How are volunteerism and activism similar or different?

If one asks,” How does volunteerism compare and contrast with activism?” it can be suggested that both are services provided for a community, but in terms of appropriating resources into either one, which suits a problem better? Well, I’m going to look at my own experience on the service trip in Visalia, CA.

What I was doing: The service trips are expeditions that Woolmanites venture forward to with the preface that we’re providing a service to a group of people. Half of our class stayed in town, volunteering at a local organic food bank where the students erected a shed and worked on their farm. My group left for Visalia.

We were well accommodated at the Friends Center, a little hub of serenity positioned on the corner of farmland, which in turn housed peacocks and gypsies living in trucks. Outside of our temporary residence danced the sprawl Visalia has morphed into over eons of suburban development. We traveled maybe half an hour to the work site where Self Help Enterprises was located and the donated land which was soon to bear homes. Greeted by Carlos, Ricardo (superintendents), and Dirk (program director), we were briefed on what Self Help was doing and how we could assist families in building their homes.

The days were seemingly eternal hammering nails to connect the measured and sawed timber pieces which would soon be raised as walls. Thinking about how tired I was I remembered that the families working there spent money, but also 40 hours a week on each other’s homes. Then, looking around my gaze landed upon Carlos and Ricardo who had both displayed a compassionate and thorough supervision (which included the brunt of the work). Being there, I was neither an owner, an employee, an activist, but merely a volunteer.

Why I did it: The reason why I differentiated myself among others who were involved was so that I could establish my occupation among so many. All I could do was donate a few hours to Self Help and the families there. I was actively building the homes, but I wasn’t actively changing policies in the United States that promote class discrimination. It is clear that while the need for homes in Visalia, CA was being addressed with my service hours, there was nothing done to affect American society at large, or even greater Visalia.

If it seems that I’m downplaying the importance of volunteerism, I’m not. I believe that my time was well dispensed at Self Help but I can't ignore the American vices reinforced in communities like the ones built by Self-Help. While homes and stability are being provided, what about gardens, supermarkets carrying fresh foods, organic, and affordable alternative products? How far does a family member have to travel between work and home? Where is the nearest school? Will the communities I've helped to build fall victim to consumerism and car culture?

These questions seem more related to “America” as we know it instead of the preferable community that would have included the input of residents. Indeed, I think that the time spent at Self Help was valuable, but in the long term it will only service families partially in that it lacks the freedom set aside for wealthier classes. I believe that is where activism is useful. Activism affects a system of governing bodies and people's worldviews which in combination can achieve a wide variety of social and political objectives. These might include readjusting food subsidies, reinvesting in infrastructure and public education. What matters is that voters influence their elected representatives in a way that demands their attention.

Where I find myself: With the prefatory question in mind, I think I directly experienced the difference between activism and volunteerism. I think the most valuable thing I learned from the Visalia trip was through the observation of different people’s determination in finishing projects. This includes students, Emily, the interns, Carlos, Ricardo, and the families who own the homes. Without that trait which enveloped all who were there, I believe those houses wouldn’t get to be built.