Good morning Principal, teachers and fellow schoolmates,
I’m Chris Wong from 4A. I’m glad that I can have this precious chance to share with all of you my experience participating in voluntary work. I’m now a helper in Helping Hands Social Services Centre and I truly hope that my sharing can help you understand more about voluntary work.
To begin with, I’d like to share with you my own story. When I was in Form 1, I was a rebellious boy who never obeyed teachers and parents. I just enjoyed doing bad things to show off that even adults could not control me. Of course, my academic results were terrible too. My uncle, who was a voluntary worker for Helping Hands Social Services Centre, was so worried about me. To stop me from hanging out with bad friends during weekends, he took me to the centre to join some voluntary work. Everything changed since then. After being a volunteer for some time, I discovered that being a nice person and caring about others could be so joyful and fulfilling. I gained a strong sense of satisfaction. Since then, I go there every week. Joining voluntary work has totally changed my personality. I’ve become more understanding and caring. It is not just helping others, but I am the one being helped.
Some of you may not understand much about our work. Do we need to go to the home for the elderly or the orphanage every week? Will the workload be very heavy? The answer is no. We go to the centre at weekends to participate in a wide range of meaningful activities. Sometimes, we play with the children coming to our centre. Sometimes, we teach the elderly to use the computer, and sometimes we make scarves for the old people living alone and the street sleepers. Of course, we may go out for visits once a month or once in two months and we need to do preparation for the visits. But the workload is not so heavy. One big advantage of being a helper in the centre is that we are free to choose our time joining the service. You can go there whenever you are available during weekends.
Some people may have a wrong idea that doing voluntary work is a waste of time. But as I’ve mentioned at the beginning of my speech, it’s not just helping the needy. It’s the volunteers being helped.
First, it’s joyful to help others. Although you might need to sacrifice some of your leisure time while doing voluntary work, you will just forget all your hardship when you see the smiling faces of the needy. Only those who have the experience joining voluntary work will understand this amazing feeling. In simple words, doing voluntary work can boost your confidence and relieve your pressure, which offers you help in various aspects.
Second, it helps you learn a lot which cannot be acquired in the classroom. Take my own experience as an example. I’ve learnt how to cooperate with others while doing the preparation work for the visits. I know how to look after different details organizing activities. I also acquired the skills of communicating with people of different ages including the elderly and the children. These useful skills and knowledge can be gained while participating in voluntary work. The most important thing is it’s free of charge!
So, what are you still waiting for? Don’t hesitate. Join us! It might not be necessary to join only the activities organized by our centre. A lot of voluntary work is equally meaningful and enriching. I’m sure that all of you will have the feeling as mine after doing voluntary work.
Best wishes to all of you. Thank you.