The National Volunteer Programme: A Symbol of Nationalism

For many Saint Lucians eighteen years and over, this programme offers a unique opportunity to showcase their spirit of community service within a formal, organized framework. Building upon the strong culture of volunteering in Saint Lucia, as exemplified in the tradition of koudmen, Volunteer Saint Lucia develops strong working relationships with the existing volunteer efforts, community sectors and organizations to add value through training, experience, and development of a multi-level structure of volunteers and volunteer leaders. Volunteer Saint Lucia is based upon the principles of equal opportunity and non-discrimination while celebrating the talents and strengths of our citizens. By capturing the enthusiasm for volunteering triggered by the hosting of international, regional and national sporting championships, festivals and gatherings, Volunteer Saint Lucia will promote a culture in which more people can give more time to volunteering in exchange for acquiring new skills and new experiences.

Throughout the year, many Saint Lucians volunteer their time and skills to help make this country a better place. When they volunteer, they help to improve the lives of others. They also gain a greater sense of belonging to their communities.

On December 5th, (International Volunteer Day) Volunteer Saint Lucia celebrated volunteerism in a very special way. Not with rallies, parades, volunteer fairs, group clean ups, blood donations, conferences, exhibitions, fundraising, workshops and volunteer recognition events, but by reflecting on all the good that we as Saint Lucians have done through our sprit of koudmen and the sense of pride derived from helping our country develop.

Volunteer Saint Lucia, “Koudmen Sent Lisi”, is very proud of its achievements including the success of launching Volunteer Chapters in various communities and at secondary schools; in responding to our fire victims; supporting educational literacy and numeracy programmes; tree planting and clean-up exercises; assistance to NGOs and at national events such as the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival, carnival, cricket etc. During the month of November 2015, Volunteer Saint Lucia participated in the inaugural hosting of the Caribbean Volunteer eXchange (CVX) programme in Trinidad and Tobago and was appointed the 2016 host country with Ms. Anya Edwin as the CVX’s Saint Lucia host Ambassador.

This year, VSL launched a TV programme on NTN dubbed: “Volunteering with a Difference” along with an active Facebook page to keep members and supporters aware of activities.
Mission Statement:

To create a renewed spirit of volunteerism in Saint Lucia by recruiting, training, certifying volunteers, while encouraging and organizing challenging volunteer opportunities through strengthened coalitions with the private sector and civil society.

Vision: The National Volunteer Programme will seek to add value to national events and community life in Saint Lucia through an elite pool of skilled, trained and experienced volunteers, whose attitudes, skills and knowledge will be tapped to support these experiences.