위캔스 선생님 일상

Volunteerism

Volunteering can make you happier and help you live longer, according to a new study. A research paper published on Friday in the journal BMC Public Health says doing good deeds for others boosts your mental health and increases your longevity.” ( https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1308/130826-volunteering.html)

I’ve been part of a volunteer organization for 4 years now. The organization is called “Chuchungan Volunteer Inc.”. The name “chuchungan” was derived from a dialect which means “a wooden chair”. The main beneficiary of this organization are elementary students in the far-flung areas and we provide them clothes, school supplies, laundry powders, mouth care products, and snacks. We visit their areas, we sit for a while, mingle with them, and spend quality time with them.– thus the name “chuchungan”.

As we play games with them, we are able to have fun and build their social skills and their competitiveness. As I spend time with these kids, just by seeing their genuine smile as they say ‘thank you’ melts my heart. It reminds me of my childhood days. After school, I was excited to go home so I could play with my neighbors, I could watch my favorite TV show, and after doing my homework, I was excited to go to bed as I couldn’t wait to see my classmates the following day.

Helping others doesn’t mean that we also have to receive something in return, well, in a materialistic point at least. We help others because we want to. By helping others, we receive this deep sense of happiness and a wider perspective in life, which we take for granted at times. It doesn’t mean that we receive material possessions, we DO receive something, and this something is much more precious than any other stuff in this world.