Making a difference all-year round
Print Edition
There is the old adage that if you think you are too small to make a difference, spend a night in a room with a mosquito. If you are small you can absolutely make your presence felt.
Students often participate in service projects while at school and are often wonderfully proactive within the larger environment of school life. However, this passion for a better world does not have to stop once summer begins.
It could even be argued that the work students do when they are driving their own involvement is even more meaningful and memorable. Or perhaps this is something that a young person has always wanted to do, but in the business of academic pursuits and school life, they have just not managed to carve out the time. So the summer can be the perfect time to save the planet, improve animal welfare, care for the young and vulnerable and to educate those that don’t have the incredible opportunity to have an education. In short, summer can be the perfect time to make a difference.
Here are just some of the organizations in Shanghai that are looking for helpers and volunteers and there is something for every service interest.
Roots and Shoots was founded by Jane Goodall and is a “hands-on environmental and humanitarian education program that is about making positive change happen — for the environment, for animals and for our communities.” Roots and Shoots needs volunteers to help plant gardens or support larger scale hands on tree planting within Inner Mongolia. You can even support the project by buying their Fair Trade coffee, so it’s easy to start small while you find out more about them. (www.jgichina.org/en/?page_id=9#)
Habitat for Humanity aims to renovate homes for senior citizens and you can volunteer for a full day’s work or weekend projects with teams of other volunteers. This can be incredibly rewarding as you work within a community to make their lives better. Even if only over a weekend, you can see someone’s life improve literally brick by brick. (www.habitatchina.org/eng/built_chinaprojects?i=20)
Home Sweet Home is an organization that cares for homeless and disabled people within Shanghai. Their mission is to care “for those with special needs by building their character in a loving home environment, developing their skills through education and training and by assisting with their integration by being the bridge between the community and the needy ones.”
Their vision is to make those in their care full contributors to society and volunteers can help with their goals by assisting with the distribution of provisions, by supporting with English lessons or basic living skills training. (www.homesweethome.org.cn/en/aboutus)
Heart to Heart volunteers describe themselves as “from all walks of life and from all over the world. We’re young and old — female and male — skilled and unskilled.” If you want to get involved you can spend some time playing with children in a hospital playroom, help raise money for heart surgeries, or work with heart to heart to help donate libraries to poor, rural schools in China. (www.heart2heartshanghai.net/)
Baobei Foundation was founded in 2008, and this is how they describe their philosophy, “The name Baobei, which means “precious” or “precious child” in Chinese, reflects our belief that each child is precious and each child has a unique contribution to make to this world. Baobei has provided over 200 surgeries for over 100 orphans who were near death, but are now healthy and living with permanent families.” The work they do helps with both short and long-term child care costs. (www.baobeifoundation.org/)
In the words of Jane Goodall, “Every individual matters, every individual has a role to play, every individual can make a difference.” So make this summer your time to start, or continue, making that difference.
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