteering is something that has been around for many centuries , Homo sapions idaltu is an extinct subspecies of Homo sapiens that lived approximately 160,000 and is the first recognition of man . Despite the fact there is no evidence to prove this we can assume he was the first man to feel sympathy towards another man , this only highlights that care is something that has been rooted into our DNA. Volunteering can be seen as informal or formal , informal volunteering is the process of help being given to individuals that has not been arranged by an organization it can refer to a wide variety of mutual help. Including how individuals interact with the community for example checking on a neighbour who is elderly. This is typically the most common type of volunteering but is also the least studied , formal volunteering means activities that have been organised though a type of organisation this could either be” for the reason that small community group consisting entirely of volunteers, or through major organisations such as Health Trusts or national voluntary organisations” . Nevertheless the psychological motives for helping behaviour for informal and formal volunteering are related ,
Volunteering is the act of giving time freely at the benefit of another person, organisation or group .Volunteering is not something that is limited to a particular country , it is an activity that can be found in many parts of the world (Curtis, Grabb, & Baer, 1992). Volunteering is something that happens in all of the sectors, religion , education ,health care etc. within these sectors volunteering provides many different services such as companionship to the lonely , health care for the sick , befriending/mentoring , counselling , youth work etc. When reflecting on volunteerism and the remunerative nature it has it raises a number of questions , why do people volunteer ? How do people choose to volunteer with one cause over another ? Are just a few examples of this , however answers to these questions have been explained within the functionalist theory. The functional approach was developed by William James in 1890 , it focuses on the mental processes which involve consciousnesses (Gordon, 1995) in recent times it has been used to understand the motives behind volunteering as the main principle of functionalist theory is that even though different individuals can perform the same actions , the action may have a different value for a different individual.
According to Clary et al. (1998) there are six functions to volunteerism, the first function is value , value is linked to altruistic and humanitarian as it reefers to the concerns of the welfare for others and contributions to society (Clary & Miller, 1986). Katz’s (1960) states that the function of value is to allow individuals to present their primary values to others , additionally it suggest that volunteerism is influenced by the values of an individual welfare however volunteering is not only driven by those values it also helps individuals to keep true to their conception self by allowing them to convey the values and convictions they have within them through action. A study done by Anderson and Moore (1978) supports the function of values as over 70% of the participants supported “to help others “ as a motive for volunteering. (Anderson and Moore ,1978) the second function is understand this also ties into Katz’s (1960) knowledge function as well as Smith et al.’s (1956) object appraisal function , the understanding function explains how an indivials attitude can structure their understand of the world , a volunteers view of the world is structured by their desire to seek new information also volunteers display understanding of the world by utilising their skills and abilities in order to help those who need it. Gidron done a study in (1978) on young volunteers what he found supports this statement as he discovered that young volunteers saw volunteer as way to learn and enhance their self-development.(Gidron , 1978)
A third function is the career function , this is where the volunteering an individual is involved in is seen as a pathway for them to attain and develop newfound skills , obtain professional contacts , boost their curriculum vitae aiding them for a future job prospects . Beale (1984) agress with this as he states boosting student to volunteer will act as “stepping stone” to employment. The forth function is the social, this function provides volunteers with opportunities to be involved in actives that other people view as important, it is normal for volunteers to participate in services just to fit in or get along with their reference group since volunteerism is a normative or the social pressure to help is high. This can also be a conceptualization of the social function similar to Smith et al.’s (1956) social adjustive function where he states that a person’s attitude enables them to conform to existing social groups, likewise an individual’s craving to increase their social circles or joining new social groups can do the same.
Function number five is the protective, where an individual may decide to volunteer in order so reduce the feeling of guilt because they are more futurate than others as well as that it can be a way for an individual to escape from their problems by helping others deal with there’s. Finally, the sixth function is enhancement, volunteering allows individuals to enhance their own self-esteem, seld0confidence and self-improvement. The enhancement function can be related to the protective function as they both focus on boosting the egos positive standing.
The functional approach is one of the best ways to explain why individuals choose to volunteer , as it introduces us to the idea that there is more than one motive for indivuals to want to volunteer additionally it expresses that although an indiduals maybe volunteering for the same cause , the motive behind every individual will be different.
When investing as to what best explains why people volunteer its important to look into theories of motivation as they enable you to see what is behind an individual’s actions. Frederick Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory (two factor theory) was first published in his book “The Motivation to work” in 1959 the main focus of the book was individuals at the workplace. However over the years the theory has been used to a explain a several physiological processes, Herzberg believes that in order for members in a team to give their best performance they have to engage, the theory states that individuals are influenced by two factors, the motivation factors and the hygiene factors .The motivation factors these are factors that motivate people to work harder such as recognition , achievements , growth , advancements and responsibility’s . And hygiene factors, these are essential factors for example salary, working conditions , company policies , status , supervision and job security . According to Herzberg the lack of hygiene factors will create demotivation however the presence of them is not substantial enough to induce demotivation.
This theory relates to volunteering as Herzberg believes that money isn’t the only driving factor that will make an individual have a good performance he is believes it’s a combination of all of the things previously stated , in addition to that an individual who is volunteering wants to feel safe in their environment and have some kind of reward and be involved in motivating task , this related as hygiene factors are ranked lower and they are more likely to be satisfied before the needs of motivating factors.
