Educational workshop “Being a Volunteer” was held on the 22 October 2020 in the warm home of the Association for the Promotion of Inclusion.
The Association is an non-governmental, non-for-profit and a humanitarian association which activities are based on the philosophy of “inclusion” stating that people with intellectual difficulties have a right to be equal and active members of civil society.
The staff of the Local Democracy Agency Sisak held the educational workshop to twelve tenants of the Association’ community-based supported housing, which were eager and excited to learn more about volunteering. Participants learned about volunteering through conversation and games and were informed about the basic legal framework that regulates the rights and obligations of volunteers and the organisers of the volunteering as well. The majority of the participants have previous experience in volunteering and had basic knowledge, that contributes to success of the workshop.
Despite intellectual disabilities, some of the participants are very active in volunteering in several organisations and institutions in Sisak and its surroundings, such as the Children Home Vrbina, Home for Elderly People and Merhamet. These activities are on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but our participants are looking forward to get engage over again. Although often in the need of help by others, the participants believe that everyone need a help sometimes and one need to help the others. The main motive for volunteering, stressed out by the participants, is in a saying: Good deed returns to good!
At the end of the workshop, the participants presented their wishes regarding the volunteering activities in the future. Most of them would like to volunteer within humanitarian organisations such as Karitas or the Humanitarian society Merhamet and working with children in Children Home Vrbina but in the Home for Elderly People as well. Since all participants love working with animals, interest in volunteering in animal shelter is very high, same as with therapeutic horses.
The staff of LDA Sisak will work with the staff of Association for promotion of Inclusion to organise future volunteer actions for the wards of Association, in order continue strengthening civic engagement of the people with intellectual disabilities and their contribution to work of organisations and institutions at the local level.
The workshop is a part of the projects Sisak Volunteer’ Network and Volunteer Centre Sisak, co-funded by the Croatian Ministry of Labor, Pension System, Family and Social Policy and the City of Sisak.
———-
The views expressed in this text are the sole responsibility of the Local Democracy Agency Sisak and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the City of Sisak nor the Ministry.
