INTRODUCTION:

Know that service to these (poor, illiterate, ignorant and afflicted) alone is the

highest religion.

- Swami Vivekananda

Whatever the action taken, or policy made by any government, institution,

organization or charitable trust can be said to be fruitful only when the common

man, the most down trodden one, the very last one in the chain of development - is

benefited. The social activities of India are guided by this fact.

The organization is committed to those activities that would generate

an active reaction over issues relating to environment, hygiene, moral and social

values, sustainable development, practicing non-violence and reformation of

misled youth who would otherwise be antisocial elements. The root cause for all

the evils that rural Rajasthan has been facing today is lack of proper guidance to

and awareness in the people who live here. Volunteering India has taken up its

activities to the level of movement by bringing about awareness in these people

about the consequences of various things that eventually affect their own lives.

Social Interaction is where you are around other people. These people could be

Family, friends, teachers, or just people in the community. Anytime you are around

people you interact.

An important key to well-being is being involved in social activities. These

activities are based on doing things with others. Social activities include spending

time with friends, attending parties, being involved in team sports, being a member

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of a club, going to local parks, writing a letter to someone or even phoning a friend

or family member.

Social skills are skills that you need when interacting with others. There are certain

ways we all must behave if we want to have fun and to have others like being

around us. For example, we must take turns, share, be patient, be respectful, listen,

talk positive about others and be friendly. Interacting with people who do not use

social skill is difficult

HISTORY OF SOCIAL WORK:

Social work has its roots in society to deal with poverty (relative poverty). There

are many influences. Therefore, social work is intricately linked with the idea

of charity work; but must be understood in broader terms. The concept of charity

goes back to ancient times, and the practice of providing for the poor has roots in

all major world religions.

Social work, as a profession, originated in the 19th century. The movement began

primarily in the United States and England. After the end of feudalism, the poor

were seen as a more direct threat to the social order, and so the state formed an

organized system to care for them. In England, the Poor Law served this purpose.

This system of laws sorted the poor into different categories, such as the able

bodied poor, the impotent poor, and the idle poor. This system developed different

responses to these different groups.

Social work involves ameliorating social problems such as poverty and

homelessness.

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YOUTH VOLUNTEERING SOCIAL ACTIVITIES:

Social integration, poverty alleviation and employment lie at the heart of people’s

participation in their societies. Social integration is defined as a “dynamic and

principled process of promoting the values, relations and institutions that enable all

people to participate in social, economic, cultural and political life on the basis of

equality of rights, equity and dignity”

The process of social integration takes various forms and depends on the actions of

a variety of stakeholders − public and private. Policy reform by governments or

lobbying and advocating for active citizen participation are two such forms. Decent

work is another pathway to fostering social integration. So is creating the

conditions for volunteering.

People volunteer because they believe in the values of the society they want to see.

It is not a job. It is grounded in values of the world and the community that they

want to be part of and therefore volunteers give of their own knowledge, expertise

and time to creating that possibility not alone but with others.

The process of social integration is especially important for young people who

need to experience a sense of belonging and responsibility to become productive

citizens and participants in society. Social integration harnesses youth potential and

creativity, which is necessary to meet societal objectives.

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COMBATING POVERTY THROUGH SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AND

DECENT WORK:

A key to achieving social integration is ensuring that people are able to meet their

needs, i.e. that they do not live in poverty, that they are able to access quality

healthcare and education and that they are able to participate in the economic and

political life of their society. Since the ability of a person to participate

meaningfully in society “is inescapably qualified and constrained by the social,

political and economic opportunities that are available to us”

“All in all, making sure that young people have the opportunity to build and use

human capital − whether through better schooling, better health, or more

productive employment − will take the world a long way toward meeting targeted

goal, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

Young people who are involved in voluntary service, if provided with good

guidance and leadership, are often able to develop a sense of autonomy and

agency, and can help others to do the same.

