Can I volunteer to Help earthquake victims in japan? Can I temporarily join Red cross or something?

The last thing they need are untrained people going to Japan and getting in the way. If you have some sort of specialist skill then great - they could probably do with your help, but if you're an accountant then you'll just get in the way, drinking water and eating food which could otherwise go elsewhere. There are plenty of Japanese people to do unskilled labour. Far better would be to do something like a fund raiser (or possibly a donation centre, but you should ask the red cross what they need - no use giving blankets if they've got 100 thousand already) - so that the real specialists can get the equipment and resources they need.

To be a volunteer for the Red Cross, you have to take several classes with them first and then if possible, they will deploy you. Doctors and nurses are chossen first usually. You should get a passport if you don't have one.

It's terrific that people want to get involved and help, but Yahoo! Answers is not the forum to post your resume or to convince anyone that you are qualified to travel to Japan and do post-quake help. Far better to contact your local Red Cross office directly and ask "What can I do to help?" The Red Cross will be able to tell you, based on your qualifications, just what you can and cannot do.

I am a strong, healthy, smart and experienced 6'3", 51 year old, SWM who is semi-retired and available for the next 1-2 months to go to Japan with my own hand tools, sleeping bag and a gas saw. I have extensive experience in salvage, recycling, construction and heavy skills in mechanical equipment maintenace and repairs. If someone out there is able to sponsor my passport and airfare, I would be most useful because I just can't just sit around here in Vancouver and watch it all unfold on CNN. By the way, I am the same guy from Windsor, Ont. who you may remember from being on the "A" Channel back during the Katrina disaster who lived on top of a transport truck for 5 days over that Labor Day weekend, refusing to come down until we filled it to the roof with aid for New Orleans. We filled it and I came down after 5 days and by the 10th day we had collected 107 tons, and filled 6 trucks with about $1.3 million in high quality canned goods, and other supplies. Not bad for a goof-on-a-roof. If anybody out there has any suggestions for sponsoring me I would be ready and able as soon as we could get me a passport. Any other suggestions out there? Maybe a fundrasier here in Langley B.C. I'm open to anything... Sincerely Danny A. Halmo . Action Figure! [email protected]

In order to be an international Red Cross volunteer, you have to have extensive training and at least five years of local and national disaster response experience. You also need to speak the destination's language fluently and have proven cultural competence and flexibility. If you join now and make the commitment of time (about 40 hours of training and one on-call week a month) and energy, you might be ready for the next U.S. disaster.

I wanna help! Any chances? Please email me if you have further information, thank you! [email protected] basic Japanese, hope to help