Students should look closer to home when thinking about volunteering

DCU recently highlighted dozens of charitable and voluntary organisations crying out for support in these tough times.

There is nothing nobler than helping others less fortunate than you. Aristotle is among many quoted as saying you judge a society by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens and it was good to see so many local and national organisations represented at the DCU Volunteer Expo.

One thing leaves me a little confused. The last issue of Campus carried reports on a number of charitable activities, all of which were overseas.

The students who recorded their experiences should be applauded for their efforts but why were there no stories about working for charities and voluntary organisations in Ireland?

As a nation we are luckier than most and there is no doubt that firsthand experience of the inhuman hardships faced by others abroad leaves an indelible mark on your heart and mind.

One hopes these extremes of dire circumstances are in the past for Ireland. Yet there are thousands of people here who, through no fault of their own, suffer terrible hardships of so many kinds and the number is growing.

I don’t have the money or the time now to travel abroad to help those in dire straits on foreign soil. But I do have the time to give a few hours a week to organisations right on DCU’s doorstep.

If you plan to head overseas in the near future to help out I commend you but I ask you to also consider those around you in your own country.

Suicide rates in Ireland have reached unprecedented levels. More and more people are sliding into poverty, thousands of families are threatened with losing their homes. Homelessness is on the rise and growing numbers are unable to cope with the recent flip in Ireland’s fortunes.

Organisations like the Simon Community, Alone, Childline, St Vincent De Paul, Age Action, Suas and others won’t ask you for a couple of grand up front before they let you help. All they want is some of your time and compassion.

Before you start hitting up people for donations for your charity work abroad please consider if the funds you raise provide real value for money. Consider whether or not your foreign undertaking is for you or for those you wish to help. If you are going to provide a professional service for free to those in dire need more power to you but do endangered turtles in the Pacific region really need you there?

The money raised might be better spent elsewhere. Or if you really believe in the organisation you’re supporting send the flight money instead of yourself.

Then you can stay at home and help out here. There are troubled times ahead so please remember the old nugget, charity begins at home. I guarantee you’ll get the experience of a lifetime without leaving Ireland. A few hours a week given by many gives a lot.

In bad times Ireland loses its best and brightest to pastures greener so while you’re here give a dig out if you can.