Sociologist see volunteering as a curtail factor in social phenomena that includes patterns of social relations plus interactions between individuals organisations and groups . Durkheim (1893) degree of integration of a society refers to social ties that combine members of society to each other, so because volunteering is voluntary and unpaid it represents a different type of social bond that differ from usual formal bonds that are seen. And is deemed as an essential form of social solidarity that is used to merge society together. Volunteering stands out within a society as it displays core human values such as compassion , altruism , concern for others , social responsibility , generosity and community spirit. (Wuthnow, 1991). Altruism is the code and moral practice of the concern of other individuals , According to Marc A. Musick and John Wilson “volunteering is a form of altruistic behaviour” with a goal of providing help to others without the prospect of a material reward. However altruism is not the best way to explain why people volunteer this is because is disregards that in society there are individuals who see themselves as onlookers to issues , making them less likely to get involved , this can cause pluralistic ignorance within society (Darley and Latane, 1968) helping us to understand why some individuals choose to volunteer and some don’t.
References
Anderson,J.C.,&Moore,L.F.(1978).Themotivationtovolunteer.Journal of Voluntary Action Research, 7, 120–129.
Beale, A. V. (1984). Exploring careers through volunteerism. The School Counselor, 32, 68–71.
Clary, E. G., & Miller, J. (1986). Socialization and situational influences on sustained altruism. Child Development, 57, 1358–1369.
Durkheim, É. 1893. De la division du travail social. Paris: Alcan. Eckstein, S. 2001. Community as gift-giving: collectivistic roots of volunteerism. American Sociological Review, 66(6), 829–51.
Gordon, O. (1995). William james and functionalism. Retrieved from http://www.psych.utah.edu/gordon/Classes/Psy4905Docs/PsychHistory/Cards/James.html
Katz, D. (1960). The functional approach to the study of attitudes. Public Opinion Quarterly, 24, 163-204
Smith, M., Bruner, J., & White, R. (1956). Opinions and personality. New York: Wiley.
Wuthnow, R. 1991. Acts of compassion. Princton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Latane, B., & Darley, J. M. (1968). Group Inhibition of Bystander Intervention in Emergencies. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 10(3), 215–221
Starting to take action may be hard, as there are many things that people do not even worry about, but are major problems in the world. Most teens and maybe adults should involve themselves because they may not be involved with current issues surrounding the environment. Getting into a higher society is dependent on the work was done as a young teen and those people need to work their way up to be what they may want to be in the future, rich. While sitting around on phones and computers may be fun, doing actions that support others may give relief or something to be proud of as people are not just lazing around. Volunteering is needed worldwide as it can help many companies grow, acting may create a successful future and need to know how to engage in their society.
Helping in the environment is probably the best thing someone can do right away with any current values. Libraries require help, as they are a basis for knowledge and support the government directly by giving the public information. They may need help by reorganizing books and stocking both new and old books into the right locations so they can help customers to enjoy themselves. In a recreational park, there are hundreds of people who visit weekly. However, some people do not care about others so they will constantly litter around creating an environment that people will not want to go to. Also, when the city park holds an event, they will need help to control the mobs and maybe attend the stalls around so there will be deserted. Helping out from something very small can be very beneficial to others.
Retired men are volunteering constantly to help their health, as well as volunteering, which will help young students get into their dream job. When men have worked over the age of 65, they are stressed so they quit. However, volunteering lets them have a way to relieve stress, watching young people grow up to be successful, or keeping themselves accompanied with their current problems. When these old people volunteer, they can stay in top condition and can relieve occasional stress. High schoolers are in need to work more than usual because high ranked colleges will look into what someone does, including if they are a leader by acting to help their community instead of fooling around aimlessly. Volunteering is an act of doing something and acting as a leader to help others grow and high schoolers are enforced to take action so not only will their school not die out, but their city will strive with help from fellow students.
Engaging in volunteering may be hard as there are people who don’t want to participate or those who are very shy. Working on these occasions will help them grow, many schools can help with this by letting students work with the people that they are more usual around and more sociable. School events are a big thing because there will be many spots to help out and be able to communicate with friends. This will also help with sociology because it helps students to be able to talk more and be more outgoing to create a better personality.
Taking the roles of society and inputting them to create a logical future for themselves may help them during school, being an elder, and improving the social thinking of others. Creating a life-size setting for someone is to first and always help out in the community so it can help in the future and the present.
Many public services need member of staffs that will have the capability to work without receiving any money due to having to cope with emergency calls and accidents. Also, many public services don’t have the capability to pay new employees. This refers to having to provide the public with the right equipment and use the money received wisely. Having staff members that are expertise will allow the public services to serve the public more efficiently. For example, the paramedics have to deal with the public people and respond to emergency calls. Paramedics may need people form the public to volunteer to help them whilst responding to emergency calls. Responding to an emergency call can be difficult. For example, if there has been a car crash and there is people from the public severely injured. The paramedic service needs to have enough staff members to have the capability to treat people that are injured. People that have volunteered for the paramedic service will be able to call other emergency services if needed and make sure that the public people are away from the accident and prevent further injuries.
