In the United States as well as many other places in the world there are so many opportunities to be a volunteer – to identify that cause or organization or project where you can readily and effortlessly donate your time, skills and expertise. In turn you generally gain self-satisfaction in knowing that your efforts promoted a good cause and/or helped an individual or an institution.
Volunteering can be as simple as reading the newspaper or a book to someone who is visually impaired or teaching a craft to men, women or children. Many museums in the States may have volunteers who serve as tour guides or are there to provide information and respond to queries. Volunteering can also be more complex such as building a home for a homeless family or assisting victims of a natural disaster.
However in Saudi Arabia, volunteering is not a well-known concept and still surrounded by much beauracracy and red tape. I discovered when speaking with Saudis knowledgable on volunteering they explained that it is not a straight forward process to simply approach an organization or institution and express your interest to volunteer and start volunteering. Many approvals are required from differing government ministries as well as the organization or institution. And if a volunteer project involves interaction with Saudi youth for example, parental approvals are also necessary indicating the Saudi families have no objection to the contact or interaction.
I hope that volunteering will become not only more popular in the Kingdom but easier for young and old alike to participate and enjoy the benefits of volunteering. For anyone interested in identifying volunteer opportunities, albeit not in Saudi Arabia, you might wish to check out this link. Unfortunately for the location of Saudi Arabia there were no matches.
Filed under: Uncategorized | 26 Comments »
