Today is World Humanitarian Day, a United Nations-sponsored day observed every year on August 19th in remembrance of aid workers who have lost their lives providing service to communities around the world. But this year it is so much more than that.The United Nations has launched an innovative campaign that, in their own words, “will quite literally turn words into aid.” And they’re doing this through social media!
This month-long project allows people around the world to decide what they think the world needs more of – and by tweeting their ideas, they can turn their words into actual aid! You can find out more about how to contribute to this project on the World Humanitarian Day 2013 website.
At United Planet, we think the world needs more community. Whether you’re saying hi to your neighbor on your way to work, organizing an event in your hometown, participating in Community Supported Agriculture, taking a trip abroad to learn about a different culture, finding a pen-pal, making the time to get to know someone new, traveling to form relationships with others rather than just as a way to check a destination off your bucket list, or even just learning something new about someone you don’t know…we want people around the world to think about what community means to them, and then doing something to make their vision a reality!
Our mission at United Planet is to form a true community beyond borders, where personal relationships are priorities and differences are celebrated. Community has so many different definitions, and there are so many ways to foster relationships – whether they are big, sweeping actions or small acts of kindness – they are all important, and they are all achievable.
So get off your phones and computers and get out in the world, find your community, and help it grow! Well, you can stay on your phone long enough to head over to Twitter and participate in the United Nations’ World Humanitarian Day campaign. Then go out and do something! Because there’s no time like right now to start improving the world.
ABOUT UNITED PLANET
United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. Established in 2001, United Planet offers volunteer abroad, virtual internships, internships abroad, gap year volunteering, and global virtual exchange in more than 40 countries.
