|
Wanting to do something
I just finished The Book Thief (about the holocaust/bombing) and it honestly changed my life. I want to do something about genocide and war, but I don't know what to do- I'm only 16.
I looked up Amnesty International, but they honestly do nothing but complain and write letters/petitions. Does anyone have any ideas for things I can do? Organizations that help places such as Darfur? I feel so helpless and I want to DO something...
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Miscellaneous category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Activism?
As a member of Amnesty International, I know that we don't just complain. Petitions are currently the only way of helping those IN Darfur. There is also donations to refugees from Darfur (savedarfur.org). Currently, China, who is part of the security council in the UN, is too worried about keeping it's oil in the Sudan that it is preventing the UN from going into Darfur. WE are petitioning the Chineese government to take action, so by getting people's signature from everywhere, we can hope to achieve this. Also, by getting your legislators to pressure our own governmet into doing something. nothing else can be done for those IN Darfur, as any money you send to those actually in the country will be taken by the government. Also, spread the word- best thing you can do. Can you believe some people don't even know the crisis in Darfur is a genocide? I'm really glad you're informed about it and wanting to do something.=)
]
If you really, really want to help them, then don't place a lot of effort into helping them now. As horrible as that sounds, donating money, even if it's a hundred dollars isn't going to do much. Neither will countless hours of community service work. Although I still recommend doing some stuff and dontaing some money, I wouldnt' recommend placing too much time into volunteer work or donations.
Instead, stay in school, do the best you can so you can get into a good college. After two years of college, you're eligible to join the peace corps or other types of volunteer programs that send you to foreign countries so you can help. After that, you could join the UN.
Or, once you get into college, major in political science or some other major that involves politics and go into a future in politics. From there, you could make much more of a difference.
]
Here's a list of organizations that help countries like that:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
Check out [Link](Mouse over link to see full location) and other results at
You can contact your representatives(you can do that, even though you can't vote yet), and form an organization at your school.
I personally think that capitalism is the root of all these horrible problems, and you might want to research capitalism and anti-capitalism. And, while it's not an activism site, you can visit [Link](Mouse over link to see full location) , a site proposing peaceful global solutions.
If you aren't happy about the existing organizations, you can create a new one. No one cares that you're 16, you can still make changes if you grab the attention of enough people. I'd be glad to host the site of such an organization(ad-free, even).
]
More Questions: |