| OVAC
Quarterly News Magazine Vol.17 April, 2005 |
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| “Share the view” is quarterly publication providing current information and topics on NGO/NPO sectors in Japan and opinions of Mr. Noboru Hayase, our Executive Director and editorial writers out of our monthly opinion magazine “Volo”. Taking into consideration of the wide-ranged non-governmental activities in Japan, it also includes information on volunteering, activities & movements of non-profit & community-based groups. |
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| Reform yourself! Don't utilize others! |
 "Utilizing volunteers, I want to provide various public services that meet the needs of citizens." . . . "I want to expand our network to include more citizens by bringing to light local NPOs and utilizing them." . . .
These comments were made by participants in a training and development workshop for local government employees. In recent years, such programs have been set up in many places to teach effective cooperation between civil activists and local governments. It was the participants' high expectations of civil activity groups that resulted in these comments, but still they bothered me somehow.
Utilize volunteers or NPOs? I like that!
The Japanese word which means "to utilize" consists of two ideographs: one for "to make the most of something" and the other for "to use something." Even though someone could make the most of me, there is no way I would allow anyone to use me like an object. I, for one, want to be independent. I am self-motivated and want to be acting on my own will. I never ever want to be used by anybody and certainly not by civil servants trying to solve their own problems. I am not a part of their tools or resources.
Thinking about it this way, I advised them at the end of the workshop: "You used the word "utilize" many times here today, but you should not consider volunteers or NPOs merely as social resources. Cooperation should foster win-win relationships where all parties benefit. In building and maintaining cooperation, the most crucial point is whether you can create programs that satisfy citizens, local governments, and civil activity groups alike."
What I was saying to them was coming back to myself like a boomerang: Is this only true about the relationship between local governments and civil activities?
While organizing civil activities, we ourselves are actually seeking citizens' assistance with ads like "Volunteer wanted to help create our website!" Of course we want a person who is capable of creating a website in this case. But is there any possibility that we are in the situation where we are "using" that person although we do not say the word "utilize"?
We want a capable person who is of immediate value to us for our activities, and at the same time we feel that an incapable person requiring a lot of education can be a nuisance. When we adopt an attitude like this, there is not much difference between us and local government employees who rely on citizens as social resources.
In fact, we ourselves quite often rely on others as manpower resources, whereas we are offended by governments who try to "utilize" us.
Further, the more rigorously and unselfishly we discipline ourselves to tackle problems in our society, the more likely we are to mire ourselves in this kind of situation.
When we enjoy activities with friends sharing the same interests, we are not likely to consider those friends as a kind of resource to rely on. When we focus on friendly interactions with each other as well as on the achievement of a goal, we tend not to utilize others in an activity.
On the other hand, when we give our all to achieving a great goal, the goal becomes the main priority, and sometimes we regard all members, even ourselves, as a means of fulfilling that goal.
These are the two extremes. We usually settle an argument like this by stressing the need for achieving balance or harmony between the two. Here, however, such a solution produces nothing new. We need a more creative perspective.
Ms Noriko Tsutsui, an editorial committee member of Volo and a professor at Ryukoku University, points out that the systems and people concerned should be open to change. This is also true as a principle of volunteer coordination.
In a situation where an organization seeks someone to make up for a deficiency without changing the system as a whole, it tends to use that someone as something like a filler or exclude anyone who does not meet the demand. A solution like this is seemingly functional, but its benefits do not usually go beyond the current system.
Meanwhile, things go differently in a dynamic situation like this: an organization undertakes the difficult task of changing itself according to what new comers are like, and at the same time it works to get them to change themselves (This is also a difficult task!) Here the organization and the new comers alike are willing to learn or discover something. Thus oftentimes an unknown world unfolds before them. This is the magic of fusion as music critic Yoichi Shibuya calls it.
The explanation has become very abstract, so I will give you a concrete example from my everyday experiences.
Many committees and roundtables are held to figure out how to integrate "cooperation" into local government policies. I have participated in some of them and have found that they have some basic themes in common. Some of the members are citizens recruited through public announcements and have no experience in policy making at all. The diversity of members' experiences and awareness early in the committee makes it difficult to reach a consensus. I already have habits and ways of thinking formed through repeated policy making experiences, as opposed to citizen members who are not yet used to it, so I am sometimes puzzled by their seemingly off-base proposals. With each meeting, however, more and more new proposals and perspectives are generated by the initiative of those citizens. As a result, each local government comes to have its own individual identity.
Given the common basic themes, the diversity of proposals or perspectives is amazing.
In reality, these efforts are very challenging. You have to endure many twists and turns. It takes time to get the results that matter most. You also have to take different approaches for different members, and this is especially difficult when short-term results are needed.
However, it is very rewarding from a long-term point of view that you respect individuals, not simply keep an organization going, and finally achieve a great goal together with all members.
Therefore, if local governments are to promote cooperation with citizens, it is essential for them to attempt to reform their systems through that cooperation. On the other hand, we should broaden our scope to include the pleasure of meeting a variety of people and experiencing new perspectives or activities while interacting with each other.
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| Noboru Hayase,
Executive Director, Osaka Voluntary Action Center |
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