Ask HN: Best ways to volunteer?

To my mental health what contributed most is to volunteer at a NON-TECH position. YMMV

I was on a SE-Asia trip when I fell in love with a small town here; my organize trip was so bad I decided to abandon it. Found out there is a half-pruvate English school for kids.

I notified my friends, rebooked my flights and stayed for a month to teach school children English (around 100 of them in 5 classes every weekday).

This was probably the most rewarding experience in my life, although it didn't really help my professional career. However, I learned a hlot about

* cultural differences

* language differences of Asian vs Western languages

* the English language itself

* kids

* ways of living a life

* myself

Effectiveness? Questionable. I saw many of the teenagers to improve their pronounciation drastically during this month. Also helped the local management to rethink methods of teaching etc.

I didn't want to get into what your motivations may be, but I alluded to this: Now, if no one is picking up trash and you want it picked up, then by all means go pick it up.

The idea was that you might be doing it yourself because, in that case, your surroundings being clean and beautiful is something you desire.

> ... we should share what we have in order to become less narrow and frightened and lonely and self-centered people

Wallace's view of humanity is self-serving and awful. He's a noble savior, the poor people are helpless without their saviors, and everyone else is frightened, lonely, self-centered, etc.

A better approach is one founded in gratitude, wherein charity is merely one form of expression of gratitude.

Consider “backdoor volunteering.” I find that specialized/technical work isn’t really available on a volunteer basis. Staff have an expectation of working with other pros and may feel threatened by undercutting. So I take some weekend work at nominal wage and donate it back anonymously. It’s not tax efficient, but it works for both of us.

> Wallace's view of humanity is self-serving and awful. He's a noble savior, the poor people are helpless without their saviors, and everyone else is frightened, lonely, self-centered, etc.

Out of context i guess i could see that reading being something you could conclude. It’s not well supported overall, though.

> ... gratitude

Sure; but the notion that “do it because it’s the right thing to do, and it’s a good way to say thank you” is not at all at odds with “... and by way of ‘you’re welcome’, you’ll be less of a lonely prick!”

It’s kind of an open philosophical question whether or not a purely altruistic act is even possible (where i do X to you, X is good, and I don’t get anything in return that is also good) — why mince words about it? (cf kierkegaard, among many others). There’s no particular shame in acknowledging that charity rewards both parties.

So many elderly people who have trouble with basic tasks, including but not limited to tech.

I’d like to see a hotline where people can call to ask about virus pop ups, calls from potential scammers.