IMPACTS OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES:

• cognitive skills and educational attainment

• self esteem

• community pride

• mood

• social cohesion

• crime prevention

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• health improvement

• social behaviour

• Perform better at school in a range of areas

• Improving academic performance

• Imparting skills for the 21st century workforce

• Improving citizenship

• Improving attendance

• Fortifying cognitive skills

• Increasing self-esteem

• Reclaiming at-risk youth

• Supporting life-long learning

• Helping families cope

• Improving health and sanitation

• Higher standardised test scores

• Higher measured reading levels

• Improved attitudes concerning commitment to the community

SOME SOCIAL ACTIVITIES:

1. TREE PLANTATION: A SOCIAL CLUB ACTIVITY

The RDIAS social club organized a Tree plantation drive in college premises.

RDIAS has taken up an ambitious plan to save the environment by planting trees,

making India green and thereby reducing the effects of global warming. After

achieving unprecedented success in increasing the green cover RDIAS social club 5

will put its effort to plant more and more trees on vacant lands through active

involvement of student volunteers.

2.PERSONAL HYGIENE AND CLEANLINESS AS SOCIAL

ACTIVITIES:

Personal cleanliness and good hygiene practices are essential for health

and social reasons. Healthy hygiene habits should be practiced daily. Volunteers

interacted with children and other people regarding when and how many times

should they wash their hands; why should we keep ourselves clean and

maintain our surroundings like our homes, classroom and public places.

They also spoke about the precautions to be taken during summer, rainy

and winter season.

3.ORPHANAGE AND OLDAGE CARE:6

An orphan child supported by the IHH orphan care program is someone in

INDIA or anywhere in the world who has lost their father or both mother and

father to war, occupation, natural disaster, chronic poverty, illness, accidents

and similar reasons and who lives with their relatives or in an orphanage.

• To support orphan children who are unable to live on their own until they become

self-sufficient, to provide them with education and prepare them for life with

compassion of a family.

• To take necessary steps to prevent violations of basic rights and freedoms of

orphan children as well as other children.•

To construct safe environments where both material and non-material needs of

orphan children are met.

FROM OUR

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ORPHANS…

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE:

• Providing clothing aid to 1,592 children

• Distributing clothing for Eid to 220 children living at Hoca Abdullah Ensari

Orphanage

• Purchasing kitchen goods for Kabul Orphanage that is to house 80 children

• Constructing three toilets and two bathrooms at Badakhshan Orphanage where

there were no toilets and bathrooms; laying stones in the garden to prevent mud

ponds

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• Providing desks to the school of Takhar Orphanage and assisting with expenses

of the orphanage

• Providing 40 bunker beds to Talukhan Student Dormitory

• Paying a visit to İmam Bukhari Orphanage and offering clothing and stationery

materials to children staying there

• Paying visits to families with orphan children

• Distributing clothing for Eid to 220 children

• Distributing meat to 180 children at Qurban period

• Restoring the family home of an orphan

HEALTHCARE ASSISTANCE:

• Providing health screening to 301 children

• Having four children undergo surgery

EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE:

• Providing stationery materials to 957 children

• Completing educational and classroom inadequacies at Takhar Orphanage that

houses 145 children

• Paying for annual expenses of Afghanistan Science Courses offered to the public,

including orphan children, at seven centers Cultural support activities

• Organizing a picnic and trip with 470 children Sponsorship

• Adding 119 orphans in the Orphan Sponsorship Support System

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SPECIALIZATIONS:

Within the field of social work, there are many different specializations and

industries that professionals can pursue and focus on. While these different fields

all require practitioners to show the cornerstones of social work: empathy,

flexibility, and persistence, and respect for different circumstances; there are some

skill sets and knowledge that social workers will need to utilize in order to become

the as effective at their jobs as possible. Social workers can be required to aid with

issues directly caused by trauma, disability, poor family circumstances, abuse,

mental and emotional problems, addiction, and acute, chronic, or terminal

illnesses. Some social workers prefer to focus their skills on one area of expertise

by going into specific fields.

Family, child or school social work involves providing assistance and

advocacy to improve social and psychological functioning of children and

their families. These social workers attempt to maximize academic

functioning of children as well as improving the family’s overall well-being.

These professionals may assist parents, locate foster homes, help to arrange

adoptions, and address abuse. In schools they address problems such as

truancy, bad behavior, teenage pregnancy, drug use, and poor grades. They

also advice teachers and act as liaisons between students, homes, schools,

courts, protective services, and other institutions.

