Q&A from Anonymous
So are you saying you don't believe in volunteer work?
Anonymous
NO. Haha. What kind of person doesn’t believe in volunteering? The same kind of person who kicks your grandmother. Also, Kristen Stewart. She seems like someone who wouldn’t like to give back to the community as it would involve her talking to strangers and being in public for extended periods of time.
What I DO believe is that saying `Oh, these poor underprivileged children living in squalor in underdeveloped South Africa have never had a camera or a photo of themselves, we must change that` is a little different than saying `Hey guys, we’re collecting blankets for the homeless this winter’ or ‘people need food’.
Perhaps you don’t see the difference and it doesn’t bother you, each to his own. I’m not saying that its wrong to want to give children their first photograph of themselves, by all means, go ahead - I am sure the kids would be delighted. But if you write about it as a means to showcase your charitable ways, thats where I draw the line. It makes me uncomfortable to read about it. I believe in never feeling pity for people based purely on Western ideals.
(Talking about great volunteer work, my friend - the great Selena, has been going in and out of the nuclear zone in Fukushima, rescuing abandoned dogs and cats, getting them healthy and finding new homes for them. Read about it here, at her blog. )
Do what you can for those around you who have less than you, but don’t think and act like those people ARE less than you, is what I believe in.
