Is it really a `social work' activity?

I have been working in an India based MNC. My company takes pride to be associated with a local NGO working for underprivileged group of people. The association of my company is not only confined to charity or donations but it ensures that interested employees do participate as volunteers in NGO sponsored activities.

One of the colleagues of mine received a periodical mail appealing to be a volunteer and participant in the NGO sponsored activity. The activity was to spend some time on a festival day with orphanage children. He asked me if he could send my nomination too along with his nomination. He didn’t stop there, further, he asked all his closed colleagues to join him to participate in `social work’. It gave him pride to send our forceful nominations to join him in so called `social work’ activity. Upon asking him, he said it was matter of only two hours spending there, distributing sweets and new clothes to orphanage children. He said thus he was going to be altruistic and helpful.

The intension is fair to spend two hours with orphanage children, sharing some time with them, however in the name of `social work’ is something really questionable.

First, I do admit that my friend was being individual specific to define his spending two hours as `social work’. However, he is not the only to feel and do in this way, the original sensible meaning of `social work’ has been lost.

The politicians, celebrities, NGOs and media have been responsible to change the meaning of `social work’. The motives of politicians and celebrities behind participating in social activities are to gain publicity and yet media gives them name of `social workers’, nobody bothers to think what really is social work? Is spending sometime with underprivileged while seeking publicity becomes social work and gives a sense of altruism?

In India, social work research has shown that there are only a few NGOs which are engaged in implementing serious social work activities and methods and the rest are only remained fund raising firms. These fund raising firms have given a bad name to social work. They are happy to invite celebrities, top businessmen and from recently to MNC employees to spend sometime with their inmates. They are happy because their invitees give them funds, do not raise serious questions on their genuine social work abilities and hence in turn they give publicity to celebrity invitees. The NGO associated with my company is of same kind. The way it appeals is somewhat like `instant social work and instant fame’, provided you donate them in money or kinds.

If one feels serious about contributing to social work activities like this, then must ask some simple following questions to himself:-

Is spending two hours, distributing sweets on a festival day, giving away new clothes in the exchange of publicity, a real social work?

Is spending two hours, distributing sweets on a festival day, giving away new clothes make people at the receiving end really benefited? Or is it just making them dependent on being happy if something received from others?

I do not intend to define social work here, but strongly criticize growing false sense of social work and altruism among the educated people and considered as intellectuals too.