Impactful Service World - At Rotary Club of Upper Kololo
Doing Good, Better: : The Power of Being Intentional About Service
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi I ntentional service starts with us showing up, showing up with humility, with purpose, and with willingness to grow those in need. It means asking better and strategic questions, it means building stronger partnerships and putting at the center the voices of those we serve. When we do this, we move beyond charity into justice, we move beyond quick fixes into lasting impact In every corner of the world, people step up to serve in ways they hope will create impact. My 9 year old son calls these “simple acts of kindness” … raising funds for health camps, cleaning our streets, running literacy drives, planting trees, or mentoring young minds, being kind, creating impact and effecting change. But here’s the question I keep coming back to: Are we doing all this good in the best way we can? Are we putting our best foot forward or are we doing just because we believe it’s the right thing to do? For me, this question guides me to improve my service, to be intentional while serving. Because, yes doing good is great but giving it your best is transformational, and this is the heart of service. Being intentional about service means showing up with clarity, and most importantly, purpose and heart. It’s not just about what we do, but how and why we do it. In my opinion the power of being intentional about service starts with being thoughtful , Intentional service begins with the humility to acknowledge that we don’t always know what people truly need, that solutions shouldn’t be assumed and that service should be a partnership, not a performance, not a show of power. When we jump in to help without understanding the full picture, we risk reinforcing a mindset where we see others as problems to solve instead of people with stories and needs of their own. Listening first transforms service. It makes us helpers and allies, walking with communities rather than acting for them, and this kind of intentional service is guaranteed to give us well intended impact. Roger Lewin says that “Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.” a mistake we commonly make with the communities we serve. I mentioned that being Intentional about service requires thoughtfulness and not just doing to tick a box, so before we offer our services to say a community, can we find out their history, if there are assets that already exist and how can we support? This isn’t about slowing service down. It’s about making sure every effort counts. We must always remember that every community has a unique story. If we serve without understanding that context, we risk duplicating efforts, overlooking existing initiatives, missing the real needs entirely, and that is not being intentional about service. Being intentional about service is thinking long term. While there’s nothing wrong with a one time volunteer action day or a donation or a rescue drive, I believe that intentional
serving requires that we ask the bigger questions. Questions like what happens after we leave? Is this effort sustainable? Does it empower or create dependence? For example, we know that donating clothes or delivering food to the needy is kind and even vital but is it sustainable? Is it transformational? The better thing would be to support communities with job skill programs that help people earn their own income or advocating for policy changes or supporting community farmers to tackle hunger at its root, Joel Barker puts it aptly. “Without action, vision is just a dream. Without vision, action is just passing time.” Intentional service doesn’t just shape the communities it shapes us too. We learn and unlearn with every activity of survive. To be intentional about service, we must remember to self-evaluate, to reflect and figure out the lessons learnt, the challenges, the surprises and what to do differently to give a better service. Reflection keeps us grounded and makes us more effective and compassionate volunteers. I believe that doing good service and being intentional about it means thinking bigger. It’s about transformation, not transaction, it’s about building deeper connections and creating lasting change, it’s about knowing your why and deciding the course of action. Service above self is more than a motto. It is a mindset that shapes both the giver and the receiver. Like Albert Pine says “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others, and the world remains and is immortal.” Let us commit to not just doing more but to doing better. Because service done with intention is service done with heart. BY RTN. HILDA KENGOMA
18 The Golden Wagon . Issue One
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