Promote the innovation and development of volunteer service
More attention should be paid to seeking truth from facts and carrying out investigation and research
Tan Jianguang
Recently, the National Minister of Social Work and the Director of the Letters and Visits Bureau proposed to "strengthen the research on major theoretical and practical issues in social work", including strengthening the investigation and research of volunteer service. In response to the request put forward by the Ministry of Social Work of the Central Committee of Social Work, the Guangdong Provincial Association for the Promotion of Social Workers and Volunteers put forward some thoughts based on the practice of carrying out investigation and research for many years.
Do your research with a mission
Doing a good job of investigation and research not only has an in-depth understanding of the role of volunteer service in promoting the progress of social civilization and social governance innovation, but also has an in-depth understanding of the role of volunteer service in caring for and helping the masses and solving difficult problems. With a strong sense of mission, it is necessary to carry out investigation and research in order to understand and grasp how volunteer service can better play an important role in national development and improvement of people's livelihood. When we investigated the development of volunteer service in Ningde City, Fujian Province, we learned about the case of the "Sister Lu Gang" of the Party and Mass Service Center of the "Lincuo Service Area" and the "Sister Lu Gang" of the Civilization Practice Point bringing live broadcasts to the She people and helping She villages get rid of poverty and become rich. Party members and volunteers used the weekend to go deep into the village to provide care and industrial assistance, and brought goods to the She people in the "One Hour After Work" volunteer service, which greatly increased the income of the people in the mountainous areas. These bits and pieces, subtle and thoughtful volunteer services, put into practice the party's purpose of "serving the people" and the concept of "people-centered".
Volunteers carry out volunteer service activities with a mission, carry out volunteer service investigation and research, but also have a mission, keep in mind the party's purpose, and carry out investigation and research to promote volunteer service to better participate in grassroots governance.
Go down to the grassroots level to do research
To carry out investigation and research on volunteer service, it is necessary to carry forward the spirit of "going to the grassroots level in four directions", take a step forward, go down, truly go deep into the rural and mountainous areas, and understand the situation through exchanges and communication with grassroots cadres, the masses, and volunteers. In 2023, I will conduct research in more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, more than 60 counties and districts, and more than 130 communities and rural areas. Only at the grassroots level can we discover "real problems", and only at the grassroots level can we learn "real experience". I went to Bozhou, Xinjiang, to visit the border of Hot Spring County, and went deep into the pastoral villages to communicate with volunteers and the masses, and found that the herdsmen here often graze on the grasslands, on the slopes, and on the border line, and it is difficult for volunteers to do volunteer service activities in clusters. Therefore, Hot Spring County has set up "Chinese on horseback", "volunteers on horseback", "strong country propaganda team on horseback", etc., organically combining mobile volunteer service with publicizing the party's principles and policies, helping herdsmen solve difficulties and improve their lives, and produce good results.
In grassroots communities, rural areas, especially in remote mountainous areas, there is not only the urgent need of the masses for volunteer service, but also the experience accumulated by caring volunteers in exploration, which needs to be thoroughly investigated and seriously summarized. To this end, it is necessary to vigorously advocate investigation and research in communities, villages, and grassroots, summarize and refine them in the exploration and practice of grassroots volunteers, and accumulate rich experience for the development of volunteer service with Chinese characteristics.
Do research close to the masses
To carry out investigation and research on volunteer service, it is necessary to truly enter into thousands of households and into the hearts of the masses, and use the method of "making friends" to gain insight. In Chaoyangli Community, Heping District, Tianjin, I observed between the community gatehouses and found the subtle enlightenment, talked with the community to understand their views on the grassroots party organizations and their evaluation of community volunteer services, and communicated with community volunteers through WeChat, QQ and other communication tools to understand the development of volunteer service and the problems it faced. In the same way, we went to other streets and communities in Tianjin to do research. On this basis, we put forward the suggestion of "people's practice, people's volunteering, and people's better life", so as to create the characteristics of Tianjin's volunteer service in the new era.
Only by really getting close to the volunteers, going into the masses, and "making friends" and "digging out the heart" with the masses can we have an in-depth understanding of the voices of the masses and understand the original intention of the masses to initiate and participate in volunteer services. It can be seen that going deep among the masses and getting close to the masses is the key to truly discovering and innovating in the investigation and research of volunteer service.
