The passion for volunteering

Volunteering has become more and more popular in Romania in recent years, attracting many young people.

Christine Leșcu, 27.09.2017, 13:18

For a long time associated in Romania with
so-called volunteer work imposed by the communist regime, volunteering has
become more popular in this country fairly recently. A younger generation, less
marked by the scars of communism and perhaps also influenced by the European
Union programmes to encourage social involvement among youths, is becoming more
and more involved in volunteer work in areas such as ecology, culture and
social care.

A key role in the revival of volunteering may
also have been played by a dedicated law passed in 2014. According to this law,
even if volunteering work experience is not added up to seniority, volunteering
activities are however recognised as professional experience. Young volunteers
can therefore cite their volunteering work experience before prospective
employers.

Moreover, volunteering has proven lately to be
a means to bring together communities who want to help themselves, instead of
relying on the state. One example is the recent event organised by the ArtTour
Romania organisation alongside the Predeal National Centre for Tourist
Information, Promotion and Mountain Rescue. The event brought together 150
volunteers who took part in the restoration of 19 mountain trails in four
massifs: Baiului, Piatra Mare, Postavaru and Bucegi. This was an event born out
of a passion for mountaineering, and as a means of encouraging others to try
this kind of tourism. The principal organiser, the vice-president of ArtTour
tourist advertising association Octavian Bodron explains:

I am passionate about mountaineering, I love
trekking in my free time, and promoting various areas of the country. Our
intention is help disseminate information about mountain trails in order to
reduce risks for tourists, making the experience better for tourists who want
to breathe fresh air on safe trails. They want to be better informed before
setting off on mountain trails and be prepared for potential dangers on their
travels.

Octavian Bodron’s enthusiasm has been
transmitted to a few other young people who love spending time outdoors instead
of in the city. Ionela is such a young person, and she told us about her hobby:

I work with ArtTour as a collaborator, I am the
friend of a volunteer. I like the association, I like their projects, and I
want to help them. When I go up the mountain, I want to know where I’m going,
because I’m a beginner. It’s essential to know where you are when you walk in
the mountains, where you can easily get lost and maybe stumble upon bears. I’m
also concerned with cleaning up the mountains. When I see trash on the trails,
first I get really angry, then I think I should help clean it up. It isn’t such
a great effort. I’d like to find a way to educate people to stop littering.

Cleaning up the mountains and putting fresh
markings on trails are not the only kinds of action that Ionela gets involved
in:

I have a job, and it has nothing to do with
volunteering. In my free time I get involved in lots of things, and
volunteering is just one of them. I manufacture hand-made products and I help
an association that helps children in placement centres. Having a choice is
essential for me. If I do something, I do it because I can do it and I want to.
In short, volunteering helps, because it’s something I choose to do. I noticed
that more and more people have started getting involved in volunteering in
various ways, depending on their passions and concerns. It’s important for
volunteers to get their friends involved as well, in order to help others and
ultimately ourselves.

For people who love mountaineering, refreshing
trail markings and encouraging trekking is important, because mountaineering
seems to have somewhat lost in popularity in certain areas. Volunteers can help
in this regard, especially when they work together in associations. Florin is
21 years old, is from Predeal, and is a member of the Education Group for Youth
Support (GEST). Their mission is to put fresh markings on trails and to clean
up litter. Let’s listen to what he told us:

My father used to take me mountain climbing
when I was three or four years old. We would go up Piatra Mare to look at
rhododendrons. When I grew older, I still continued to do trips in the
mountains. I began with the trails that start off in Predeal, then, when I got
older, I started doing the trails in Bucegi. Then I registered with GEST
association, and they helped me get to know the mountains better. Few countries
can boast mountains like we have in Romania, with landscapes and trails like
these. I would like to spread the word, to tell people that they should come to
the mountains. Not just to clean up litter and refresh markings, but to take a
walk and see how awesome it is to just wander for 10 hours or so through the
woods, in the mountains, to pitch a tent, build a fire, and get away from the
everyday grind.

VF Octavian Bodron and the ArtTour association
assure us that restoring the trails around Predeal will be followed by similar initiatives
in other areas of the country, grouped under the ReMarking Romania project, and
they are eager to take in more volunteers.