Two little boys who were stranded on the rooftop of their home and were in danger of being washed away were saved by two volunteers who set up a makeshift chair lift using a rope and a tiny bed in a sea of heartbreaking photographs from the devastation caused by the recent floods in Pakistan. In a nation where the “system” appeared to have abandoned its residents, I couldn’t help but wonder what may have occurred if these two volunteers hadn’t displayed bravery and inventiveness.
Government cannot handle it on its own.
Why can’t we all pitch in and support one another like the volunteers did during the floods? This is a young person’s nation. The youth of Pakistan can contribute to a solution rather than to a problem. Why not involve young people in finding solutions to these issues by creating a nonpartisan national youth volunteer programme?
Community service is a significant part of formal education in the majority of nations. In order to be eligible for university entrance, school students must have completed significant community service initiatives. In the same way, employers give a lot of weight to volunteer work when considering applicants for open positions. Governments around the world promote and support volunteering.
Organizations in Pakistan including Al-Khidmat Foundation, Akhuwat, TCF, SOS, Teach-for-Pakistan, and many more have shown how initiatives from the private sector may aid in resolving Pakistan’s ongoing issues.
Our efforts to link college and high school students with volunteer opportunities through our platform Milkar.com have strengthened our belief that young people are eager and willing to address the issues facing their communities. Through Milkar, over 350 community service projects were completed by nearly 8,000 volunteers in the previous year alone.
Government programmes like Kamyab Jawan can also give volunteers a nonpartisan platform. However, in order for such a programme to have a lasting effect, it must collaborate with academic institutions to create a culture of volunteering throughout the nation.
The incentive and framework for formally offering volunteer opportunities in universities could be found in the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) new guidelines for providing practical and general education in universities.
This year, Milkar collaborated with three colleges to integrate community service initiatives within their academic curricula. Each participant in this programme must perform between 30 and 80 hours of community service in order to acquire one academic credit toward graduation.
Working with UNDP, HEC and the Youth Ministry, such a program can be expanded to all universities and colleges in the country. Based on our experience of working with the youth of the country, I know they want to be part of the solution.