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Public health social workers are often responsible for helping people who

have been diagnosed with chronic, life threatening or altering diseases and

disorders, helping connect patients with plans and resources in order to help

them cope. One of the most difficult things a person can go through is

dealing with acute, chronic, and terminal illnesses and these social workers

provide services to ease these patients’ process. These services include

advising family care givers, providing patient education and counseling,

making referrals to other services, case management interventions, planning

hospital discharge, and organizing support groups. These social workers are

often employed at health care centers, assisted living homes or in hospitals.

Addictions and mental health social workers offer support and services to

those struggling with unhealthy grounding techniques, connecting them with

facilities that serve to teach healthier behaviors and get patients back on

track. These patients often struggle with mental and emotional problems as

well as addictions and substance abuse problems. Services that mental health

and substance abuse social workers provide include individual and group

counseling, intervening during crises, case management, client advocacy,

prevention, and education. They also focus on counseling families to assist

in understanding and dealing with the patient’s problems.

PROMOTING SOCIAL INTERACTIONS:

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Interacting and playing with peers provides many learning opportunities for

young children.

In integrated preschool settings, nondisabled children and children with

disabilities may need to be encouraged to play together. Social interaction

between the two groups of children can be encouraged in a number of

different ways.

Teachers and adults can be very effective in promoting social interaction by

encouraging children to play together and by praising them when they do.

However, it is important to remember that too much adult attention may

interfere with the children’s interactions. It is a good idea, therefore, for

adults to remove themselves from the play situation once children have

begun to play together.

Teachers and other adults also can promote interactions by teaching children

specific ways to ask other children to play, to share toys, to take turns, to

express affection and to help other children.

Assisting children to control their aggressive behavior encourages the

formation of friendships.

Planning small group activities that require cooperation and sharing

motivates socially interactive behavior. For example, painting a mural or

making soup as a group encourages children to learn to work together.

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Being certain that children with disabilities are seated next to nondisabled

children makes it easy for the children to interact with and learn from each

other.

Allowing the child who is disabled to lead activities, pass out materials, and

be praised in front of his or her classmates helps the nondisabled child view

the child who is disabled as a competent friend.

Toys such as blocks, dolls, dress-up clothes, trains, and cars promote social

interactions much more than do toys such as beads, clay, puzzles and paints.

Providing toys with which the child who is disabled can play competently

encourages the children to play together.

Limiting the number of toys available and requesting that children play in a

small area requires the children to share and engage in the same activity,

thereby encouraging social interaction.

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LIFESTYLES AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION:

A person’s lifestyle is defined by the way they live and the individual

choices they make. These are influenced by personal characteristics and

circumstances, social interactions and relationships and interests. Traditional

activities such as watching television, spending time with family and friends,

reading, going on holiday, playing sports and interacting within

communities are still as popular as they were 40 years ago. However, over

the last four decades new technology has advanced at a rapid pace and

affected people in many different ways, providing greater access to

information and an increased choice of leisure and entertain.

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion social bonds are improved when families recreate together and when

seniors and individuals with disabilities are actively engaged in recreation

activities. Social activities help promote social bonds by uniting families.

Recreation provides us with family and community bonds that last a lifetime. The

combined values that may be gained are almost endless.

In the future, the principles of social innovation, such as working collaboratively

and in a participative manner, should also be applied to the evaluation of social

innovation. Good evaluation will require constant feedback from those involved in

social innovation and should be flexible enough to capture the subtle nuances of its

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impact. Although general principles and evaluative tools can be applied, such as

Reeder et al.’s (2012) scorecard and rapid assessment tool, there is a need for more

detailed work in specific fields, such as the environment, to firm up

recommendations and assessment methods. Although it is challenging, the

evaluation of environmental social innovations is an exciting prospect for

researchers, providing them with the opportunity to develop new methods,

approaches and indicators. It must be ensured that their results and outcomes are

utilised and applied to their full potential.

REFERENCES:

1.United Nations Programme on Youth

2.Abdel-Khalek, A. M. (2006). Measuring happiness with a single-item scale. Social Behavior and Personality 3. http://www.service-enquiry.co.za4.http://www.google.com5. RDIAS Social Club.

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