For the time that we’ve been here as human beings, you would think that we should have learnt something from our collective history. But we still have wars, there is still poverty and greed, we’ve still damaged this planet and things like self-interest still dominate our lives. It almost seems like human civilization is still pretty uncivilized. But I think that all of this only goes to show how a simple act of kindness can take on gigantic proportions. While this all might sound wishy-washy to some of you, we now have a chance to actualize some of our ideas of goodwill through Do it Day this Friday the 18th of September.

Do it Day is a singular day that allows us, as South Africans the chance to join a collective effort to make a difference. All you have to do is volunteer yourself to a cause and simply donate your time, energy and skills. We all complain about the issues in this country like poverty and crime and (specifically readers of this blog) climate change and the lack of environmental consciousness. Well then, this is your chance. Join in.

Do it Day is organised and hosted by GreaterGood South Africa – an organisation that aims to bring good causes and committed volunteers together in meaningful and innovate ways to end issues like poverty – and is sponsored by the Old Mutual and Nedbank foundations.

For Do it Day this year, GreaterGood South Africa is attempting to recruit 20 000 volunteers for approximately 2000 projects around the country. These projects, or causes have a variety of jobs that they need help with. These are things such as painting a homeless shelter, making sandwiches for the hungry, assisting youth development through sporting initiatives and cleaning up alien vegetation.

With the country approaching the 2010 Fifa World Cup, a significant amount of projects are following the “green” route. Some of them still require volunteers, such as the Mielie Organic Food Garden in Khayelitsha, Cape Town and similarly the Vezukuhle project in the Eastern Cape.

Others projects include the Caring for the Environment with KEAG project that is looking for volunteers to assist in cleaning up the environment. The project includes an introduction to waste and kelp ecosystems and a subsequent visit to the beach to assist in cleaning waste. Another is the Kurland Cleaning Project in the Western Cape that aims to co-ordinate a clean up of the Kurland Village Community to promote the conservation of the area.

With nearly 2000 projects to choose from, one could easily find a project that is suited to ones particular profession, skill or interest, as well as something that might just be in your own neighbourhood.

All that you need to do is simply visit the site at www.doitday.co.za, choose a project that interests you, sign up and eventually be a part of something unique and special. It is also a chance to prove that goodwill and selflessness and not greed and power-lust is the way to move forward in the world.