Conscious, transformative and community-based volunteering.
Local and international volunteering technique at the International Civil Service of Catalonia. Militant of the Raval cultural and neighborhood movement.
As every summer we see how free time approaches for many, social networks are flooded with beautiful images and videos of paradisiacal places. Sliding the screen we find solidarity travel campaigns that disguise themselves as volunteering , it is also difficult to find or distinguish volunteering that comes from non-profit organizations from those that come donated by tourist companies.
In a world of '5 places to visit before mass tourism makes them disappear', the International Civil Service (ICS) proposes an activism that fights to sow the seed of a volunteerism that is not competitive and often not the most flashy, nor is it what appears on the home screens of the networks or seeks to sell experiences through viral tiktoks. They are volunteerisms rooted in their environments , networked and collaborative. Volunteerism, when emptied of critical content and becomes just another commodity, can become a subtle way of perpetuating inequalities.
What is called voluntourism has been gaining ground: apparently charitable trips that, under the promise of helping, often respond to consumer logics. This model, fueled by emotional marketing campaigns, turns host communities into temporary sets and local people into extras within an experience that prioritizes the emotional benefit of the volunteer.
Faced with this scenario, it is necessary to claim the importance of asking ourselves uncomfortable questions : Who is behind this volunteering? What needs does it respond to? What role does the volunteer play? Only from an attitude open to listening, questioning and sharing can we break with paternalistic dynamics and build bonds that truly transform.
The projects that are structured within our organization are projects that arise from the needs of non-profit organizations/associations or neighborhoods, that carefully treat all those tasks or actions that the communities know and share with the volunteers who collaborate with their time and motivation. Projects that are part of the resistance to the most voracious capitalism and that see in volunteering a form not only of support to carry out urgent tasks of the here and now but also in order to raise awareness or reach more people , to humanize spaces and to reconnect with other realities .
One of the most marked differences that the SCI offers is the mandatory training before departure . We consider it essential that volunteers receive training prior to their volunteering, training that does not give them everything they need. It is a training where reflection takes place and where volunteers draw their own unique conclusions by thinking about and studying everything they will do or are motivated to do, spaces for mutual learning and that move away from formal education.
These are trainings that aim to provide volunteers with useful tools and to create a support network both for our organization and for the relationship with other volunteers who will leave the same year for their chosen projects. These trainings allow us to build a critical perspective on the world around us.
Participating in volunteering should never be a covert form of solidarity 'tourism'. For us, volunteering should always be marked by an opportunity for mutual transformation , a sincere exchange and real commitment . It's not about doing a lot or making a lot of noise, but about doing it well. With awareness, with respect and with a critical eye that accompanies us far beyond a couple of weeks of summer, and that rather becomes a new way of transforming our environment.
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