At Voluntales, we’re all about helping folk, and after getting this message from Imola Andorko, about her thesis on WWOOF, we’re putting out the call for participants. If you’ve WWOOFed, help her out.

Hi everyone! I would like to ask your help. I`m writing my diploma thesis about the WWOOF. I made a survey, special for the ones who had already tried wwoofing. It takes only about 10 minutes to answer to my questions…it would be a great help if you would answer to it! Thank you very much!! http://kwiksurveys.com/?u=wwoofsurvey

I have been reading about Ashley Judd traveling the world, fighting for those who can’t, since I can remember. Her book All That Is Bitter & Sweet has been in the news now, the entire week. Apparently she just got on the phone with Russell Simmons, to explain her comments about Rap & Hip Hop which have some people calling her racist. Judd probably can’t be further from racist if she tried. Here is the full conversation from GlobalGrind.com. I found it interesting.

Russell:  What brought you to a point that you wanted to write a book?

Ashley: I was trying to bring voice to the voiceless, bring attention to the exploited and disempowered and make a difference in both the grassroots and international level.  I’ve spent the majority of my time in slums, brothels, refugee camps and hospitals, listening to the sacred narratives of the oppressed and then bringing those narratives to the public and trusting that once the truth is shared, the world can start to change.  I have been to Kenya, South Africa, Madagascar, Rwanda, I’ve been to the Congo multiple times, I’ve been to Guatemala, El Salvador, India.  I addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations regarding the abolition of the modern slave trade, I was the keynote speaker in May of 2008.  And I addressed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the urgent need to protect the health of African girls and women. I recently visited for three hours President Kagame of Rwanda about the need to stop mass rape in Congo. more…

Digital Documenters Award

This is very last minute, but it is not too late to cast your vote for these amazing docs about making a difference in your community. The four films shortlisted for the Digital Documenters category at this year’s First Light Awards are now online for public viewing.  If you vote, you will be joining celebrity filmmakers such as Morgan Spurlock have already cast their votes!!

Do it people! Or at least watch it and be inspired.

Click here to vote!

While this is a website that we started to encourage volunteering at home and abroad, we do come across situations where certain projects billed under the term “Voluntourism” are a scam. Here is an article written by Ian Birrell at The Guardian that you may find interesting. What are your thoughts? Can Volutourism be harmful? Chime in!

Carita Rizzo

I didn’t create Voluntales to write about myself. Don’t get me wrong – wanting to build a website that focused on good things that people were doing came from a growing sensation that I wasn’t making the world any better, but really, it wasn’t so I could talk about myself.

Today, I’m going to make it about me.

You see, the Emmy Awards were held last weekend in Los Angeles and the part of the city I’ve come to know so well had been starving itself for two weeks to fit into a dress for one day. How do I know? Well, for one, I’m Facebook friends with most of them. And yes, I’d been starving myself, too.

But when I was invited to an event thrown by an organization called A Better LA, that was taking place the day before the big ceremony, I decided I had to take a time out from the calorie counting and get my head on straight. Sure, it wasn’t the most convenient thing I’d done on a busy weekend, but it was an absolute necessity. more…

Oil from BP spill hits Orange Beach, AL

Carita:

For more than 50 days I’ve been watching the oil gush into the ocean on the BP cam, wondering when and how this is going to end. More than once I’ve thought, I really should be down there, helping clean off pelicans or rescuing sea turtles or something. Yet everything I read points to the fact that I would be of zero use. I got a press release a few days ago that Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols were heading down to New Orleans, to work with Global Green – although let’s be honest, “work” obviously means “raise awareness”. You know what, I’ll take awareness over nothing. Here is an article from Zap2It.com about what Bush and Nichols discovered while in New Orleans – and it’s not good news, but I thought it might be interesting. more…

Children at CPH. From: www.hvpuk.org.uk

Luisa:

When I was working in Dang district, Nepal, there was a Hindu Vidyapeeth (HVP) school in my town. They teach in English, and take in many children from families too poor to pay for their child’s education. The staff at the school were very kind to me, often inviting me over for dinner and a chat about Hindu philosophy. They also – rather unsuccessfully – tried to teach me Nepali. The school also hosts international volunteers who live at the school, and help the children with their English, but also to socialize with the children, many of whom are living at the school away from their families. Please find below a story from a recent HVP volunteer, which appeared in the recent HVP newsletter.

“HVP Dang – a Volunteer’s Report

My name is Melinda Lies (U.S.A.) and I am volunteering at the Children’s Peace Home (CPH) and at HVP Dang. As well as teaching, I am helping with the administration of CPH and with the website that is in its early stages. We now have 31 students living at CPH and they range in age from 4 to 18 years of age –Sima Chaudhary and Sabita Chaudhary (both class 2) came earlier this year and our newest arrivals, Anjali Chaudhary (LKG) and Bibek Sunar from Dailekh (he will have to be tested) came the first of May. Anjali’s mother, Montika, is staying at CPH as well, working alongside ‘the indisputable’ Chandra (who wears numerous hats –caretaker, cook, horticulturist, etc.) more…

Photo courtesy of Dumaguete City Habitat

Luisa:

I found this wonderful blog by the Dumaguete City Habitat for Humanity project in the Philippines, through a friend of mine who volunteered in this year’s house building blitz! It gives you a very good idea of what it is like to volunteer with Habitat, building homes for those in need.

“Blitz Build 2010 a huge success!

In just 6 short days last week, the Dumaguete and international community pulled together to build 10 houses in Candau-ay for 10 very happy families. more…