Volunteerism Speech: 2013 ENACTUS Ghana National Competition

As requested and promised, here is a copy of the presentation/speech I gave at the 2013 National Competition for ENACTUS Ghana. I’ve had to think back upon my own words when I’m making that next step in my growth process.

June 4, 2013. Moments before the 2013 Champion (Tamale Polytechnic) was announced. Congrats to all team members.
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A pleasant Good Afternoon to the amazing students of ENACTUS, Sponsors and partners and guests. Akwaaba!

Today I’ll speak about the rewards of volunteering. I’ll share a bit about myself and my own volunteer experience and show you the growth on a personal and professional level that can also take place for you. And when I say ENACTUS – you’ll say? ….

[Audience:] In Action!

My name is Shalisha Samuel. I’m a Vincentian, from Vincent and the Grenadines but I live in Barbados. Both countries are in the Caribbean. After completing an undergrad in Political Science and a Masters in International Trade Policy I landed my dream internship at the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva Switzerland. I was really happy about that. I remained there as a consultant for a year. Following this, I did a few short contracts and enjoyed what I did. I’m now a law student and law will complete the degrees, I think a study break is well needed now! 🙂

I’ve always desired working directly with the people however. My dream is to see that each person fully carries out his or her mission and purpose in life. The belief that every single person has a purpose in life has driven me. I have lived in and attended schools in the not so nicest areas. My H.S in New York City was once rated as the #1 most dangerous school in all of NY. I remember those H.S days so well and I remember my classmates and their stories and struggles.

With this background and some successful professional experience, I, at 28 years old had already become jaded and as we say in the Caribbean, fed up of the empty talk. I wanted more and that more that I was desiring was me giving myself to others at no cost. It was to be helping someone else. A friend told me of Youth Challenge International, I applied and now thanks to them, I’m a volunteer with ENACTUS. At ENACTUS, I will develop a monitoring and evaluation system to better track the entrepreneurial projects you do each year and to measure the impact on the quality of life and the standard of living. I’ve also had the joy of carrying out 2 workshops on Presentation skills and will see some of you again for a workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation. From submitting an application, to now standing amongst you brilliant minds, here in Ghana.

To be honest, I didn’t think of any boost it would have to my career. This has never and will never be the focus of any volunteer activity I engage in. It’s not about your career, it’s not about you, it never has and never will be about you. It’s about the person next to you and how you can uplift them. Keep the people you’re working with at the forefront of what you’re doing.

With that being said, however, it does have direct and indirect positive impacts on your career. Volunteering offers personal development and growth and the better a person you are, the further your career will go.

Now here are 8 things that Volunteering can do.

 

1. Positive Change in the Community

You make a positive change in the lives of those in the community you volunteer with. The people you’re helping might not have been able to afford the service you’re providing them with on their own. You’re filling in the gap where the perils of our money driven society fails. You’re reaching out to those that the Government hasn’t gotten to and you’re already getting your country closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

We sometimes fear we don’t have much to give but you will be surprised at yourself at the knowledge you have and how it can change someone’s life. You will learn of skills you never thought you had. And you would even further enhance and tone those skills.

 

2. Self Confidence

When you are asked to do a new task, say YES even if you don’t know how to do it, you will learn and educate yourself. That’s easy for me to say to a group of entrepreneurs. You’ve spent the entire school year doing just this.

Given your experience with ENACTUS, you will personally know that growth and self-confidence does not happen in the comfort zone. Comfort zone and growth are mutually exclusive. Always remember that when faced with a challenge or something that is difficult to do. You will increase your knowledge, understanding and compassion. So with trembling hearts and shaking feet, challenge yourself with volunteer work that forces you to produce results. How else did you learn to walk? It was a trembling excited heart and wobbly feet.

In my first week of volunteering I was nervous but by faith and a never give up attitude, I simply kept going and am steadying myself.

 

3. New Friendships. Networking.

Expand your network naturally – I smile thinking of the Ghanaian friends I have now. I have invited them back to the Caribbean to visit Brothers, Sisters and distant cousins. I hope when I return to Accra, Tamale or Kumasi, I will have a friend to stay by. I believe so, otherwise I’ll just show up at your doorstep from the airport 🙂

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

4. Cultural Exchange

 Some of us now know that Cocoyam in Ghana is dasheen in the Caribbean, while Kotomire is Callalou, Dokuno is Dukuna or Kenkey is Conkey, Gari is Ferine and Sobolo is sorrel … yam is yam, cassava is cassava J We now know that ‘Pickin in Ghana is pickney in the Caribbean. When you volunteer there are other people volunteering with you, they are your supporters, your backers, your family, your school mates, your neighbours. Some will live vicariously through you and will learn about a new culture from your experience. Ghana is a big country and charity starts at home but you can also seek out opportunities to volunteer outside of your zone. You will learn more than you can imagine, a new language, a new dialect and will stretch your capacities and understanding even further.

