By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS
The News
The ABC Medical Center hosted its Second International Congress of Volunteerism on Thursday, Feb. 4, to help promote leadership qualities among women who offer their services to community-minded and social organizations throughout Mexico.
“Leadership and volunteerism go hand-in-hand,” explained ABC Medical Center public relations director Nancy Stich, who together with ABC Pink Lady volunteer and then-president Alicia Fusoni came up with the idea for the first International Congress of Volunteerism in 2007.
“Without good leadership, the work of volunteers isn’t as productive because there is no direction or coordination to optimize human resources.”
Stich went on to explain that the ABC – which has for more than 60 years depended on its dedicated army of Pink Lady volunteers to provide moral and emotional support comfort and care to anxious patients and their families, as well as to help out in administrative duties and to operate the hospital gift shop at the Observatorio and Santa Fe campuses and clinics –  has been an inspirational model of healthy and effective volunteering that many other organizations in Mexico have looked to in forming its own unpaid assistant programs.
“Since the ABC Medical Center is a nonprofit, community-oriented institution, we feel that helping to shape women leaders is just one more part of the many ways we can serve the country,” Stich said.
“We feel that this conference is an opportunity for women to learn leadership skills that will help them not only to become more effective volunteers but to take on other leadership roles within Mexican society.”
The day-long conference, which was held inside the Susan Lowell Auditorium of the ABC Medical Center’s Cancer Center, was attended by 140 women from 82 organizations from across the nation, including the Mexican Red Cross, the National System for Integral Family Development (DIF), Fundación Teletón, the National Institute of Perinatology, Casa de la Amistad para Niños con Cancer and numerous major hospitals of all sorts, including, of course, the ABC’s own Pink Ladies.
Unlike the First International Congress of Volunteerism, which focused on the concept of volunteerism itself and ways that people could serve the community, this year’s event concentrated on the skills needed for volunteer leadership and how to best hone those skills, added Renate Levy, one of the conference’s chief organizers and a member of the ABC Medical Center Board of Governors.
“Being a volunteer requires a lot of commitment, and a sense of self-assurance,” Levy said.
“One of the first steps to assuming a position as a volunteer is to recognize your own assets and shortcomings and to figure out how to put them to their best use.”
Levy also said that leadership entails having professionalism, ethical behavior and efficient organizational skills.
In addition to a keynote conference on “Volunteerism as a Motivator of Self-Care” offered by Dr. Mario Antonio Peñuela of the National Institution of Perinatology, the conference included talks on ethics, values, personal motivation, teamwork and leadership qualities.
         “The conference this year is less rigid and more hands-on than the first conference, which we held at the Hotel Nikko,” said Fusoni.
“The idea is for all the participants together to share ideas and bounces ideas off one another about new ways of organizing themselves and spurring leadership.”
“There is sometimes a tendency for volunteers to feel that because they are not getting paid, they aren’t obligated to be punctual or give their all when it comes to the job they are doing,” said Levy.
“We want to get across the concept that a volunteer job is as much a responsibility as a paid job, and requires the same amount of commitment-“
Levy said that as a Pink Lady volunteer herself she learned the importance of punctuality and professionalism because so many people depended on her.
“And even if there is no financial compensation for the job, there is certainly a big payback in the form of appreciation from the hospital patients and staff, as well as the opportunity to learn new skills that you can take with your into the workplace if later on you find yourself taking on a paid job,” she said.
“Volunteerism is something that gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment that I think very few other jobs in life can offer.”
Stich said that because the response to the first two conferences was so positive, the ABC Medical Center is planning to organize subsequent forums every second year.
“We feel that these conferences are an opportunity for women to hone their own talents as volunteers and leaders,” she said, “and to become more influential members of the communities they live in, making an important contribution to Mexico society as a whole.”