BY LEULSEGED WORKU
There were times where Ethiopian youths were conscripted for unjust civil wars. Most of them were compelled to head to warfronts unwillingly and take part in the civil war. Due to that reason, the role of the youths to support their land in various social and development activities were minimal. However, currently this trend has totally changed.
The youths are serving their nation in productive and peaceful arenas. They are not now recruited forcibly to kill their brothers or sisters for the reason of their political ideology. They are now conscripted voluntarily to serve their nation in peaceful battle. These days, young people by planting trees, they are protecting the environment; by serving the elderly people, they are lessening their peoples’ socioeconomic challenges, thereby satisfying their own well-being and inner self; by standing for peace they are realizing security. This is the true Ethiopian identity. Voluntarism is a non-profitable activity that people carry out for the sake of their life satisfaction. People who engage in volunteerism activities are free from all forms of affiliation. They are “soldiers” without gun, who stood for humanity; they are a pure soul with a body and committed to serve the community irrespective of age, religion, color or other grounds. Voluntarism is an international activity performed by those kind-hearted individuals who are compassionate, caring and keen to serve others freely, without expecting any reward.
It is a service where individuals sacrifice their interest for the sake of others. Some volunteers serve in their locality while others travel several kilometers leaving their comfortable life on account of saving others’ life.
Even if it is not in its modern sense, voluntarism is not something new in Ethiopia. There are several voluntary activities performed among villagers in rural parts of the country. In fact, the lifestyle of Ethiopians by itself forces individuals to perform voluntary activity without expecting anything in return. An age old culture of tolerance and supporting one another has taught Ethiopians to participate in voluntary activities. Voluntarism has a great advantage to individuals as well as to the nation. The awareness of the society towards voluntarism is growing from time to time. In Ethiopia, taking into consideration the role voluntarism can play in addressing publics’ socioeconomic challenges, government, non-government organizations, individuals and groups are seen organizing themselves to fill those gaps and improve the lives of the society. This is especially true in times when schools are closed.
Beside its social benefit, voluntarism has also significant economic advantages to the country. Due to the active involvement of volunteers, the nation can secure a great deal of money. This is witnessed within the past years where billions of Birr was saved due to the active engagements of young people in various areas of volunteer services such as reforestation, refurbishing and rebuilding of shabby houses, supporting and caring elders and needy; blood donation and the like services.
Whenever the issue of voluntarism is raised, the youths are the one who take the lion`s share. So far, several Ethiopian youths are providing voluntary services in several sectors; and are benefitting local communities. This includes repairing old houses, helping elderly citizens, planting trees, tutoring students, and others.In Ethiopian rainy season, voluntary service is getting a better place among the youths. In former days, it was only a few individuals who were happy and ready to provide such service. However, this trend has totally changed. The number of voluntary youth is increasing from time to time.
As documents indicated, during the last rainy season, close to 23 million youths took part in various volunteering works and served their nation. Due to this, the country is able to save 12 billion Birr. According to Muhidin Nassir, Ethiopian Youth Federation Head, preparations are underway to organize and assign young people in this rainy season. All regional volunteers are now ready to provide service to their community. “Seeing the value of voluntarism, every youth is now happy and ready to support his/her fellow Ethiopian brother and sister. The number of youth volunteers is growing every time.”He said all preparation is made to provide effective service to the community throughout the country. The voluntary service will be carried out until mid-October 2022.
This year’s voluntary service will primarily focus on green legacy, environmental protection, peace, security, COVID prevention; and creating awareness with regard to harmful traditional practices.
What is more, according to Muhidin, in this year’s voluntarism program, activities such as the provision of tutorial classes, repairing houses of elderly people, awareness creation on illegal migration and other 11 selected areas will be carried out.
There is an Amharic saying “Wetat yenebir tat” meaning youth is the claw of the tiger. This is to show the power of the youths; and as nothing can prevent them from achieving goals if they are committed enough and perform tasks in structured ways.
Needless to say, the youths are decisive in preserving the pace and stability of the nation. In this regard, by standing guard for their country in a peaceful battle; they can keep the peace and security matters of their nation. As it was witnessed in the previous voluntary services, several youths were seen securing the peace and stability of their nation.
The issue of peace and stability are the major concerns of every nation. Whenever peace and stability are realized, the economic performance of that given nation grows significantly. In this regard, the role of the youth is vital. Without the active involvement of the youth, peace, stability and growth are unthinkable. As a nation of young people, Ethiopia has a great advantage to preserve its stability and speed up its economy through its peace loving children. In this regard, involving the youth in voluntary service has both economic and social benefits.
Not only voluntarism has a great role in supporting the society or the economy. It has also a significant role in bringing youths from different parts of the country to share their knowledge and cultural experience to each other. This in turn will enable them to respect the cultural values of others. What is more, using their untapped knowledge and creativity, they can make a difference on country’s overall progress.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 7 JULY 2022
