The Angry Humanitarian

Oh the Angry Humanitarian.

No one really intends to become one. You try to stayfriendly, educational, and open but eventually get to the point where you getangry at the decisions and ignorance of the people around you.  Why can’t they understand? Why don’t theychange the way they act? Why don’t they care about the rest of the world?

The Building Dreams group on the last day of their trip!

While spending time with youth empowerment humanitarianorganization Live Different in the Dominican Republic we warn volunteers aboutbecoming the Angry Humanitarian. It’s possibly the most common reaction to yoursurroundings when you head home after a completely life changing experience.Our volunteers just spent 10 days in an impoverished different country, notonly building a house for a deserving family, but also really gainingperspective on how a majority of the world lives. They put stories tostatistics and faces to nameless individuals whose lives are exposed inarticles on living conditions and struggles existing thousands of miles acrossthe globe.

How can your life not be changed after this kind ofexperience?

On the last day of their trip our volunteers take part inone final debriefing session. We have volunteers who have been on trips beforemention feelings they experienced when arriving home—most being anger, guiltand frustration. This summer, our final debrief leader was a fun kiwi namedKent and he always gave such a great description of the Angry Humanitarian tothe volunteers. Loosely quoted, it went something like this;

“The Angry Humanitarian is someone who is having dinner withtheir family and gets mad because people are throwing out leftover food intothe garbage and are saying ‘that food could feed 10 starving children inAfrica’, but really, it couldn’t because that food is on your table in Canadaand not in Africa.”

We warn our volunteers that while this reaction is easy tohave, it’s not the most productive way to encourage your friends, family,co-workers and acquaintances to live a life where focusing on positivelyimpacting those around you is a priority. As individuals who now have themantra “Life is about people, not stuff”, they need to take time to respondinstead of react to the circumstances around them.

I encourage everyone who has had a life changing experienceto evaluate how they react or respond to those around them. Are you keeping alighthearted tone and creating an educational conversation where you areinspiring those around you to join you in a new lifestyle of positive change?Or on the contrary, are you abruptly spitting out comments to make those youare talking to feel bad about their lives? They don’t know what you know; theydon’t have the same experience ingrained in their hearts that completelychanged their lives. You cannot get mad at someone who doesn’t know—but you cantake every opportunity to educate.

Be the individual who educates well, shares passionately,and lives inspirationally. Let your actions show you want to see poverty, slavery,gendercide, denied education and other forms of injustice end. Be a great modelso when people hear about your experience and reasons why your life is changed,they don’t want ignore the reality of how the world is functioning, but want tojoin you in your new adventure.

Image from Pinterest.