Provide time- public services may decide to go on strike due to the pay. Many public services don’t receive the money that they require. This therefore, leads to staff members and people within the public to protest. This therefore, leads the public people having the fear of not having an emergency service responding to an accident. However, public services do work together and help the public people by responding to emergency calls and serving the public people. If public services were not working together, then many accidents could lead to severe issues and injuries. If injuries are not treated than people within our public could lose their lives. So, workers that go on strike effect the public people due to not carrying out their job role effectively. If st John ambulance was to go on strike then the armed service will be able to respond to emergency calls and serve the public people. This therefore will prevent further injuries.
Many public services struggle to respond to emergency calls immediately. So, having volunteers will allow people that are paid to respond more efficiently and effectively. This therefore, will prevent further incidents from happening. Also, people that are working for the police force may also need people from our public to volunteer due to having to deal with the public constantly. It also, could be very difficult to deal with the public constantly so having staff members that are volunteer will allow paid staff members to carry out their job role more effectively without stressing. Stressing can cause staff members to not perform effectively. Volunteer staff members can help by making sure that people within our public are not approaching staff members while in act.
Responding to emergency calls could be very difficult and challenging many public services have difficulties responding to emergency calls due to staff members calling in sick and not attending work. This causes paid staff members having to do more work by responding to emergency calls within seconds. For example, when the ambulance service receives a call where someone has had a car crash, they have to have the capability to respond immediately to treat people that are injured. Volunteer staff members will also help public services by allowing other public services to respond immediately to other emergency services.
Raise funds- the public services will be able raise money for charities that are connected to public services or related to public services. Also, they can help another Charites. Many public services may not have time to help their community so having staff members that are willing to volunteer will allow public services to raise money for Charites and help their community more often. An example of a charity could be British red cross. This charity is connected to the armed force which will allow public services to raise money more often due to having volunteer staff members that will help them out.
Within our community every volunteering work has different qualities, skills and experiences. Some volunteer jobs are more based on working with others and helping participants some volunteering is based on working amongst yourself.
For example, working with animas may be oriented with working on your own when treating animals or ask team members to take of the animals that are waiting to be treated. Within this volunteering sector you need to be able to cooperate with the public people that are attending the vet. When with animals you are also responsible of taking care and helping your colleagues.
Where on the other hand, volunteering to work with children’s you must be able to cooperate effectively and be able to understand children and cooperate effectively. Also, when working with children you must be able to stay calm and listen to their point of view without disturbing them.
Both of volunteering sectors that I have spoke about requires you as person to be work together.
The difference between the two-volunteering sector is that animal volunteering is about taking care of animals that is injured and help colleagues out whilst treating the animal. Whereas, working with children requires you as person to understand them and be to cooperate effectively.
You can make a difference in your local area by donating just a few hours each week. From helping with a community-based recycling scheme through to providing support over local health issues, there are many ways to help.
Many local projects also offer ‘commitment free’ options for people with limited time. For example, if you have a free day one weekend, you can go to a footpath clearance project and spend a few hours helping. No pre-existing skills or training are required and everyone ‘mucks in’ with the tasks.
Many community volunteers pick local projects so they can see the difference their time makes. Physical changes, such as improving parks and open spaces will make the environment a better place to live. Also, social changes can be seen from assisting those who are socially deprived. This may help to build confidence and skills.
When working as a voluntary you must be able to cooperate effectively and be able to underestimate what you are required to do. Without cooperating you will not be to carry out your role effectively. This is because in order to manage and achieve something within the voluntary sector you are working you must be able to cooperate and understand the participants. Many people may find it difficult to cooperate but if you approach participants within a kind way then the participants taking part will feel more welcomed. And be able to express themselves leisurelier. For example, if you were to work for a charity that works with elderly people you must be to cooperate effectively to be able to help them as they may need support.
When working for a voluntary sector you must be able to work within a team and be able to achieve activities together. When working within a voluntary sector you must be able to work within a team effectively. Also, you must be able to understand that when volunteering you must be able to work within a team effectively. For example, when volunteering for sport coaching you must be able to work within a team effectively and show participants how to work within a team effectively. Also, working as a sport coach many people that participate will look upon you. This, therefore, means you must be able to set an example. Overall, teamwork Is important due to having set an example to participants and to achieve a goal you must be able to work within a team to achieve the task that has been set.
When working as a volunteer you must be able manage your time and be on time. Volunteering can be difficult for some people that are working but you have the capability to make time schedule the times you are able attend. Time management is very important you must be able to manage your time and turn up on time. Participants will be waiting and the employees will be accepting you as volunteer to turn up on time. Also, being on time will show the passion and joy you have for your volunteering sector. For example, when volunteering to work with children’s indeed you must be able to attend on time to be help them out and cooperate effectively and set a good example.
Overall, as a volunteer you must have the will to help others and communicate with ne people effectively and understand them and help them without doubting it.
