Civic Engagement with UBELONG
Through volunteering, far away places become real to us. Every day it seems like we’re hearing about another international conflict—another community struck by hardship. Some of the hardship is civil, between governments and citizens. Sometimes it’s environmental, the result of a drought or natural disaster. Whatever the calamity, it’s easy to feel disconnected, like these stories are happening in another world. We go about our lives focused on what we do—our work and our families—immersed in our own everyday dramas. But for those of us who have volunteered, international conflict affects us viscerally, in real and immediate ways. We know that each of these places is as real as our hometowns and our back yards. We don’t just know it intellectually, we know it in our bones. UBELONG is a volunteer organization focused on promoting this kind of understanding. Their mission is to create “a world where people are united behind their shared humanity and committed to working together for positive change.”