International Volunteer Day
December 5th, is International Volunteer Day, as selected by the United Nations. It is a moment in which volunteers and organizations can share and celebrate their work and efforts. At Gustolab International, we are proud to volunteer with Orme Onlus in Roma. This organization focuses primarily on helping women and girls in need. Their services reach out to women in poverty, by giving food, clothes, hygienic products and also moral support that goes beyond a mere distribution of goods. Orme Onlus aims to improve the lives of these women in difficulty by creating support and offering care. It is clear that volunteering has many benefits for all involved, but volunteering abroad brings forth a whole new skill set. Those involved get to see the reality of a place as it is, not the tourist side of life that many visitors take for truth. By seeing things through the eyes of locals, this opens the doors for a deep cultural immersion. Students are able to give back to the community in which they are involved in, leave their mark and connect with others. Not to mention, while gaining a wide range of transferable skills. Other than obvious language skills, students also develop in softer skills, such as cultural understanding & engagement, problem solving & multidisciplinary thinking, responsibility & flexibility. Students develop their global competence, as they become increasingly aware of the reality of the world around them, and through critical thinking and action, become players in this global environment. The notion of ethical and social responsibility also becomes a reality for the international volunteer, and borders melt away.