Communication – It is essential to be able to communicate with others whilst volunteering as volunteering involves a lot of communication with different people with different backgrounds, ages etc… You must communicate with one another to organise or carry out anything and be able to do volunteer work. Some volunteer work simply needs you to communicate with others. • Organisation – volunteer work requires you to organise it either yourself or in a group and then any activities, fundraising or similar as well. Therefore, being able to organise is an important skill for volunteer as without it there is no volunteer work or the volunteer work done is inefficient and disorganised. • Empathy – In volunteer work it is often necessary to empathetic towards other people and understands the situation there in and how they feel about that situation. Being able to empathise or at least appear to is an important skill in being able to work with people and communicate with them. This skill is especially important when dealing with individuals who have had traumatic experiences or who are not emotionally mature. • Discipline – When doing volunteer work, it is important to have discipline, both for yourself and others around you. Whilst there is no need to be hard on discipline for effective volunteer work you must be disciplined. Discipline means that organisation and communication are made easier, everyone knows what they should be doing and more importantly not doing and what will happen to them if they step out of line. • Listening – Tied in with empathy is listening, this is an important skill in developing communication too. Listening means that you listening to people and take in what they are saying rather than just pretending to hear otherwise you can`t understand what they are saying and can`t empathise or communicate back effectively to them. • Limiting – A another important skill in volunteer work is limiting yourself. Being able to limit your strength for instance is very important especially when working with children as they may get easily hurt otherwise. Limiting is also part of developing your discipline.
Large scale and mega events often have effects on whole economies and they resonate in worldwide media. These include major sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, World Cups, the Commonwealth Games, some world championships, but international exhibitions, such as World Expo, Special Expo, also belong to this group. These events constantly grow in size, whether it is the number of attendees or the financial capital involved that is being considered. They stimulate tourism activities, play part in a host city’s destination marketing, but can also be vital components of further development strategies for the host city or country, whether for regeneration, sports development, image change or showcasing.
Large events can prompt community endurance. The spending of tourists, job creation, infrastructure developments and improved profile have the potential to further generate both economic and social benefits. Visitors spend their money in small local businesses, there are new sporting venues, roads and green spaces being built. There is potential for the growth of community pride, confidence, positive image building and social inclusion of disadvantaged groups of people.
Employment creation has always been an important point in question for bidding cities and countries as a motivator for hosting international events. However, the most noteworthy labour input, mainly at the time of staging an event, is contributed by large numbers of event volunteers that usually carry out various tasks, from taking care of visitors and part-takers, through healthcare, up until the logistics during an event. According to Ingerson (2001), volunteers significantly strengthen and contribute to both the economic and socio-cultural dimension of mega events. Volunteering in large sporting events becomes an indispensable piece and constitutes one of the most valuable resources of their organisation. In addition to indisputably determining the success of the execution of sports events, it promotes the values of sport in society. Voluntary participation in these types of events contributes to the personal growth of each individual to the extent that they feel useful and part of a great team whose work has an international and large impact. An experience that can be transferred, without a doubt, to other areas.
The OCOGs (Organising Committees for the Olympic Games) demand a high level of motivation and willingness to work selflessly in solidarity, which voluntary helpers should provide for the games out of conviction. At the same time, they expect compliance with the guidelines of the IOC. They contractually oblige the helpers to comply with the regulations, which affect their auxiliary activities as well as their behaviour and appearance. Volunteering is not just about providing practical support for the sporting event, but also about promoting the “universal values” of the Olympic movement such as peacefulness, solidarity, friendship, mutual respect and understanding as well as successful multicultural cooperation.210 This makes it clear how it is important to the IOC to create a unity among the volunteers. Olympic critics see this as the exploitation of cheap and willing workers through their high level of personal and selfless commitment (cf. Lenskyj 2002: 147).
Research on volunteering has focused on aspects such as recruitment and selection of volunteers (Ringuet-Riot et al., 2014); in intrinsic motivations (Lee et al., 2014); in the cost and benefit of participating in this type of activities (Hallmann and Zehrer, 2015) and the satisfaction of the people who exercise this role, carrying out studies that recognize fundamental factors for the maintenance of the volunteer role. These include organizational support, the effectiveness of participation, empowerment and integration in the group (Arias and Barrón López de Roda, 2008, García-Pérez, 2013). Likewise, Fresno and Tsolakis (2011) state that commitment, critical awareness, social awareness, and social relations are positively important to facilitate and promote the work performed. In this regard, Fresno and Tsolakis (2011) point out that volunteering consists essentially of human relationships, interactions between people and groups and consequently ways of building tissues and social network. According to Putnam’s (1993) hypothesis, the formal organizations of the community (parties, associations, associations, enterprises) are formed by personal informal connections. Social capital can be created through informal and formal partnerships, meeting public or private needs. It may be bonding, social or psychological support, assistance that less fortunate members of society may enjoy. It can also act as a bridge (bridging) between, for example, different ethnic groups or eco-religious groups. It has also been noted that some of the factors that are related to the increased satisfaction of volunteers with their activities, occur when there is compatibility between their tasks and functions, that is, when they feel that their work is essential, beneficial and significant ( Littman-Ovadia and Steger, 2010). Voluntary work is distinguished from other functional systems, because it is considered much freer, more concrete, with more immediate and visible results. It is even considered and evaluated in terms of intangible benefits, which may even be greater for those who do it than for the beneficiaries (Miranda and Mayne-Nicholls, 2011).
