Internal volunteers

The respondent has been a member of FDF since the age of seven. She is head of the local unit as well as being a volunteer for a group of children. Further she is an instructor at a national course and is engaged in several other national activities. She has been employed in a voluntary youth position called ‘Give-A-Year’ where she worked for FDF at the head quarter in Copenhagen. The following quote shows her attachment to FDF:

“It has always been there and it has always been something, which has meant the most to me. In the periods where I have been gone, I have missed it so much and I have then rediscovered how much I receive from being there, so I can’t do without it.”

In the following she describes how she perceived the change from being a child in FDF to becoming a volunteer:

“[…] you went from having a role model to becoming a role model. … I wan-ted to pass on what I had received. There are many impressions and so many things you have experienced, especially when you have been here almost al-ways, right?”

“Being able to live up to the role model comes from the tradition of watching the other leaders. It is a learning process of other people saying »try to arrange prayers (andagt), try to take care of this activity.«”

The respondent highlights what she has gained from being in FDF:

“Many of my social skills I actually think I have gained from FDF without thin-king about it.”

“It has meant something for my personality. I have become very outgoing and it is easy for me to talk to people I don’t know. Saying »do this, do that« or dele-gating tasks doesn’t feel unnatural to me.”

“My backbone has been strengthened. Being something in spite of other people and being there for other people. I have also gained some organisational skills and experience on how to execute an event.”

”You develop a sense of responsibility as a child. You are told that you must pre-pare cucumbers for this lunch. If you don’t keep your part of the deal everything collapses. I think this sense of responsibility comes unconsciously from the childhood in FDF.”

“It is the community where I can relax and do what I want, it’s my free-space, but it’s also a free-space, where I’m constantly challenged.”

From the quotes it is evident how the respondent has developed values and competences from being in FDF such as personal development, responsibility, social skills, community and the ability to organise. The volunteer does not mention the Christian values as something she has gained from FDF, but when she is asked directly what the Christian aspect in FDF means to her, she answers:

“I know many who would disagree with me but the Christian value means a lot. You can call it the guiding rules of our free space. The message of humani-ty (næstekærlighedsbudskabet), the good stories we relate to. An FDF without Christian core values could exist but we wouldn’t be as unique.”

“The wording of our aim is all wrong. It’s written 200 years ago, move on… I think we have to modernise but keep the frame. I do believe you can be in FDF without being member of the folk church as long as you are aware of the prem-ise.”

“In the weekly meetings we don’t practice Christianity. We say prayers. To the children it may just be a rhyme, but I hope they, at some point, wonder what it is and consider if it has a value to them. I don’t want to indoctrinate them; I hope to give them something to wonder about.”

When the respondent is asked how long she will be in FDF she answers:

”Always I think. With ups and downs of course …and I also want my children to become FDF’ers.”

Respondent 8

The respondent became a member at the age of six. Her family has always been involved in FDF. She is the head of the local unit and is involved in activities at a national level. Due to her family, FDF has always been a part of her life; and her identity has been formed by FDF:

”When I wasn’t active in FDF something was missing…. FDF is not something you do, it is what you are, and I actually think it is pretty difficult to completely put aside.”

In the following she describes the gradual transition from child to volunteer:

“I think it’s from my own time as a child in FDF, how things were done in the unit and then you have been to a lot of courses, but I really think it is learning by doing; you get some tasks, and then you do it, and gradually you learn.”

The respondent explains what she has learnt from FDF:

“I actually think it is many things, it is something you are not conscious about and I think it is the constant creativity, brainstorming and developing of ideas, it is just a completely different approach. I can feel that when comparing to other friends, whom are not FDF’ers and also the practicalities – how you just manage to do things, you totally control that…

“Being in an association where there are different types of people who you have to co-operate with, it’s something you may not think about but you can really use that later.”

”The community where you meet with these children every week and help them develop and just talk to them, I think is really funny. The leader community is also really important.”

She develops competences and values such as creativity, organising, tolerance and community. Further she emphasises the potential value FDF has in children’s life:

”We are here for the sake of the children. Be conscious of the role you have or the difference you make in the children’s life. It means a lot to them that they have someone they can talk to. Sitting down, listening to them, talking to them makes a big difference, I think.”

The volunteer does not emphasise the religious aspect as a value, but like respondent 4 she does consider that a value when she is asked about what she thinks of the aim of FDF:

“The aim is founding to our organisation, you don’t just change that. The Chri-stian aim distinguishes us from others. Even though I don’t practise it a lot, I do believe it adds something extra – that you discuss and talk about it.”

”I would like my own children to become members of FDF just like with my own childhood. Christianity is something you come to know through stories and you don’t have that elsewhere, so I believe it is important”

When the respondent is asked how long she will be in FDF she answers:

“I believe it’s something I will continue with, there might be years when you have children and work where you cannot do national work, but I still want a group of children”

Sub-conclusion on internal volunteers

FDF is very important for the internal volunteers’ identity and personality. They develop values and competences that become the foundation for how to behave generally.

Almost their entire life has been influenced by FDF and they have slowly learnt how to behave in FDF by observing the older volunteers and learning by doing.

6.1.2 External volunteers