Question:
It has to be an established program. I am willing to dedicate all my time to help them clean up. I work in logistics and I can help clean up, whatever I can be used for. I am just looking for a program, any ideas? I need to know ASAP
Answer:
No organization takes unaffiliated, spontaneous volunteers for international relief.
If you have been in the logistics field for a while, maybe your professional organization might be doing something.
Not all of Japan suffered damage, and they have a large and functional national Red Cross, that is a large pool of workers.)
The Red Cross only certifies volunteers as International Delegates after at least five years of active disaster response on a local and national scale in their home chapters. They are also required to be able to read, write, and speak the destination language fluently. Training in the specifics of mass sheltering and feeding is required, as is completion of courses in International Humanitarian Law.
Remember, disaster scenes are much more complicated than everyday life. Resources you take for granted, like water, electricity, paved roads, while doing your job are not present.
In Japan, communication and cultural issues would be huge. The language is complex, it is not written in Western alphabets, and it is very difficult to learn. If a volunteer needs a translator, that ties up two people to do one job, and that is inefficient. The Japanese put a very high value on etiquette, nuance, and protocol. Informal Americans--even ones who can manage some of the language--run a very high risk of insulting the people they want to help.
This is a common problem at disasters even in the U.S., with American volunteers not understanding the local culture. (For example, I have heard of one group of good-hearted people arriving with beef ribs to feed a Hindu community. They couldn't eat the food due to their religious beliefs, and the volunteers were insulted at the refusal of their "gift.")
Processing would-be volunteers is also a problem. Existing volunteers and staff have to take time away from planning and executing the response, in order to register, interview, and track prospective helpers. This takes time, and it doesn't help when the prospective people get rude and yell at the existing workers for "taking too long." Believe me, it happens. Wannabe helpers get rude and loud to existing workers, and being rude or exasperated is the fastest way to being rejected from a volunteer agency. If someone behaves like that in their home country, in their home language, in a comfortable setting, what kind of tantrum will they throw under real stress?
So, those are just a few of the many reasons spontaneous volunteers are not used.
If you can make the long-term commitment to training (1 or 2 nights a month and several weekend classes) and disaster response (1 week of on-call duty per month) with the Red Cross, you will gain experience in local and regional disasters. That will get you qualified for large responses over time.