Face up to the problem and investigate
The investigation and research of volunteer service should not only "listen to good words" and "look at achievements", but also face up to and face up to all kinds of problems encountered at the grassroots level, and explore ways for volunteer service to participate in solving practical problems and improving governance. In the past, it was often thought that "as long as there is development, we can solve the problem", but in fact, whether it is in the field of economic development and social change, or in the field of grassroots governance and volunteer service, there are "problems before development, problems faced during development, and problems brought about after development". Gangwan Village Community, Huangpu District, Guangzhou City, is a "new village for employees" built for port workers in the sixties and seventies of the last century, and now decades have passed, all of which are old houses, inhabited by seventy or eighty years old, and it will take many years to wait for urban renewal. Community party committees have encountered various difficulties in carrying out their work, including a small number of young people among the residents and a lack of vitality; old houses and facilities are outdated and there are many hidden safety hazards; small communities and insufficient venues for public activities. At this time, young volunteers came to the community to carry out "upstairs service" and "door-knocking service" to provide care and help to old employees and residents, and exchange memories with residents. Inspired by this, we suggested that the community party committee carry out the "Honggang Bay Time Tunnel" volunteer service project, narrate the stories told by old employees and residents, and display the old tools and supplies they have used.
Volunteer service stimulates the enthusiasm of the elderly in the community to participate in the co-construction and co-governance of the community, and also promotes the development of grassroots governance. It can be seen that the investigation and research of volunteer service should explore and innovate on the basis of facing up to the problems, and find effective ways for volunteer service to participate in grassroots governance and care for and help the masses.
Cherish the experience and do the research
The investigation and research of volunteer service is not only a process for experts and scholars to go deep into the grassroots to understand the situation and find countermeasures with theoretical knowledge, but also for experts and scholars to approach volunteers and understand and learn from their valuable experience. I have repeatedly visited the "Red Collar Home" Party Member Volunteer Service Team in Xinqi Street, Beilun District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province to investigate.
The volunteer team led by Comrade Chen Junhao, the initiator, continued to explore ways to participate in grassroots governance in the mode of "party members + social workers + volunteers", and planned and launched the volunteer service project of "People's Stubble Talk". By discovering problems and irregularities, we will adopt the method of attracting the masses to come together to hold a "stubble meeting", and solve the problem with steps such as finding faults, picking up stubbles, solving stubbles, and supervising stubbles, so that community harmony and beautiful environment will become the norm.
We suggest that, on the one hand, we should promote the improvement of the "People's Stubble Talk" project to make the volunteer service activities continue to be effective, and on the other hand, we should summarize the experience and provide reference for other places. It is necessary to pay special attention to and cherish the creations and experiences of the grassroots, the masses, and the volunteers, and try their best to excavate and sort out these methods and experiences through investigation and study, so as to disseminate and popularize them.
Do a survey of family and country feelings
In the investigation and research of volunteer service, experts and scholars should not only have theoretical knowledge, but also have feelings for the country and the country, and should investigate with feelings for the country and the people. In Jiaoyang Town, Shanghang County, Fujian Province, we listened to the volunteers of the Party and Mass Service Center tell the story of "Mao Zedong in Jiaoyang", and we were very infected. Listening to these stories, I deeply felt Comrade Mao Zedong's deep feelings for the party and the people. With this strong sense of family and country, we have also carried out volunteer service investigation and research all over the country, "empathy" and found problems and summed up experience from the perspective of the grassroots.
To carry forward the party's fine style of seeking truth from facts and do a good job in the investigation and research of volunteer service is to truly go to the grassroots level, get close to the masses, discover "real problems", explore "real methods", and summarize "real experience", so as to provide a scientific basis and a solid foundation for the development of volunteer service with Chinese characteristics. (Source: China Volunteer, Issue 2, 2024)
About the Author
Tan Jianguang is the former vice president of the China Youth Volunteers Association, the director of the China Volunteer Service Federation, the director of the China Federation of Social Workers, the former vice president of the Guangdong Volunteer Federation, and the honorary president of the Guangdong Association for the Promotion of Social Work and Volunteer Cooperation.
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Source: Sociology
2024 No. 279 | Total 471437 issue