“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.” —Muhammad Ali
What is a voluntarism? Is volunteering about money? Should we measure it that way? Most people would say NO. I started volunteering in 2014. From then till now, I have gained lots that the four walls of education never revealed to me. There’s value in volunteering and I have tapped from such value over time. Being a product of voluntarism, this is true.
Voluntarism is a life – long and significant journey of seeing yourself as part of the community through giving, contributing, and helping other individuals and the community at large. It is engaging with others to make a meaningful contribution to a better community.
“If you help more persons get what they want, they will come together and help you get what you want.”
In the most positive light, voluntarism goes beyond doing something without expecting anything in return. It is about meeting a need. The reward of meeting such needs cannot be overemphasized. Don’t believe me? Here are 5 ways volunteerism can help you become a better person.

1. Gain New Skills And Experience. Voluntarism breaks skill gap. I didn’t learn advocacy, public speaking and social media marketing through school. I learnt them via voluntarism. During a training I had with Milky Way Youth Movement as a Global Youth Ambassador Volunteer in 2015, I learnt how to better use the Google Search and another, how to use social media for advocacy. These are things you aren’t even paying to learn—a gift in today’s world of expensive education. Through voluntarism, you can acquire new skills, gain experience and sometimes even qualifications as you learn, unlearn and relearn.

2. You Can Get Inspired. Are you a writer, an artist, or other creative being? According to Julia Cameron, we all are. You can be inspired or get a new idea as you are volunteering. Voluntarism is a world of idea and inspiration if only you volunteer.
3. Build Your Network. Networking is an amazing benefit of volunteering. There’s a saying that goes thus, “Your network determines your networth. Voluntarism offers you the platform to meet with different kind of persons with diverse skills and ability from different regions of the world. You get first hand exposure that can impact on your professional and personal development.
4. Gain Confidence. Voluntarism can help you gain confidence by giving you the chance to try something new and build a real sense of achievement. Gandhi put it best when he said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
5. Eposed to opportunities. Voluntarism exposes you to wide range of opportunities. Ranging from scholarship and internship to free mentorship, trainings and seminars. Voluntarism feeds you with information about opportunities around the globe. Don’t stay idle, look out for platform to volunteer and if can’t find one, create one.
Have you volunteered before? If Yes, kindly share with us what you learnt from it as we will be glad to hear from you!