Um. Crazy idea.
So, there's been this flooding in Germany, right? Like, lots and lots and lots of water in cities from Bavaria to the North Sea and lots and lots of people from various organisations, like Red Cross and the military and stuff, right? And I kind of remembered that back in 2002 when there was some bad flooding, too and I was between military service and university and had a lot of time on my hands, I considered joining the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW, for the German readers) as a volunteer.
They provide technical relief for all kinds of catastrophies, kind of like the National Guard in the US, only without the military aspect of it. Flood relief, search and rescue, building bridges, you name it. And I keep having this feeling that there's something missing in my life, something practical, something socially worthwhile, something with an actual impact.
So... this THW idea came back. And... I think I want to do it. It's just... new people and I'm 31 (not a hindrance, though, everyone between 18 and 60 with a German passport and adequate physical fitness can join at any point in their life) and a lot of the instructors are younger than I am (usually not a problem for me, but my inferiority complex is acting up) and new people (that have been in a group for God knows how long, so there's probably some heavy group cohesion and this is why I hate my sociological education). I just. Erm. I don't know.
Gimme me a push?
They provide technical relief for all kinds of catastrophies, kind of like the National Guard in the US, only without the military aspect of it. Flood relief, search and rescue, building bridges, you name it. And I keep having this feeling that there's something missing in my life, something practical, something socially worthwhile, something with an actual impact.
So... this THW idea came back. And... I think I want to do it. It's just... new people and I'm 31 (not a hindrance, though, everyone between 18 and 60 with a German passport and adequate physical fitness can join at any point in their life) and a lot of the instructors are younger than I am (usually not a problem for me, but my inferiority complex is acting up) and new people (that have been in a group for God knows how long, so there's probably some heavy group cohesion and this is why I hate my sociological education). I just. Erm. I don't know.
Gimme me a push?