The fundamentals of volunteering at mega events as they are known today, the big programmes that people from all around the world sign up for months before the event commences and consequently get serious official appraisals from organisers, have slowly developed over thirty years mainly during Olympic Games, events that are considered to be flagships of mega events. The Olympic volunteering made small appearances during the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, during the carrying of the Olympic torch. Until the Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid (USA) in 1980, a volunteer program was not created with the aim of preparing and training the action of about 6,000 volunteers. It was at the Los Angeles Games ’84 (USA) when the volunteers were fully integrated into the structure of the organisation – the support of about 29,000 people was recorded. Since then the number of Olympic volunteers has been growing, both in the Summer and Winter Games. The Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 set a precedent for both international Olympic volunteering and volunteering in Spain in general. The concept of Olympic volunteering is born (recorded in the official memorial of the event). For the first time in the history of Olympics, there are volunteers since their candidacy: more than 35,000 Olympic volunteers and 7,000 Paralympics volunteers collaborated, and then received countless praise from the media and institutions for their participation. In Sydney 2000 the role of the volunteers rises to the point of being placed as an image of the event by coining a slogan that has been central to the work with volunteers in countless subsequent events: Volunteers are the public face of the games.
Before the Barcelona Olympic Games, 60,000 registered volunteers from all over Spain participated in the bidding phase of the Barcelona project, which increased to 102,000 at the end of 1986, after Barcelona’s nomination as host city for the 1992 Games. The volunteer training plan was divided into three stages: general training for the Olympics and sports (conducted through courses, interviews, conferences and film shows); special training for the designated workplace; and finally training at the right facilities to learn about the facilities and meet the operational team. In addition to the training plan, there was also an incentive plan to develop and maintain volunteer enthusiasm and pride. The 102 thousand trained volunteers obtained merchandising products (such as exclusive uniforms), some of them got scholarships abroad to learn languages, there was a special magazine printed only for volunteers, nationally broadcast radio station for four years, recreational and networking parties to facilitate one of the slogans of the programme: A friend is waiting for you. Out of the more than 100 thousand potential volunteers that had been trained, only 50 thousand finally participated in the Games. The official report of 10 years’ progress in the legacy stated that the volunteers were the main transmitters of the Barcelona project throughout Spain, creating bonds of affection between all the volunteers and, by extension, between the relatives of these volunteers. After the main events were over, the plan of the COOB’92 (Organising Committee for the Barcelona Olympic Games) was to articulate a project that would continue the work that had been done. Partly, it has been successful, but there were initiatives that did not work out as expected. An example of the more successful actions was the implementation of a new law about volunteers, stating their rights more extensively or the distribution of trained volunteers to organisations in Barcelona that requested them. On the other hand, an initiative to encourage the use of voluntary workforce during the Expo 92 in Seville, had been unsuccessful to measures when the whole Seville Expo 92 volunteering initiative had been cancelled.
In The Pedagogy Magazine, Rosa López D’Amico, referring to the her experience of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, talked about the influence of volunteer participation in this type of event both in the collective and in the society that hosts the event. This author refers to how volunteers experiment with their work, as well as elite athletes during their preparation, a series of key capabilities in achieving achievements: discipline (which teaches, orders, methodises and regulates the process to follow), patience (to analyse the difficulties and overcome them, and provide a person with endurance and maturation), concentration (to maximize attention and direct the energy towards a person’s goal), determination (to make decisions that bring people closer to their goals) and commitment (as members of a work team to each other). Moreover, in Sydney 2000 Australians became aware that the image that the country was going to project depended on the progress of the Games. The slogan that the organising committee has stated – Volunteers are the public face of the games – clearly reflected this intention.
After the 2014 Olympic Games held in Sochi, Russia, the legacy report highlighted the positive impacts and benefits of the volunteering programme. Amongst them, there were mentions about the acquisition of new skills, life values and personal virtues amongst volunteers, the construction of 26 training centres for them, a newly drafter law named ‘On volunteers’, new methodological approaches to future work with volunteers and new informational platforms for volunteering. There were changes in the attitude towards volunteering, their social status, volunteering gained recognition and popularity after the Games. It stated that the volunteers’ communication with participants of the Paralympic Games tore down negative stereotypes in the perception of people with disabilities.
However, there are papers that claim that the testimonials of the real volunteers at the Sochi Olympics were not overly positive. There were mentions of having to strictly follow orders from ‘the top’ without justification and some of them being in conflict with the free will aspect of volunteer work as well as indications to the non-effectivity of the legal base for volunteers. There was an uneven inclusion of various social groups, young students and senior volunteers were prioritised and the adult population seemed to be excluded. While the information platforms and training centres were constructed, they were mainly focused on event volunteering, rather than evenly promoting all forms of volunteering.
Based on the theory of the benefits that event volunteering brings to the organisers and the participants, as well as the wider society, but also based on the selected case studies above, it can be concluded that volunteering has played a substantial role in major sporting events since its development to today’s form. No organisation or organising committee of any sporting event considers the realisation and development of a mega event without the fundamental participation of volunteers. Yet, the volunteering legacy that is promised by the organising committees of mega events does not always live up to its expectations.
The question becomes whether or not the community really ever could be a victim, and if so, whether or not community service really makes sensible the community losses. Some have answered within the affirmative, positing that the community could be a secondary victim that’s indirectly eviscerate by crime. for instance, the community suffers psychological injury from the concern of crime, and a lot of tangible injuries, likerising insurance prices. Others argue that the harms suffered by the community as a results of crime area unit too intangible to calculate, and consequently the service obligatory is unfair.
