by Raymond de Asis
I never thought I would do volunteer work right after getting my undergraduate degree. I saw myself getting a job with the government right away, beating the election ban and hitting the ground running and in time for the new set of local government officials. I had a plan, but things don’t always go as planned.
Demanding that the government do its job (efficiently and effectively) is hard; getting them to welcome citizen involvement in their work is even harder. The process is tedious, and when you finally get them to agree, they could change their mind in the blink of an eye.
As far as volunteer opportunities go, it’s also not as familiar as feeding the children or building classrooms or houses. It also involves a lot more paperwork. Still, I think it’s important – important enough to give time to instead of enjoying what is possibly my last real summer vacation. All in all, the decision wasn’t that hard to make.