DR RADICA MAHASE

Sixteen years ago, I attended a cultural studies workshop for postgraduate students in Bhubaneswar, India. There I met Sujit, a vibrant student who was involved in various forms of protests against social inequity at his university.

During one of our many long conversations, he told me about his plan to build a library in his Odisha, that would be accessible to everyone, regardless of caste and class distinctions. This library would be built by volunteers; it would be run by volunteers; and it would reach out to children from disadvantaged backgrounds –those from lower castes and from slum areas.

Three years later, this library was up and running. Sujit had mobilised more than 1,000 volunteers to establish the Bakul Foundation Children’s Library. Today, this library is recognised as one of the best children’s libraries in India, both for its and child-centric environment and for its programmes for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is run entirely by volunteers!

Sujit’s beliefs in the power of volunteerism stayed with me. Every time I spoke to him, he would tell me of these amazing programmes that Bakul volunteers had conceptualised; of the satellite libraries they had set up; the beautification projects they completed; and the projects aimed at teaching children to care for the environment. Keeping track of Bakul’s accomplishments over the years and seeing what could be accomplished through volunteerism convinced me that this was the best way to influence change – especially in TT where funding for NGOs is highly dependent on who you are and who you know.

Thus, when I started Support Autism T&T, I knew that this NGO would be based on the concept of volunteerism. Initially, the volunteers were my close friends and family, the people who shared my vision and had my back. The very first youth volunteers were my nieces and nephews. Then they brought their close friends and those close friends brought their close friends and today Support Autism T&T has approximately 350 youth volunteers, with more youths waiting to complete our 2022 Volunteer Training sessions.

The NGO has successfully completed numerous activities and events, fundraisers, community outreach projects, and assisted the special needs community in so many ways, all because of the commitments of our volunteers. The benefits of volunteering are immeasurable to everyone but most importantly, it gives us an opportunity to take an active part in effecting positive changes in the world in which we live. It allows us to take responsibility for creating a world that we want.

[caption id="attachment_928216" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Don't underestimate the power of youth volunteerism in the creation of an inclusive TT.
Photo courtesy Sataish Rampersad[/caption]

This is especially important when we think about our younger generations for, they should be given the opportunity to play a significant role in creating the future that they would want to live in