Here, a significant distinction might facilitate maintain the reparative functions of each restitution and community service: restitution repairs the damage to the individual victim; community service repairs the damage to the community. United Nations agency the victim is–individual or community–determines the sort of reparative sanction. characteristic community service from restitution during this manner helps forestall community service from getting used as a retaliatory sanction: if it’s merely additional on to the wrongdoer’s sentence, it’s used as a way of penalty. If instead, community service is employed to repair the damage to the community, the danger of it getting used as a penalty is reduced.
Therefore, community service orders should clarify the character and extent of the damage done to the community. this needs distinguishing clearly the relevant community eviscerate, the actual damage inflicted, and repair to be order which is able to specifically and directly repair the damage inflicted by the crime.
Community service are often a reparative sanction that links the character of the service to the offence to be sanctioned; are often a positive sanction that evokes responsibility from the wrongdoer for his/her actions; it will scale back the burden on the system of confinement.
Community service provides a chance for the wrongdoer to check first-hand the indirect injuries caused by his/her offence.during this manner, the wrongdoer may even see the explanations for the bounds of social tolerance. Moreover, the wrongdoer is supplied with a constructive, proactive means that of repairing the injuries caused by his/her crime, with the potential to enhance the offender’s overall sense of self-worth. this will be an efficient means that of promoting the offender’s legitimacy. Finally, offenders’ services are often an incredible resource to governmental and non-profit organizations.
The emphasis of community service isn’t on penalty nor on rehabilitation; rather, it’s on responsibleness. It focuses ‘not on offenders’ wants however their strengths; not on their lack of insight however their capability for responsibility; not on their vulnerability to social and psychological factors however their capability to choose’. These differentiate a rehabilitative response from a restorative/community service response to crime. And retaliatory components of community service orders might attend its imposition, at intervals a restorative system, solely as by-products of the offender’s commitment of your time and energy.
Examples of community service programmes go by each non-profit organizations and by the govt exist. jail Fellowship, a non-profit Christian organization, runs its own Community Service Project.
Programmes, consists of the subsequent. The sentencing decide can order community service as a condition of probation, specifying the amount of hours to be worked and also the time at intervals that to complete the order. Then, the case is said a programme organiser United Nations agency makes the suitable placement. wherever no such programme exists, a pre-sentencing report is given to the decide suggesting community service. Since the wrongdoer are operating with a public business, careful screening takes place to assure the public’s safety. For the foremost half, non-violent offenders area unit chosen for the programme. If for a few reason the order isn’t completed, the offender, the programme organiser so the|and also the} officeholder meet to debate the explanations therefore, and any different means that of facilitating the order’s completion. generally alterations within the order have to be compelled to be made; a transfer to a special business should be made; or the wrongdoer should re-emerge for different sentencing.
Examples of legislation from the uk embrace the Criminal Justice Act of 1972 that introduced community service orders there. The Act failing, however, to specify that the orders need to be reparative instead of retaliatory, leading to confusion. The Act of 1982 somewhat mitigated this downside by authorizing courts to impose community service order as a sole sanction.
Community service orders there conceive to come through quotient between the seriousness of the offence and also the range of hours worked, with different factors taken into consideration. The community service programme operates at intervals a protecting model as an alternate to institutionalization, that permits orders to be individualised with the simplest interests of the minor in mind.
In the ancient welfare-oriented agencies community service has the potential to become an alternative treatment instead of an alternative sanction. That is, since the service order distributed typically is ready-made to the wrongdoer and not the offence, community service then becomes primarily wont to rehabilitate the offender; its reparative motivations become secondary.
Moreover, the victim’s position vis a vis community service is unclear. though community service looks applicable wherever the victim is unwilling or unable to confront his/her wrongdoer, or wherever the crime was victimless, it should still be acknowledged that it’s restricted potential to deal with victim’s wants for reparation.
Juveniles within the England and Wales completed a minimum of seventieth of community service orders. The additionally found it to be a worthy expertise while not losing sight of it as a criminal sanction. the companies and agencies additionally placed a high price on the services provided by the juveniles. However, community service orders don’t work well with those that have habit-forming behaviours.
State-run community service order programmes in Australian state additionally realize it tough to match the work committed the actual form of offence committed. Community service orders that don’t link the actual offence to the work concerned typically really function penalty, losing their reparative functions. Moreover, offenders would possibly see them as penalty. This, in effect, would undermine community service programmes’ ability to induce responsibility and to enhance the offender’s sense of self-worth.
Differing views on the needs of community service obscure its restorative vision. within the uk community service programme, probation officers hierarchal ‘reduction of the jail population’ and ‘penalty’ as 2 primary functions of community service orders with ‘reparation to the community’ and ‘help to offender’ as subordinate functions. Supervisors during this programme hierarchy the needs in mere the other fashion. Others illustrate that community service orders are regarded by some as primarily rehabilitative or retaliatory in nature.
But if community service orders area unit to keep up a restorative vision, their restorative functions should be clearly diagrammatical. merely swing community service orders into apply while not doing thus runs the danger of those restorative functions being distorted. Moreover, analysis of community service orders, and their potential at intervals a restorative framework, becomes tough to assess.
If we have a tendency to really settle for the proposition that community is accountable for maintaining peace, and social order (Van ground and powerful, 1997), then community service becomes vital, at intervals a restorative system of justice, to maintaining peace at intervals the relevant community by repairing the damage crime caused it.To repair the damage caused by crime to the community, then, community service orders should link the actual offence to the work concerned.
