When a person donates a significant part of his salary as a charity or to an NGO, he thinks that he is making a contribution towards the welfare of the needy and hence is changing the world in whatever small way he can. But the question is — Is the world really changing? Are the people really benefited from his money? Well, these are the questions difficult to answer. To answer these, we need a deeper look to the present day Indian scenario.
I gave the money to an NGO as a donation, now what? Well, you think you have done your part, don’t you? But have another look. What happens to the money? Have you ever wondered the hidden cause behind the mushrooming of NGO’s throughout the country? The NGO’s today are not performing their task and are increasing the corruption index of the country thus hindering its progress. A majority of the NGO’s spurting out of nowhere capitalize on the donations that they get and misuse it for the benefit of their owner. Over the past decade many NGO’s have opened up simply because of the profit involved in this business. The exposure of many scams related to the swindling of resources corroborates the same.
So what can we do to help the less fortunate? The answer to this is simple indeed. What can go wrong if we ourselves get involved in this noble cause? Yes, I am talking about volunteering. It would have a dual benefit — first, we would get a firsthand experience of what goes inside and get satisfaction from what we have done. Second, we would never be bothered about the misuse of that money that we so hardly earn.
The need of the hour is volunteerism, more than donations as India is having the shortage of people who can willingly work for social good. What India needs today is a dedicated workforce. Money was never been a factor, but people who could put the money to good use are scarce. With dedicated people, the chance of a scam taking place would decrease substantially. Moreover, the government machinery is not enough to solve this crisis alone, it needs change agents to solve the problem at large.
It’s not only limited to this, volunteering can help you make a positive impact on the society and also contributes to your social status. Moreover, volunteering also helps you interact with people from diverse backgrounds thus helping you learn and work as a team. This helps you understand the problems in different sections of the society and work towards removing them from their roots.
So the next time when you get an opportunity, do not donate but instead volunteer to see the change that you can bring. Stop complaining about the inefficient NGO’s, about the corrupt structure and be the change you want to see. What India needs today are volunteers who can collectively work towards its development. Volunteer yourself to see how you can change the society with whatever you have.
Img:Â http://www.volunteeringwithindia.org/our-programs/teach-english-in-rural-areas