Civic Involvement Series - III. Community Service

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my third blog. Last week, I discussed social change and world citizenships. In this blog, I want to mention a totally related topic to world citizenship. Today's topic is "Community Service". Why is it totally related to world citizenship? Actually, the reason is very simple. If you remember, we described world citizenship as a person who takes care of the situation or the problem around himself and who takes action about the problem. Actually, the activities carried out to solve these problems are services to the community because according to the definition of service to society, all activities for the benefit of society are called community service.

Generally, when it comes to community service, people think of the services provided by foundations, associations, municipalities or parties. So do you think this is true? Can we alone serve the community? Until this year, I was one of those people who did not believe that they could serve society alone. But thanks to the lectures I took and the seminars I attended this year, all these thoughts have changed. Generally, when it comes to community service, people think of the services provided by foundations, associations, municipalities, or parties. So do you think this is true? Can we alone serve the community? Until this year, I was one of those people who did not believe that they could serve society alone. But thanks to the lectures I took and the seminars I attended this year, all these thoughts have changed. In fact, I realized that even the good deeds we do in daily life are a part of serving society. For example, have you ever stopped cars to welcome older people trying to cross the street? or Did you remove big obstacles on the road just because they would get caught in someone's feet? or Have you ever made your job free for someone in need? If your answer is yes, it means that you, like me, have become a small part of the service to the community without realizing it. When I learned these, I thought that I should turn the services to this society, which I actually do alone and which I call goodness, into a project and ensure its continuity. Then I thought about what I could do and focused on the problems around me. I identified a total of 3 problems. These are (a) the lack of trees in Ankara and the students not being conscious about planting trees, (b) the students who do not have a situation due to the pandemic, having difficulties in entering online classes and not being able to receive sufficient education, (c) the physical conditions of the schools are not suitable for disabled students. To fix these problems, my group friends and I designed 3 different projects.

In conclusion, I would like to point out that you can do community service projects, even by yourself, for each of us to be beneficial individuals. In addition, doing these projects will feed you spiritually and make you feel happy and peaceful. At least that's what happened to me. :)

See you in my next article. Take care of yourself...

Sena Ölçer