14 October 2008

Almaty, Kazakhstan: Translated from the Russian - click here to view the original article.

Simona Gallese is a volunteer. She is Italian, from Perugia, a city close to Rome. She arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan, at the beginning of February to be a volunteer for the entire year of 2008.

Thanks to an agreement on volunteering between the United Nations and the Government of Italy, it’s the fourth year that young volunteers with a professional specialization have been coming to our country to practice their professions. Simona Gallese passed a very competitive selection process in Italy, where more than 100 people competed to get this position within this programme.

She studied international communication in Italy and her volunteering activities started immediately after her graduation. She has already been travelling around the world for four years, working as a volunteer in the field of communications. In August she arrived in Astana.

Simona Gallese, communication assistant of the United Nations Volunteers Country Office, administered by UNDP, said: "I love being a volunteer because I feel I am useful to the society, and I get satisfaction by helping others."

Volunteering is a form of social behaviour, it's any action that is not driven by financial consideration and that brings benefits to society. Anyone can be a volunteer, and volunteering can be a single action or a continuous activity. Everywhere there are examples of volunteer work: in students' associations, NGOs and orphanages.

In Kazakhstan, during the Soviet Union era, there existed a form of volunteerism called Subbotniki. Though it could also be seen as forced labour organized by the state, it summoned people to work together to achieve social targets. There are a lot of people in Kazakhstan that dedicate their free time to help others. Volunteerism is not an exotic phenomenon, but it is part of our everyday life. People contribute to the development of their own country through volunteerism.

The role of the media and cultural events in recognizing the contribution of volunteers is becoming more pronounced: Liberia sponsors a radio broadcast disseminating information on the contribution of volunteerism to peace-building operations; in Syria the Ministry of Communication and Technology partnered with a mobile phone society to send free text messages advertising a volunteer blood donation database. Advances in communication technology and our changing lifestyle are resulting in a growth of online volunteering.

Simona Gallese speaks Italian, English and Spanish and now she studies the Russian language. She uses these languages in a very active way and only sometimes does she need a translator.

After her arrival at Astana, there is just one thing she is worried about: the cold winter!