Ken Nedimyer: Champion of the Coral Reef

Founder of Key Largo's Coral Restoration Foundation, Ken Nedimyer

Image source: Floridasportsman.com

Coral reefs are some of our most precious ecosystems. They are often referred to as the rain forests of the sea because they are home to such a wide variety of plants and animals—creatures crucial to the survival and health of the world’s oceans. Over the past few decades, coral reefs have been dying around the world. As crucial keystone species go extinct, the health of our ocean creatures and, by direct extension, our terrestrial ones, are in great danger. Enter: Ken Nedimyer.

The Infinite Family of Amy Stokes

Amy Stokes, Founder of Infinite Family, With Mentees in Soweto Township

Image source: Creativityfuse.com

In the U.S. we are so accustomed to using email, video chat, social networks, and Google to navigate our everyday lives. In Sub-Saharan Africa however, these technologies are still unfamiliar to many, and inaccessible to most. In some ways, it’s hard to imagine how simple online communication can make a difference in people’s lives. At first I was skeptical—how does talking make someone less hungry or healthier? But the more I read about Amy Stokes and her organization, Infinite Family, the more I realized how critically important simple communication can be.

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.