The Third Wave_ A Volunteer Story - Alison Thompson [85]
• Keep camera equipment light. I always bring along a small digital camera with a separate hard drive to store lots of extra photos and a small, handheld video camera with rechargeable batteries that can be plugged into a car.
• Take plenty of cash. You might not be able to find an ATM where you’re going. Small bank notes—singles, fives, tens, and twenties—are easy to tip with and use at local markets. Getting change for a fifty or a one-hundred-dollar bill can be problematic. Try to raise some extra cash donations from friends and family before you leave home.
• A small handbook on the local language can be a lifesaver.
• Buy a return air ticket in advance. Remember, if things get too tough you can always go home.
• Don’t forget to have faith—in yourself, the universe, God, or whatever you believe in. And leave behind your fear! It’s an adventure, so GO FOR IT!
Even if you can’t travel to volunteer in a disaster area, there are still many ways to help. Some great organizations to donate to, including several that I am involved with, are:
• We Advance (weadvance.org): A grassroots movement empowering Haitian women to collaborate toward making healthcare a priority, and putting an end to gender-based violence within their communities, run by Maria Bello, Aleda Frishman, and me. Our clinic serves more than two hundred women per day and offers services ranging from gynecological care to the reporting of gender-based violence and referrals for women most at risk.
• The Clinton Foundation: Works to alleviate poverty, improve global health, strengthen economies, and protect the environment by fostering partnerships among governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and private citizens. The money Bill Clinton raises trickles down to even the smallest NGOs and actually reaches the people. I am enormously grateful for the generous funding The Clinton Foundation has provided for We Advance.
• Community Tsunami Early-Warning Center (CTEC; communitytsunamiwarning.com): The only tsunami warning center in Sri Lanka, created by Dr. Novil and me after the Asian tsunami disaster. Manned by trained officers twenty-four hours a day, CTEC provides the tsunami victims in Sri Lanka, who continue to live in fear, with a reliable source of information on earthquake activity. CTEC relies on private funding for its existence.
• J/P Haitian Relief Organization (Jphro.org): After the 2010 Haitian earthquake, Sean Penn and I flew to Haiti with a team of doctors. Sean found himself in charge of 65,000 internally displaced people and a field hospital. Sean Penn manages the camp, and all the money donated goes straight to helping the Haitian people.
• Prodevhaiti.org: A Haitian organization concentrating on education and rebuilding schools that were destroyed in the 2010 Haitian earthquake. I know them personally and they are fully committed to their work.
• Boys & Girls Harbor (http://boysandgirlsharbor.net): Founded by Tony Duke, the original volunteer and my hero. The mission of Boys & Girls Harbor is to empower children and their families to become full, productive participants in society through education, cultural enrichment, and social services.
• Claudio Reyna Foundation: Run by Claudio Reyna, the former captain of the U.S. soccer team, the foundation offers free soccer instruction and after-school tutoring for low-income innercity children. They do beautiful work in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and New Jersey.
• Global DIRT (Global Disaster Immediate Response Team; Globaldirt.org): Currently dedicates all of its manpower and resources to providing relief to the victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. I have worked with them for over a year and they are real heroes, cutting through