The spirit of volunteerism is still alive in Barbados. Although it may not be as vibrant as it once was, there are still men and women willing to help others free of charge.
The spirit was abundant on Wednesday when a group of like-minded volunteers gathered at a house in Briar Hall, Christ Church, to spruce it up prior to the arrival of a woman who had been evicted from her home almost a week before. Street Beat spoke to a few of them to find out what made them tick.
“It’s a spirit thing. I hear about people who need help and I come out; I even postponed a paying job to come here and volunteer,” said Harold Lucas.
He said while he found that a lot of people were willing to volunteer, they mostly came from within the church but there were still people with good hearts out there.
“When man says no, God says yes,” he said.
Pastor Orman Jones was another who felt God’s calling. He said helping our fellow man harkened back to times when people were closer to one another, which was key to surviving the current depression.
“Back in the old days, you didn’t have much but the spirit of helping each other was there but now everybody is so individualistic. We must come together and work together and we will live. That is what we have to do to survive this current recession,” he said.
Rosalind Richards is no stranger to putting herself out there for her fellow man. She said she regularly volunteered at her church and thought nothing of it.
“I just like to help, no matter who it is. I’d do anything; it makes no difference to me because we don’t know what will happen later on. It makes me feel good to make a difference,” she said.
Richards added that pride was a stumbling block to volunteerism but she said such things had to be put aside because “what goes around, comes around”.
“A lot of people have pride but they don’t know when they in turn will need help. I put my trust in God; whatever He does is well done,” she said.
Her friend Kerry-Ann Belgrave had similar impressions. She said she volunteered because it was the right thing to do, calling on her own experiences.
“My own son has a medical condition but I have no one to help him so I even had to resign my job. I don’t want that for anyone else so I’ve volunteered doing things like keeping other people’s children.”
Belgrave said volunteering did not have to be a daily exercise but there was no sense in simply staying home when you could go out and do something positive for another human being that might even result in good things coming back around.
Richardson Sylvester loves to work. He loves it so much; he’s willing to do it for free.
“There are always people in need and it’s nice to help them. If more people thought like that, the world would be a better place. If you can do plumbing or tiling and a man can’t afford to pay, help him out,” he said.
Sylvester said he did not think enough people had the spirit of volunteerism in Barbados because some thought the needy were not really that needy at all, or they did not really want to volunteer as they expected something in return.
“If you do something from your heart, the Lord will bless you,” he said.
Steve Smart is a man on a mission. His inspirational story speaks of a formerly illiterate man addicted to drugs and once a prison inmate who is now married with four adopted children and a new outlook on life.
“This is my first time volunteering but it won’t be the last. I personally know what God has done for me and I have not yet paid it back. I know for sure through Christ all things are possible and that crime doesn’t pay, but the glory of God pays. I plan to do much more; just bring it on and I will do it,” he said.