World Quest Dorothy children’s home was founded by Elias Mbaabu on the 18th of august 2009. Elias lived in the United States of America with his wife. On one of his visits to Nairobi with his wife, he came across street kids, his immediate instinct was to help them however he only had a thousand shillings in his pocket. On his next return to the city after the last one, with twelve children he came up with Dorothy children’s home. The foundation was named after Elias’s wife’s niece Dorothy, who was murdered by her husband.
Celebrating their 10th anniversary in august, WQDCH can boast that they currently shelter twenty-three girls, with a four-year-old being their youngest. Eight are in house, two from Meru, two from Nakuru, two from Machokos and two from Roasters Marurui. Dorothy children’s home has a school within the premises, classes up to class 4, then they follow up their studies in Marurui.
The children sheltered by the foundation, are gotten from children’s offices, government or families who are unable to provide the necessary resources for their children. The mission of Dorothy children’s home is “Our passion is to give a home, love and hope to orphaned and destitute children in Kenya, Africa”.
Feelings
Prior to registering for the community service course, it had always been a mission of mine to help the less privilege in any way that I could, whether it was donating or taking time out to volunteer my services. So, my initial feelings about beginning community service were; excitement, enthusiasm, and so much curiosity. I had a lot of questions, mostly about language barrier, being that I do not speak Swahili, it made me feel like I was disadvantaged on that part which worried me a lot on how effective my work would be on the site in general, how well I would enjoy experience or how it could affect it as well. I was also banking on getting the children to help me improve my Swahili, through communication and interactions, and learn more about the Kenyan culture than what you can find online or in brochures.
When I first started volunteering at Dorothy Children’s Home, I felt very excluded, I was the only one at first coming taking the 8 am shift, so I was usually given tasks by myself. The only times I would interact with anyone was when I would teach the children. For the first two to three weeks I was either with the children in class or folding clothes in the house by myself. I left everyday wondering how much longer I had left because I did not have any sense of belonging within the site, among my colleges and the workers at the home. There was also a lot of fear, which most came from being around so many animals. Growing up in the city, I was not exposed to a lot of farms or farm animals.
By the end of the fifth week I had met my colleges, mastered all the names of the children in class (Briton, Njeri, Emmanuel, Ochieng, Freddy, Desire, Fortune, Ambrose, and Bivon). Those kids made every day I worked there magical, when I would come in feeling sick or feeling low, their happiness, smiles and enthusiasm for life always inspired me, that is why every day till my last day I would make sure that my last hour was spent bonding and playing with them. I would push Desire and Ochieng on the swings, make sure Njeri finished her tea because she did not like to finish her food and then Freddy would teach me some Swahili. My colleges on the other hand understood my struggles with the language and made it a mission for them to help. During this period, I felt unity, valued and comfortable, I continue to build relationships with individuals at the site and my feelings of exclusion started to fade. By my last week at Dorothy’s, I started to feel overwhelmed of feelings of sadness and guilt because I did not want to leave the children and I felt as though I was a member of the Dorothy Children’s home family.
My ten-week experience at Dorothy children’s home taught me so many things and I gained so much knowledge. Well asides from gaining new cooking recipes on meals such as githeri, and different ways maze can be cooked to make Kenya’s signature meals.
One of the major things that this volunteer experience has taught me is the ability to see the world in a different way. I get the chance to see all aspects of the community and help as much as I can. There is nothing more rewarding than helping people in their time of need out of the goodness of my heart. Another thing I’ve learned through my experience is the ability to face real world problems, which also helps my decision-making skills. I have the opportunity to see the effects of people’s poor decisions first-hand, such as mothers and fathers abandoning their children because of several reason like, their addiction problems, or no ability to cater for the child or children in question. This helped me learn that as human beings the decisions we make can hunt us to the end of the world and we should also think before we act. My experience has also helped me to learn to work as a team, a lot of the tasks handed to me were completed as a group such washing the windows, picking cereals, and making sure we all completed our daily tasks to our best ability.
Furthermore, my experience with community service has taught me compassion and understanding. I see what problems the children face on a daily like Ambrose fracturing his wrist and his mother couldn’t afford to take him to the hospital for proper treatment. This helps teach me to be an understanding person because you never know what people are truly going through. Lastly, I have learned selflessness and caring about others. It helped me to understand that I do not have to do things in life just to get something back for my own benefit alone. Just knowing that I am helping people in their time of need is rewarding enough. Community service is important not only to benefit the community, but also to teach the individual valuable life lessons.
Activities
The activities carried out varied from day to day. I started on the 13th of May 2019, arriving at the home at 7.50 am sharp, my first task the first week was to teach the children because their regular teacher was not in. We recited names of animals, alphabets and did a lot of drawings.
By the second week, On the 20th of May I was assigned to picking cereals, which was when I had my first contact with ndegu beans which helped me differentiate ndegu beans and kidney beans and the different meals that they can be cooked with.
June 4th, I had my first encounter with the farm side of the home, which honestly will forever be one of my most memorable experiences during my undergraduate program. My first task was to clean the hen house, and pack the dirt outside through the second gate, as simple as that seems it was super challenging because of my phobia for anything that has wings or that can fly. I am mostly grateful to that experience because with the help of the site supervisor, Doreen, I was able to face my odd fear.
