Action and activity are an essential part of the existence of an NGO. However, merely carrying out activities, “doing things”, is not enough to fulfil its deeper mission: it is necessary to “do” with meaning, with coherence, with reflection.
The search for spaces for reflection and groups for in-depth study and growth in the field of Non-Governmental Organizations is revealed as one of the activities that cannot be left out of the agenda; and in entities of this type supported by a religious charisma and a specific spirituality, this affirmation is even more supported.
Reflection is not something secondary. It is an integral part of the reason for being of any NGO. On a personal level, it allows us to connect with underlying values and motivations, to share knowledge and experiences and to renew commitment and passion for the cause.
At the group and institutional level, reflection strengthens internal cohesion and institutional identity, allows actions to be aligned with the common mission and vision, ensures that each step taken is in line with the fundamental principles of the NGO, and is key to maintaining coherence.
Reflection must have its own spaces; any NGO, while usually having organizational and administrative meetings, requires spaces for exploration; in the case of an NGO such as ARCORES, which is within the Family that follows the Augustinian Recollect spirituality and charism, reflection must cover at least spiritual, theological, philosophical and anthropological aspects.
Reflection provides a solid basis for action, and also adds a critical perspective to enrich and guide the general action plan and the actions in particular. “Doing” in an efficient way is a minimum and is important, but not sufficient: one must “do” in a coherent, meaningful, significant way, in accordance with the ideas that sustain the organization.
An example of all this are the volunteer meetings for reflection that began last January. They are small spaces full of symbolism and meaning, in the first one ten volunteers participated. The joint reflection allows each volunteer to internalize what they have experienced; the institution to improve its accompaniment; and society to transform itself by guaranteeing a sense of solidarity among its members.
The guiding thread of the first meeting was entitled “The volunteer’s gaze”. Among the questions that emerged were personal transformation, how to look at the world, how to understand the Church, how to make daily life more coherent…
Some of the conclusions of this first meeting for reflection were:
- A grateful view. In the destination projects they have opened their homes, their families, their world to us, they have made us part of their community. A curious irony has occurred: we volunteers have become a priority for the beneficiaries, when we believed that they were our priority.
- Volunteers are not necessary; volunteerism is. Face-to-face encounters on the ground transform the way volunteers see life. No volunteer is necessary for the project they serve, but volunteering brings about a rediscovery of their life and relationships, of their everyday world and everything around them.
- The world is multifaceted, colorful, and transcends all prejudice. The complex and distrustful outlook of volunteers before arriving at the project site and living with the community they are helping is broken by the natural, simple and essential laughter of those who live in vulnerable environments.
- Human dignity is above all differences. Volunteering forces you to take a stand for people; being different because of our origin or culture is not a reason for inequality, having more or less material goods is not a reason for exclusion, the nationality of your passport does not make you more or better than anyone else.
- Learning to broaden your perspective. Christ changes our outlook, our way of approaching, our way of understanding the mission. Receiving ideas and understanding the way of being and thinking of others helps us to understand our own ideas, to put them into perspective and to question them in order to improve them.
- Towards a believing view of reality: the missions and social projects dependent on the missionaries of the Augustinian Recollect Family are places of active experience of faith, and faith brings light to every situation. It is true that believers and non-believers can work together; but the proposal is to be “missionary volunteers” and to offer the testimony of the Gospel as a distinctive feature of the ARCORES volunteer.
- Allow yourself to be impacted and grasp the depth of each event. The volunteer will face situations that are initially shocking for him, but far from stopping at that first impact, he must seek the deep meaning of each event and each anecdote, rethink reality in the “causes/consequences” dynamic, understand the processes to know where to focus attention and service.
- Volunteering is about discovering yourself. The activities and circumstances of volunteering help each person discover what he really is like, what he identifies with, what he wants and what he seeks, what values he wants to align himself with, where he finds meaning and happiness.
