Volunteering to volunteer

Last week I was involved in my first big project with Rotary – behind the scenes at the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Momentum Cycle Tour (what a mouthful!) – the Rotary Club of Newlands is incredibly involved in this initiative with the majority of the club members involved in some way be it with the refreshment  stations, sector marshalling, sweeps,  JOC | VOC, logistics. I was stationed at the JOC | VOC, which is situated at Tygerberg Hospital disaster management centre. What an operation! It was incredible to see and experience the cycle tour behind the scenes. For the past couple of years, at maximum I would walk to the top of the street, watch a couple of cyclists before heading out of the ‘Republic’ for the day. Honestly, not really giving the whole cycling day another thought. When I saw my name on the roster for the day, I thought – volunteering – oooh, I don’t know if it is for me but, oh well, why not?  

What was incredibly interesting, was the level of calmness behind the scenes on the day and how smoothly everything went. Jim Collins’ book, Great by Choice came to mind, that by doing things steadily and consistently great things happen. 

Volunteering, was out of my comfort zone, but the challenge of doing something totally different has opened my eyes to a wonderfully different world, the friendliness, fellowship and camaraderie was something that I had not experienced before. I don’t know how to put it in words, but there was a lightness, a giddiness that I felt after the long day and the sense of excitement to be part of something bigger.