Author: Developer

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Fukushima 50: Japan’s Volunteer Heroes and The International Volunteers they Inspire

An Explosion at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Plant After the Earthquake and Tsunami

Image source: Gratisparacelular.blogspot.com

When city officials, reeling from the massive tsunami that ravaged Japan, realized their Fukushima Daiichi power plant was facing a potential melt down, they were at a loss. The surrounding villages were under an evacuation order—the plant was about to vent radioactive vapor to avoid an infrastructure collapse and the resulting radiation would be extremely hazardous to human health—yet someone had to stay behind to operate the machinery. Who could they possibly find to make that kind of sacrifice?

Nurse Volunteers: There Is Always a Need

Art Print by George Marks of a Nurse Comforting a Girl with a Doll

Image source: Art.com

Most people go into the healthcare field because they want to help people who are sick. But being a nurse is a very unglamorous job sometimes. It means treating all manner of wounds, cleaning up after people, and being exposed to infectious diseases on a daily basis. It takes a strong stomach and an iron constitution. There are long hours. You’d better have sensible shoes because you’re on your feet all day. Sometimes, patients die. But then again, sometimes they’re saved.

Volunteering in War-Torn Places: The Case of Invisible Children

Promotional Image From The Invisible Children Rescue Uganda Campaign

Image source: Wvwc.edu

Invisible Children is more than a volunteer organization: it’s a movement. The longest running conflict the African continent has ever known is happening now, led by one man named Joseph Kony. Invisible Children works to publicize the conflict while organizing support, maintaining education programs in the region, and establishing economic initiatives to rebuild. Their focus is on restoring a sense of normalcy while providing opportunities for people who have been solely focused on survival for a very long time. Understandably, this is a difficult mission in a place with such a complex social and political history.

Are We Fooling Ourselves or Do Celebrities Really Inspire New Volunteers?

Angelina Jolie Wearing a Headscarf in India as Goodwill Ambassador

Image source: Dailynewschannels.com

I don’t often think of celebrities as being capable of divorcing themselves from their public. Perhaps I’m jaded by US Weekly or The Oscars—If one more stick figure tells me what she’s wearing I’ll lose it emotionally—but, my own prejudice aside, celebrities are people too. Many of them are people who care deeply about the world they live in. Sure, they hire stylists to make them look celebrityish and publicists to make them act likeable. But simply being a celebrity doesn’t make you vapid or incapable of giving or caring, it just carries some baggage.

Does it Matter that Altruism Doesn’t Exist?

Fanana Alofu Kalunde Africa Chimpanzees Displaying Give and Take Behavior

Image source: Greystokemahale.blogspot.com

I’m feeling philosophical today. It happens every so often. I wake up, go to brush my teeth and think, “Wow, there are so many brands of toothpaste, what a strange free market where we go berserk on a niche rather than simply meeting a need. How much waste could we avoid if we just had a single brand of toothpaste?” Then I think about the implications of that thought. “Americans need choices. What about people who have sensitive teeth, or who want whitening power? What about those poor souls?” Then I sit there over breakfast contemplating the world economy: needs vs. wants, the privilege of choice, the wastefulness of the free market, and my navel. I’ve brought this philosophical day right around to today’s blog post with the following question: is volunteering reward enough without the recognition, without the cultural A+ that we get for helping others?