Volunteering is a concept that comes from the Latin word voluntarĭus. It is a term that can be used as a noun or as an adjective, always linked to the will: the power to make decisions and act on one’s own.
As a noun, volunteer refers to the person who decides to provide a service or perform a task of their own free will, without being obliged to do so for legal, contractual or economic reasons. For example: “Volunteers from the environmental entity held a protest at the headquarters of the oil company”, “The city government granted eight volunteers for social work”, “On weekends I volunteer in an association that delivers food to children low-income”.
The work that a volunteer does is known as volunteering. Through these actions, individuals decide to provide a service to the community without expecting anything in return: they do so for ethical, ideological or spiritual reasons. Different is the case of the tasks that are carried out in the context of the work environment, where the person carries out an activity in exchange for money. The adjective voluntary is applied to the action that is carried out by the will of the person and not by external pressure or obligation: “I want to make it clear that it is a voluntary act: nobody forces me to do it”, “My retirement is voluntary because I had an offer to continue playing but I chose to reject it”, “In this country voting is voluntary, although in several countries in the region it is mandatory”. Among the relatively modern spaces where the work of a volunteer is found are animal sanctuaries, non-profit organizations dedicated to giving a second chance to any animal that leads a bad life, such as those who have suffered some type of exploitation. Animal sanctuaries promote veganism, that is, a diet that excludes animal products and, in general, a lifestyle that does not use any other species as a tool or raw material. In these places, the animals find an environment of equality in which they are not below any species, but at the same level, as they should be, as nature dictates. The human being has done everything possible to distance us from our roots and our essence, to the point of needing clothing to cover the genitals and protect us from cold and heat; We recognize ourselves so little on this planet that it seems appropriate to arrest and torture an animal, but we are horrified when a person is killed. As animal sanctuaries do not profit from the beings they rescue, economic problems are almost an intrinsic part of their structure. For this reason, the work of the volunteer is practically essential for his subsistence, and he can be involved in different tasks, some sporadic, others at a distance; Let’s look at some examples below:
* collaborate with the cleaning of the sanctuary. This is one of the most common volunteer jobs, since it can be done only once or without a strict periodicity. Although it seems little, a day that we dedicate to a sanctuary can make a difference; * provide veterinary services. As is well known, the animals that arrive at the sanctuaries are usually in a worrying state of health, since many of them come from slaughterhouses or bullrings, among other torture centers. The treatments and medicines that some need are very expensive, so volunteering is essential; * Assist in the maintenance of social media accounts or in the development of posters to increase the visibility of the sanctuaries on the Internet. A volunteer community manager can save a lot.
