My name is Gustavo Pereira Vidigal. I’m from Brazil; to be more specific, from Rio de Janeiro. I study International Relations at a public university, in Brasilia. I have always been interested in volunteer work; it is a kind of activity that really delights me. I volunteered, with the Advocating for the Rights of Children Worldwide Trust, when I was 18 years old; this experience occurred from August to October, in 2007. My work was to do a research and develop a report about child labour in my country.
The reason I have volunteered for this job was, at a first sight, pretty uncommon. My university did not start in the determined date, it was in a strike; the employees were asking for a better salary and a more developed work-support. So, to use my involuntary free time, I started to search for something interesting to do; I entered in the United Nations Online Volunteering site and looked for someway to help society. This is when I found the opportunity to help the A.R.C. Worldwide Trust through an academic effort. This work, which was just an activity to spend time, turned out to be a wonderful activity.
So, lets talk about my experience during the development of my report, called Child Labour in Brazil. I sincerely enjoyed doing the research. It was very interesting because I had the opportunity to study about an issue that I already had interest in. Also, I learnt many things through the process of academic construction of the text. I had never done something in that way; it was the first time that I had the objective to do a deep research about a subject and, with the data, build a long and formal article in English (which is not my native language). This volunteer work taught me how to deal with such responsibility; which is an experiencethat otherwise might only have happened at the end of my graduation course.
To conclude, I truly felt a part of the A.R.C. Worldwide Trust staff. The organization gave me all the support to do the activity; this was very important to me, since I was a little nervous with the job. Developing this experience, side by side, with this serious association brought me more than academic improvement and personal satisfaction. It taught me that my work can have a good impact in society; acting like a social agent, and has made me reconsider part of my professional path. The most important point is to trust in the organization that you are thinking to work with. In this point, no one has reason to be apprehensive with this outstanding group. Anyone, who wants to invest your time and your heart in a beautiful and important project, has an opportunity to be a responsible volunteer. And if this is your objective, I can guarantee that the A.R.C. Worldwide Trust is the place to build a better future for our children.
Gustavo Pereira Vidigal lives in Brazil and was a volunteer for the A.R.C Worldwide Trust from August-October 2007. During his time, Gustavo completed the report "Child Labour in Brazil". His report will be published and available for download in our publications section early in 2008.
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