From that week on I was mostly assigned to either washing windows outside, or the utensils used to process the milk after milking the cows, I also swept the compound from time to time.
Incidences
My first encounter was with the cows, I was assigned to sweep the unused elephant grass on the floor and take the dirt to the space outside where the dirt is usually burned after a while. Mr. Murithi who takes care of the cows, asked me to pass the broom to him to enhance his sweeping, in the process of that I fell with my back down. I remember falling on cow’s excrement, and because I had an hour left before my shift ended, I had to stay at the site till my shift ended, covered in cow feces, it would probably be my most embarrassing moment in my whole adult life.
There was another situation which was more of culture shock, my task for that day was to wash the utensils that were used to process the milk after extracting it from the cows. I washed them with hot water for about thirty minutes, but apparently it wasn’t well washed according to one of the staffs who milks the cows. So, on this day, being my fourth or fifth time assigned to the washing duty, after washing he just took the utensils to the tap and started washing them again even more thoroughly than I did. This affected my morale, because according to my culture when someone does that it is a sign of disrespect and complete rudeness and the fact that he is from Tanzania, I did not know how to act or react.
My third incidence was less embarrassing, I was asked to cut the weeds outside the gate, as my task for that day. This was a major encounter because I have never held a hatchet in my life, so I was clueless on how to hold much more on how to cut with it. I was too ashamed to ask for help, I ended up cutting my finger and holding the hatchet with both hands for hours till I managed to clear the area to my best ability.
Academic Analysis (UN human rights documents, Vision 2030, MDG’s, Kenya Constitution etc.).
Human rights play an essential position in attaining sustainable development as their realization contributes to social and political stability and potential for innovation. Improving human rights is both an intention of development and a potential of attaining it. The key human rights thought is that all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights (A, J, & J, 2012).
According to the Kenyan Constitution, the Children Act (Cap.586, Laws of Kenya); “This is an Act of Parliament that provides for the rights of children and seeks to enhance the welfare of children in Kenya.”
Under this Act, the following
Safeguards for the rights and welfare of children- Right to health care which states that every child has a right to health and medical care of which parents and the Government shall have the responsibility of providing for. Dorothy Children’s home provides for health care by budgeting for the girls’ sanitary pads, and making sure a physician or health specialist (nurse or doctor) visits after a regular period. As well as ‘Right to Education’ where every child is entitled to free and compulsory primary education, which the home provides home schooling with employed teacher and also sponsors the girls to school in Maruri. Lastly, Rights to religious education, parents have the responsibility of providing children with appropriate guidance in religious education. Dorothy’s home is a Christian home, that teaches the girls to practice as Christians, in and outside the home. (General, 2014)
The Child’s Opinion; Dorothy children’s home sponsors the girls’ education up to high school and then allows them the free will to decide what their future plans or goals are. In which they decide I they want to venture into a business, get a job or further their education.
The Basic Nutrition and Shelter; they are provided with a home, daily meals and even pocket money to school. The home is sponsored with a lot of food by institutions, and individuals from various parts of Kenya, this helps in the day to day running of Dorothy children’s home.
Recommendation and Conclusion.
My experiences at Dorothy children’s home has been life changing. As it opened my eyes to the unspoken aspects of life, thanks to the course being offered by USIU (community service learning) however there are some aspects that could be improved, which include;
1. Areas in which community service-learning program can be improved
i. By allowing the option of choosing project for full time students, this is because it is more beneficial for the homes to have more food and resources provided for them. It is more efficient to allow students identify needs and problems in these sites and fund them. For example, in Dorothy’s home there is an urgent need for a new solar panel and also a new hole to be dug for increase in water flow. As a hands-on student I believe I impacted the home but only in helping run the day to day activities, even though project student spends less time in the homes or sites. There is a shoe rack that was bought by USIU students, in year 2009 that is still useful for them at the home.
ii. A reduction in the minimum weeks required, this is because it reduces the enthusiasm and genuity in students’ work ethic. After week seven, most students are just looking forward to completing their hours and leaving. In most cases the site supervisor and even the children at the home end up noticing the transition.
iii. USIU should encourage students to volunteer in animal shelters too, because the essence of helping one’s community is to help preserve life of both people and animals. Animals, most especially dogs are known to improve social interaction, it helps break the cycle of pet over population which is a current issue in Nairobi, where the streets are flooded with stray cats and dogs. The major benefit of working at animal shelters is that they help stop cruelty in mass breeding facilities.
2. Areas in which Dorothy children’s Home could improve include
i. Employing more staff; there is an overdependency on hands n students. This because there is a guaranteed number of at least ten students every semester, so the organization sees no need in employing labor which increases the work load for students and encourages laziness among the staff. At my site for instance because most of us were put on farm duty, he would assign us to do his daily tasks while he texts on his phone the whole day.
ii. Be more creative with tasks assigned; after volunteering for six weeks and above, the tasks become a repeated routine which discourages students. There should adopt a culture of allowing the students find areas in the home that they consider requires improvement and work on it. Like an on site project, for example a student who has great artistic skills can decide to help them repaint a room or change the furniture arrangement.
References
A, B., J, O., & J, Z. (2012). What Makes Growth Sustained? 2 Journal of Development Economics, 149-166.
General. (2014, January 22). Kenyan Laws Providing For The Child Rights and Child Protection. CK Advocates LLP, pp. 1-6.