In her commentary, Lasata Joshi shares her perspective on conducting research on volunteering for UNV’s 2022 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report (SWVR) and offers a reflection on how her understanding of how volunteerism has evolved.

“Volunteer” is a word which I was quite familiar since school days. Teachers and elders would always ask “who would like to volunteer to collect the homework, distribute the study material…” and other smaller tasks in the school and classroom.  Those who were interested would come forward and assist; it was much appreciated by the elders even at home.  At that time, volunteering to me meant wanting to help someone on my own volition and being recognized and appreciated. As I grew up and was exposed to the wider world view, I heard about volunteerism and people volunteering in the context of natural calamities, in community development through education, capacity, and skill development. As a consequence, my understanding of volunteerism broadened from only helping someone when asked, to helping someone voluntarily with the skills and knowledge one has. 

But as I grew older, I started associating volunteering with formal organizations such Nepal Scouts, VSO, UNV and other institutions with like-minded people who aim to help other people, and not only with individuals. In this context, volunteering seemed to be associated with well-off people, for those who have enough time and do not need to earn a living. For a long time I have associated volunteerism with first, helping others by utilizing one’s own knowledge and skill; second, working voluntarily, and third,  working for free or for little remuneration.

Prior to working with the research team conducting research for the 2022 SWVR, I viewed volunteering as a modern concept. I now realize volunteerism is rooted in human civilization and it is about compassion and empathy towards self and others. Volunteering has always existed in different cultures, with different names, but ultimately with the same purpose of selflessly contributing the skills and knowledge for the common good of the society.  

The opportunity to work on the UNV’s 2022 SWVR helped me to understand more about volunteerism and volunteering. One of the most interesting topics of discussion during the entire project was whether there should be a distinction between volunteerism and civic engagement, and what aspects or factors would preclude an action from being regarded as volunteerism.

These interesting questions intrigued me to contemplate what actually volunteerism is. Should there be a checklist on actions that to be considered as volunteering? Is there a need to have an official definition of volunteerism and disregard those that are not based the “official definition”? Will having no definition of volunteerism diminish voluntary action and impact of lead to the lack of recognition or an unappreciation and the devaluation of volunteerism? Perhaps it might, perhaps it might not. What is more important is the continuation of the discourse of what volunteerism is, how it can be strengthened and what can be done to motivate people to contribute their time, knowledge and skills for the collective betterment of the society.  

When I got the opportunity to be involved in the case study of volunteerism for Nepal, it was a double blessing. First, the opportunity to learn about volunteerism practices in other areas of the world and how it plays role in deliberative governance, innovation in the process, and collaboration opportunities volunteerism brings forward between people and the state. As this was my very first collaborative research study that I have been part of, the series of virtual meetings with the research team UNESCO Chair of University East Anglia (UEA), Institute of Volunteering Research UEA and Kathmandu University helped me a lot in understanding what the SWVR was about. Working on the SWVR was wonderful and a great learning experience. Besides gaining knowledge on the topic, I learned about also on the importance of good communication and working collaboratively.  

Secondly, being part of Nepal's case study that focused on traditional practices on volunteerism. Besides housing, a large number of international and national formal volunteer organizations and institutions, the diverse culture and community of Nepal also have a number of practices that are rooted in volunteering principles. These traditional practices do not only exhibit volunteerism, but are also closely linked to the local knowledge on natural resources (such as land, water, forest) management and preservation. However, the roles of these social institutions under-recognized as one of the important stakeholders for consultation and decision-making process. The case study focused on the social institutions of Guthi of Newar community and Badghar of Tharu community. Being a Newar myself, I was aware of what Guthi (a group of people from the same community or kinship) is, and what it does (based on the type of Guthi, which ranges from being caretaker of a specific deity, roles in festivals such as distributing water, performing dance or musicals), but I had not understood its importance (preservation of monuments, arts, culture, resources), so I got the opportunity to learn and relearn about indigenous practices of volunteerism in my culture. Prior to the research, I had not observed the indigenous social institution from a volunteerism perspective, and the role these social institutions play and should play a role in making policy and setting priorities.

Along with the blessings, there were also number of hurdles. In order to move forward with the research process, we had to turn challenges into opportunities. Due to COVID-19, the Nepalese Government had imposed a nationwide lockdown to control the widespread transmission of COVID. This meant we could not meet our participants in person, especially in urban areas. Nonetheless, we were able to tap into the power of digital connectivity and were able to connect to the participants virtually. Because of being in lockdown for a long time, a large number of people were aware of virtual meeting tools such as Zoom, Google meet, and even messenger. This helped us to connect with our participants easily even during the lockdown. Interviewing the participants helped me to understand that Guthis are not just religious or ethnicity-specific traditional practices, but they have been working closely with local government in various sectors such as monument preservation and maintenance, culture, and art conservation.

The research team opted for interpretative methodology to understand the volunteering practices of the research respondents. The team selected research participants  through purposive sampling from Guthi and Badghar practice and local government representatives from Lalitpur and Bardiya Districts of Nepal. In order to understand the experience of the participants on volunteerism through the indigenous institutions and practices and its interplay with the state, unstructured interview methods were conducted. Mobility within the urban area was restricted due to lockdown during data collection, so used video conference platforms, but as the lockdown restrictions were lifted, few of the interviews were conducted in-person by following COVID protocols. The interviews were all recorded (with consent from the participants) and conducted in local languages. The data were then translated and analyzed based on the themes generated from the interviews.

As far as possible, I also met participants physically with maintaining health protocols, meeting people in community in casual visits and probing some examples of Guthi. It was very insightful as an insider of Guthi tradition, I was able to explore more about volunteering activities are based on religious belief. In Newar community of Nepal, each household would have been associated with a Guthi, which could be linked to a deity, a festival, a role, or a ritual. Guthi is believed to have started in 5th Century in Nepal, where the nobles and well-off would donate  land (donating land for religious purpose was considered to hold great virtue). Then, Guthi would be created to manage the resources; the land would be owned by the Guthi. The land used to be leased to the tenants for cultivation and the production from the land would be then used to maintain the religious monuments such as temples, shrines, construct public spaces such as rest houses (pati), continuation of rituals (religious rites, musical dances). The institution of Guthi has been a strong backbone to preserve the art, culture, monuments and identity of Newars.

Overall, I learned a lot about research methodology and volunteerism by working on the 2022 SWVR. I would like to continue to understand what volunteerism means to different people. So, what is volunteerism to you, and do you find any indigenous practices in your locality that have bases of volunteerism?