Voluntários da Alegria

The problem

During a weekend visit to a public pediatric hospital in Rio, I saw children spending a quiet day in their rooms while exhausted parents stayed beside them and most hospital staff were away. Many high school students wanted to volunteer, but there was no simple, organized way for them to help consistently.

The approach

I prepared a presentation explaining how a student-run volunteer group could work, secured the support of a doctor who helped us obtain permission from the hospital, and recruited an initial group of 24 volunteers. We organized young people into teams that could make reliable visits without creating more work for hospital staff.

How it worked

Volunteer teams visited children and teenagers in public hospitals every two weeks. I coordinated the groups, hospital relationships, and the practical work needed to make each visit happen. We also ran toy drives for Children’s Day and Christmas and worked with Rotary Club Lagoa on a campaign collecting aluminum can tabs that helped fund two wheelchairs.

Key decisions

• Build the organization for high school students and give them a clear, practical way to volunteer.
• Secure medical support and hospital permission before recruiting people or arranging visits.
• Use a fortnightly schedule and defined teams so the commitment could be maintained alongside school.
• Expand beyond hospital visits through donation campaigns and a partnership with Rotary Club Lagoa.
• Hand leadership to another generation of students when I finished high school, rather than make the organization dependent on me.

Outcome

The group grew to 100 volunteers making recurring visits across public hospitals in Rio. I handed over leadership when I finished high school, and the organization continued. More than a decade later, Voluntários da Alegria still exists and reports a team of 97 volunteers working across children, older people, animals, and the environment.

What I learned

This was the first organization I built. I learned how to turn an observation into a plan, earn the trust of an institution, recruit people, and create enough structure for volunteers to keep showing up. The most important decision was the handover. Starting the group proved that I could get something moving; seeing it continue long after I left showed the value of building it so that somebody else could lead it.