Almost every day we listen and watch the TV news about the disasters all over the world. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunami or volcano eruptions cause huge damage and change the peoples' lives. After the disaster these people need a help which is usually given by numerous international organizations. Many volunteers are willing to help. But you don't need to go to the suffered areas. We hope you can find many examples at your place where help and volunteers are needed. Our students found and described some situations and possibilities how could they or some organizations be helpful. Can you find some, too? Here is an example:
Dog shelters
The biggest help is to adopt a dog from a shelter. But some people can’t adopt a dog, because they haven’t got enough space or time. But there’s many other ways people help in dog shelters. Volunteers bring dogs old food, because some shelters don’t have enough food for all dogs. Old clothes are helpful too, they can be used to warm up dogs in winter. Some people bring their old toys to shelters to make dogs happy. They also choose the doghs and then go out on walk with them. For a longer time, they can have dog in temporary care, until it finds an owner. Very much people post and share information on social networks, to help dogs find their new owners. One of the biggest helps, is to save lone dog or another animal from street and bring it to shelter.
The Swedish section of Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), in Swedish named ”Läkare utan gränser”.
The section was founded in 1993 by three Swedish doctors and today they are active in over 70 countries. They are politically independent and only committed to help people in need. When a catastrophy occurs somewhere in the world, MSF is quickly able to gather staff and travel there, starting the help operation immediately. Staff are not allowed to receive any compensation other than what is represented by their salary or fee. The percentage paid is limited. The salaries are lower than for comparable services in the labor market. Wages are public. In 1999 the organization received the Nobel Peace Price.
Assignment: Try to find the examples of voluntarity and solidarity in your country. Write a short article how you or some organizations could help.