Volunteering in Austria
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- Created on Saturday, 25 February 2017 12:30
- Written by austria
by Iris Schreiner
The reason for the Austrian to work voluntary is that they can help others. They do not only help injured, but also poor or disabled people. There are groups which are offering voluntary work in every town. Most of the Austrian are working for at least one organisation in their free time. We have a lot of different organisations and 46% of all inhabitants who are older than 15 are doing voluntary work. Over the years more and more people are joining voluntary work and are getting in touch with different organisations in their hometown. Most of them are meeting new friends during the work. There is a strong community in an organisation. Volunteering is a very good way to increase the life quality.
In Austria we have a lot of different types for volunteering. So no matter in which subject you are interested – there is always an organisation which offers the perfect voluntary work for you.
Some of them are in order to help injured people, like the “Freiwillige Feuerwehr/ voluntary fire brigade”, the “Rotes Kreuz/ Red cross”, or the “Bergrettung/ mountain rescue”.
Others are for helping foreign people or refugees like “Caritas”, “Verein Menschenleben/ Society for human life”, or “ORA International”.
Some of the groups are for a better life quality and a better cooperation, like “Nachbarschaftshile/ neighbourly help”, “Global 2002”, or different hospices.
The last group are organisations which are promoting a better treatment of the nature, like “Greenpeace”, “Naturfreunde/ nature lovers”, and “Vier Pfoten/ four paws”.
They all have one thing in common: Every organisations wants to improve the way of living in our country and to help people who need support, no matter which age or nationality.
The Red Cross is a very well-known organisation in our country and it’s also the one I want to describe nearer. It is the biggest humanitarian non-profit organisation in Austria. 73.000 volunteers are working for them and in this way they are helping a lot of people all over the country and also all over the world. It offers different tasks of voluntary work: rescue service, healthcare and social services, blood donation, disaster management, development work, education and advanced training. This is also a reason for myself for choosing this organisation. I really like the given opportunity to choose between different and very interesting areas in the organisation. You can do a lot for your fellow human beings, not only people in your neighbourhood, but also refugees and people who came to Austria recently. From this organisation you can learn a lot. They are offering different classes and teach different topics like e.g. first aid or how to care for an old or ill relative. In these small groups you do not only learn a lot of things but you also can have a lot of fun and get in touch with other people.