5. You will Inspire others

You’ll be amazed how many people are inspired by you. My friends, even my Primary 5 (7^th grade) teacher says she’s inspired by my volunteer work. There are a number of young people that look up to you. Those in the community will feel blessed by your grace and would appreciate the time you invested in them. The thank you note, the student saying you’ve helped them gain more confidence is a great impact. It goes a long way and I am sure you can think of someone who if it wasn’t for them freely investing their time in you, you won’t be sitting here today. So please, volunteer, be a shaker and be a mover.

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

 

6. Healthy

Let it not be about you for once and your health would improve. I alluded to this earlier as a desire to do something that wasn’t in my own interest. It’s therapeutic, calming and it brings peace to the mind.

7. Playground to test out a career

Rather than wasting money and time on an unfulfilling degree or career, you can easily test out the waters by volunteering. You can make mistakes and learn from them as a volunteer. You will have mentors willing to guide you. It’s a little more challenging when you’re on someone’s paycheck to do the above. Whether it is social marketing, building and construction, teaching History in a secondary school, working in agriculture, being an accountant – you can find more than a handful of volunteer opportunities in many disciplines. So when thinking of a career, volunteer in the career first. Are you passionate and excited while doing something for free? Hint hint, that may be a destiny for you. You’ll know whether it’s truly something you want to do. If you ask someone what task they’ll do daily without being paid, you’ll become privy to their passion. So it can help you confirm in your heart that this is what you want to do or you would realize that it’s not your purpose in life. So go ahead and spend the 5 months volunteering in the nearby clinic, it could save you 7 years of medical school OR earn you 7 years in medical school. You’re all pretty young so don’t weed out too much too early. This is the time to sample and you may end up staying where you volunteered.

8. Recruitment ground

If you take up a 1 month volunteer activity, it really is a 1 month interview. So many people are watching you. Yesterday and today was a marketplace. So you weren’t simply speaking of a sobolo or shea butter project, you were having an interview. Showcasing your talent, your growth and your potential. I’ve heard enough stories of ENACTUS students being grabbed up by companies who need talent like that. Entrepreneurs who work for a company are called ‘intrepreneurs’. They’re high in demand and because they have an ability that cannot be replaced by a machine, they can often dictate their hours, salary, vacation time etc. You’ll get to a point where you even turn down offers like alumni Gabriel 🙂

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

Eagles fly and create opportunities, chickens scratch for grains and complain about the unavailability of jobs. We heard it said yesterday, entrepreneurs find solutions to problems while some of the unemployed simply are those who have not applied themselves, they have “un-applied”. Commit to your volunteer work as if you were being paid, you’ll have many opportunities being offered to you as a result of your commitment and discipline.

Embedded in the Ghanian society, like my Caribbean region, is community love. We have in ways drifted more than our Ghanaian counterparts with our outreach BUT helping our neighbor has always been how the community went forward. There is more to you than money. Volunteering speaks to the greater regard you have for life and for others. When your resume’ or cv is read, volunteerism is revered in high regard because it shows selflessness. Always have respect and compassion for those you volunteer with, keep them as your focus and investment. You are bright minds and I see the faces of a Head of the Chamber of Commerce, Attorney General or CEO of a multimillion-dollar corporation.

[Sea full of students raised hands! :)]

Volunteering is the perfect playground for being a CEO of a multimillion-dollar corporation, a better more respected Operations Manager, a better Managing Director, Financial Advisor, a better leader to the people you serve (staff, clients and your volunteers) because you will be a better you.

 

On an even brighter note, have fun volunteering in the community, be yourself and enjoy the process.

I want to thank Madam Evelyn for this opportunity to share this with you. But I’m preaching to the converted so what I should say is congratulations on the volunteer work you’ve done in this country and continue on that path. We sometimes have this idea that volunteering is reaching a community far away, with BIG issues and with a BIG organization. And you’ve all done BIG projects. You can volunteer by committing to help an elderly couple with their shopping, or to have a monthly weekend class for children in your neighbourhood on recycling. You walk away here all winners of the ENACTUS’ purpose – Entrepreneurs In Action. You’ve trained men and women, increased nutrition, increased income and you’ve helped them in the community to develop partnerships and access different markets. Continue giving your time to others and inspire your peers to do the same. Always remain in Action.

 

ENACTUS? – loud and clear!!

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

ENACTUS?

[Audience:] In Action!

 

Medasi!