“The Psychology Of Working For Free”: Volunteers In Congo

By Kate | Permalink | No Comments | April 30th, 2007 | Trackback

Photo by
wildlifedirect.org

I’ve been following the blogs of Wildlife Direct – a non-profit conservation organization which currently works in Congo, supporting local conservation efforts through the use of blogs and also allowing donors to give directly to the cause without taking any administrative fee – and found a recent entry entitled The Psychology of Working For Free.

The Wildlife Direct team I’ve mentioned before as staff are in fact volunteer staff. While they could be working their normal jobs at home for a salary, and simply writing a check to a cause, or working abroad for international aid organizations paying a salary several times that of a local one – they are not. They have dedicated their time, energy and hard work to a cause they believe in. I think the larger trend they are involved in – bringing the technology of blogging to the field so that the world can see the hard work that those in more remote locations are doing - is an important one and one which we will hopefully see more of in the future.

When I read and see pictures on the blogs, it also strikes me that while they do have a blogger’s “fix” – an Internet connection – there are likely plenty of modern conveniences they probably have at home which they have sacrificed in order to do this work. People living in places with these amenities may joke about how awful McDonald’s is, how bad for you junk food is, and how mind-numbing television is, but few of us who are used to these things put ourselves in a position to truly be without them for an extended period. I realize that looked at individually, these items sound a little silly, but put together they add up to a level of comfort, one which some volunteers give up in order to work for a cause they believe in.

I think the Wildlife Direct team is made up of some very cool people doing a very good job, and working with an amazing team of local rangers, many of whom also work for free as the situation in Congo hasn’t allowed for their salaries to be paid for years (though Wildlife Direct offers donors the possibility of sponsoring a ranger to provide equipment and a local salary).

I read their blogs because I enjoy them - they include Atamato’s blog on the elephants of Ishango and Advance Force Ranger Aloma Major’s blog focusing on the Mountain Gorilla conservation effort; by checking in regularly and sharing these blogs with others you can also spread the word about the inspiring work that the Wildlife Direct volunteers - all of them - are doing.

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