DOMINICAN VOLUNTEERS FROM CAMEROON

DOMINICAN VOLUNTEERS FROM CAMEROON

Our Values

A society of solidarity

Our primary goal is to promote a more just, peaceful and supportive society en sensibilisant et en impliquant les jeunes dans des projets de volontariat et de solidarité nationale. Nous cherchons à encourager les volontaires à be actors of society in which they live. Our ambition is to help them become citizens of the responsible and supportive worlds. It's not just about getting involved on volunteer projects abroad, but also to contribute in a way sustainable to the development of society, to promote solidarity and mutual aid.  

Fair volunteering accessible to all

We strive to develop a vision of the volunteering as non-commercial, self-managed activity based on altruism, attentive to respect for others and finally, fair and solidarity with the associative world. We oppose any form of recovery by the commercial sector of volunteering for profit.

Our goal is also to make our projects Accessible to the greatest number of young people, regardless of their financial resources, and therefore also to young people in difficult situations. The volunteering is one of the driving forces of the associative world, a pillar of the democracy promoting social diversity, community life and human development. For all these reasons we consider that everyone must have access to it, regardless of their financial situation by example. Access for all to volunteer projects is equivalent according to our principles of access for all to a strong democratic and cultural tool.

For this, participating in our projects does not require any specific qualification. Motivation must be the main criterion for selection: so if the volunteer does not know something, he will learn it on site with the help of the host association and other volunteers. This learning during a project enriches each of our volunteers and that is no longer a problem of not knowing something or asking Questions. On the contrary our volunteers go from discoveries to Discoveries.

Despite this, the volunteers ensuring the permanence note that currently, the vast majority of the public comes from a background relatively affluent social, including level of education

is that of higher education. Force is find that part of the young audience is excluded from volunteering and exchanges due to lack of financial resources and/or facilities social, access to information or blocked by a lack of knowledge of others Languages. We believe, however, that volunteer projects can be useful to all and for this we will provide them with appropriate information and a support. Volunteering and the associative field constitute for us such a basis for learning about life that we seek at best to include those who will make the world of tomorrow.

Participatory democracy

We are a youth and volunteer association that is part of the Participatory democracy. Promoting a democratic society for an association means above all living these values through a daily practice of participatory and inclusive management. By this, we do not only mean allowing each member to express himself freely or to set up activities but also to allow each volunteer to control and influence the decision-making process within the framework of the association.

For us, volunteering is not an objective in itself but a path to a more personal and longer commitment, the entrance to the path and the commitment of a lifetime. Volunteering means opening up to the realities of the world and participating in one's own way in the realization of more just and equitable relationships. Learning within the framework of the management of the association and the national sites is ACT concretely on its environment but it is also to acquire an external look on its own culture, to develop its sense of observation and adaptation, analyzing lived situations, structuring one's reflection, developing one's critical sense and expression, sharing one's knowledge and experience. Volunteering is therefore taking possession of tools that will make it possible to engage in longer-term citizen initiatives and human adventures with the VDC.. For this, all members are invited to engage little by little in the management of the association: this is an additional step in the practical learning of active citizenship. Our volunteers can be involved in the training of future volunteers, the management of the association, the establishment of thematic working groups, the search for new projects and partners, communication, the animation of workshops, or simply set up fun activities internally.

 

IV. The VDC is above all volunteering by and for young people.

A non-market association

The VDC is proudly a non-profit association managed by its members and whose purpose is to make Dominican volunteering accessible to as many people as possible. All our resources, both human and financial, are geared towards this goal. We strive to constantly innovate, reduce our costs as much as possible and optimize our resources while maximizing the qualitative dimension of our actions. Moreover, contrary to some misconceptions, we are convinced that the non-market sector, far from being a cost, represents above all an important part of the dynamism démocratique et constitue un levier important de développement humain et de relance économique partout dans le monde.

Finally, we seek above all to ensure that our values and actions are particularly differentiated from those of the so-called « volontourisme » dont nous estimons qu’elles détournent les valeurs de solidarité et le vocabulaire du secteur associatif pour en tirer un profit important aux dépens de leurs partenaires et volontaires.