VOLUNTEERISM – Ghana and Danish Perspectives
Volunteerism if translated from the Danish term “frivillighed” implies “free will” of an individual
or a group of individuals to engage in essential social activities of their choice for the
betterment of society and for personal development. Volunteerism has been an effective tool
of development because of its attributes and complementary roles: The attributes of
effectiveness, efficiency, responsiveness, sufficiency, empowerment adds value to social
development and social cohesion.
This concept of volunteerism has therefore been employed by many developing organizations,
particularly GV for the development of Northern Ghana. Pia Sonnenborg of GV indicated
“without volunteerism, GV could not have reached where it is today”. This could also be said to
some extent about the work of YEfL and GDCA. But relevant questions to ask include;
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What has been GV’s motivation?
Why is volunteerism always a challenge in Ghanaian sense?
Is volunteerism alien in Ghana?
Answers to these questions are not farfetched but can be debated. Our perspectives here are
based on personal observations and the experienced gained through discussions in Denmark
during the Development Course.
Culturally, Northern Ghana is a collectivistic society in which the lives of all depend on all. In
such society solidarity and support to one another in highly central to the survival of the
individual. The next door old man and woman depends on the younger neighbours to help in
his farm, carry the logs for his fire place and water. Community members use at least one week
yearly to help the chief and ordinary members of the community support each other in farming
building and so on.
In modern days, communal labour has become central to community development. The school
building, the water project, the local school teacher needs a teacher and how do we get one to
teach without salary. These activities are typical voluntary works that are associated with
communities in Ghana. The implication is that volunteerism is not alien to Ghana per se, but
contents might differ from what is known in Denmark.
We could be tempted to conclude, observation on our observation at face value is that,
Denmark seems to be an individualistic society where the saying that “enhver er sin egen lykkes
smed” flourishes and in which everybody becomes responsible for his / her own life. In the
meantime we also have to acknowledge that the Danish welfare system is built on solidarity
and collective thinking. The welfare state has overtaken the culture of dependence, at least
dependency is shifted towards the state and not family and friends as in Ghana.
The implication so far is that the situations in Denmark and Ghana are similar in content, but
different in approach and societal orientation. The content or object of interest relating to
either the Ghanaian or Danish ways of life is ultimately collective interest and solidarity. How
then does volunteerism fit in here?
It came out during the course that volunteers of GV are motivated by the experiences they gain
from their voluntary engagement. These experiences could be relevant to family, social or job
related relations. It consistently came out clearly that Danish and especially GV members are
motivated to volunteer because they have a security system through jobs that guarantees pay
checks and of course the deeper satisfaction that is accrued as a result of voluntary work.
Even though the concept of volunteerism is not alien to the people of Ghana, unemployment
and less security systems have created some confusion regarding volunteerism. Especially when
volunteers out of personal-will, but partly due to high expectations from family members
constantly ask for remuneration to cater for their time used during voluntary work. Many issues
such as per diems, transport allowances and food provision have been raised during
volunteerism discussions. Relevant questions have been:
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To what extend can the work of a person be categorized as voluntary when the person
wants to be compensated?
Is it ok to give per diems to volunteers?
Can volunteers seek vacant positions in the voluntary organisations?
From our point of view and based on experiences from Denmark, the pay check is a relevant
factor to consider during voluntary work. The basic fact remains that “volunteerism might give
inner satisfaction, prestige, recognition and build ones capacity, but it does not always bring
food to the table. The issue of absolutely free volunteerism becomes a challenge in a relatively
poor society. In Ghanaian sense people always have, if you like to call it like that “a hidden
agenda”. The hidden agenda is that the voluntary engagements will improve the persons’ own
life in real terms. As rational and economic beings, is it entirely wrong to hope for what we call
legitimate compensation as both motivational, but also a contribution to the volunteers lives?
Through legitimate remuneration, poor people will be included into voluntary work thus not
limiting it to people with guaranteed pay checks.
This can be illustrated by putting Ganiyu’s situation under the microscope. As a board member
of YEfL, a northern based NGO, for that matter the vice chairman of the board and more
importantly a youth. Even though I am very proud of my services to the youth and grateful for
the opportunity, the youths whom I represent and the society expect to see that reflect on me
in terms of quality in my standard of living. In actual fact many people will come to ask me for
monetary favour because I am a board member of YEfL. The implication is that one’s
engagement with any voluntary organization reinforces this culture of dependence. It is both
wrong and a challenge, but a challenge that should not be overlooked by all actors.
Another overwhelming challenge that faces especially youth and volunteerism in Northern
Ghana is how it is socially stratified or ranked. In Ghanaian society, it is uncultured to question
authority or challenge the status quo. Simply put, one does not have the legitimacy to ask
questions to people in authority. YEfL (a partner GV in the E4L Program) is struggling to be seen
as an equal partner mainly because of age variation. Thank God GV is supporting YEfL in this
regard.
Finally, the position of Max Weber that authority is in positions and not in persons is vital but
faraway from Northern Ghanaian norms. Thus people in or with authority should be given the
due respect and cooperation they deserve no matter their ethnic background or political
coloration or better still their age. Authority goes with knowledge, skills, abilities and
capabilities which know no boundaries. As for challenges of volunteerism, they shall be
overcome with right information and support because volunteerism is a major tool of
empowerment, in that people who volunteer become influential and role models, and agents of
change. We have seen how it works in other places and we shall certainly emulate and
champion for a changed society regarding volunteerism.
Abdul-Ganiyu Alhassan & Shani Mahama