VCTT BLOG

VCTT would like to welcome to its blog scene bloggers Brendon J. O'Brien and Bianca Alice Walker.

With his blog, Volunteering 101, Brendon brings to the blog a clear understanding of what volunteerism is and how VCTT will nurture a deep and pervasive culture of volunteerism in Trinidad and Tobago and across the Caribbean. He will follow the trends in the volunteer sector in Trinidad as well as globally and bring light to the cobwebbed corners of our nations and others where people are in need of a hand they could reach. 

In her blog, When I Was A Volunteer, Bianca takes us into the world of a volunteer, where stereotypes are but thick, opaque veils covering reality. She talks of her experience as a volunteer, and a witness to the need of others, and the joy that it brings to be able to help. 

Follow our blog, but more importantly become an advocate for the cause of making volunteerism the second language of Trinidad and Tobago. Post your questions, thoughts, and even your own experiences as a volunteer. We welcome also any bloggers that would like to write for us. VCTT is a community that is growing, encompassing all those who are proponents of giving freely and selflessly. The newest member of VCTT is you, and we couldn't be more pleased. 

VCTT VOLUNTEERING 101

THE VCTT BLOG, WHO ARE WE?

by Brendon O'Brien

In December of 2007, Chairperson of the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women in Trinidad & Tobago, Hazel Brown, made a call for a national volunteer center to regularize the volunteer sector here (yes, it's a sector), both for those who need the help and those who want to help. And in February of 2011, a group of eager young people, volunteers themselves, answered the call by deciding to make that center themselves. Which brings you here, to the blog of the Volunteer Center of Trinidad & Tobago.

So, just in case you're wondering who we (VCTT) are: we're a group of socially conscious young adults that think that we can change our nation, and maybe even the world, one cause and one volunteer (that actually refers to you) at a time. We come from all different backgrounds and sectors of the society, and all care about a large group of causes, but we all have one thing in common – we think that concerned and compassionate people can use their talents to make their world better. So we're giving anyone else who believes that a chance to be a part of it!

It's pretty easy actually. We'll provide you with the information of all the people who want your help and can use your talents, and you get to choose where you want to lend your hand.

But we also think that you deserve to know a little more about what volunteerism is, in theory and practice. This blog,Volunteerism 101 is sort of the theory component, which means that if you stay tuned you'll get to hear a little more about what it means to be a volunteer, and what are some of the great things that people are doing to help others in Trinidad & Tobago, and everywhere in the world. You'll learn a little more about how volunteerism helps fix the bigger picture about your society, and how people have benefited from the time they gave freely, and you'll even hear some of the testimonies of other volunteers here in Trinidad & Tobago.

We here at the Volunteer Center want you to learn the benefits of helping others, and be a part of the culture of compassion that we want to build in Trinidad & Tobago, and figure out for yourself what part you want to play in it all. So this is an invitation to you to stick around and learn what it's all about, on Volunteerism 101.

WHEN I WAS A VOLUNTEER, Part 1

THE STORY HIDDEN BENEATH THE DIRT
by Bianca Alice Walker

'So do you have any family in Houston?' I asked him.Cedric didn't answer. He didn't even elevate his eyes to look in my direction. He continued to stare at the grass though he showed no fascination with it. His right leg flopped over his left like a thick, rotten branch. Nothing happened to the blade of grass he fixed his eyes on, and neither was there movement by him or me for at least 20 seconds.


'He doesn't have family, they died in a car accident,' my friend whispered to me, her eyes confirming the grave unsuitability and potential impact of my opening question. For a moment I stared at the same blade of grass because my heart sank as low as his, but I was determined to make him smile.


Cedric is one of many homeless people that led a normal, successful life, until a traumatic turn of events shattered his world, and their minds-irreversibly.Cedric was a Chemistry professor with a beautiful wife and children. One day he got into his car with his entire family, unaware that later that day he would be the only one to get out of the car, alive. He was driving.That day he lost his family, his sanity and would soon lose his job. 


Cedric is now homeless and visits the park below the highway every Sunday, where he sits with his legs crossed, staring at the grass, eating the food that a few volunteers so kindly made for him.What can be more startling, more heart wrenching, more mind boggling, more devastating, and more touching than this story? 


If I hadn't had the opportunity to volunteer to serve food to the homeless, I would continue to live my life in scorn of the dirty man lying on the pavement, chatting an incomprehensible chatter to himself.


In America there were a bevy of opportunities to volunteer, and tons of organisations that helped you through every step.In Trinidad, there's VCTT. Don't stay ignorant to the trials of others and don't keep your hands to yourself. Stretch them out to others. Become a volunteer or member of VCTT.