Helping careers can provide personal satisfaction as well as a salary.
Some people help others by volunteering in their spare time. Individuals who want to become more involved can pursue a paid career that involves assisting the needy or suffering. People who enter careers of this nature often do it primarily because they want to help, rather than specifically for the money. This is fortunate, because most helping careers don't pay all that well.
NGO
NGO stands for "Non Governmental Organization." These are organizations that help needy and suffering people in areas of the world that experience disasters, war or ongoing poverty. Some examples of well-known NGOs are Doctors Without Borders, The Red Cross and Save the Children. Working in the field for an NGO requires good health, resourcefulness and sometimes a strong stomach. The pay is generally not very high, and the work is difficult and can be dangerous. NGOs work to counteract the tide of poverty, starvation and sickness that is an ongoing battle in poor areas of the world.
Nurse
Nurses work in hospitals, long-term care homes and in the community to promote health and well-being to people of all ages. Nurses fulfill many different roles within the medical system in areas such as emergency rooms, cancer wards, hospices and clinics. Nurses perform most of the hands-on work that is done in hospitals. Nursing is a difficult job. As a nurse, you are expected to provide comfort and attention to patients, but are frequently busy doing three other things at the same time. It can be very tiring to simultaneously comfort the afflicted and fulfill the many practical duties that any medical facility requires.
Social Worker
Social workers may work for government departments or for independent agencies. They interact with a broad range of people who are experiencing varying levels of difficulty. This can include welfare recipients, ex-prisoners, youth at risk and substance abusers. Being a social worker involves working with many people whose life skills don't enable them to function well on their own. This can lead to a great sense of satisfaction when you help someone to put their life back together, but can also lead to cynicism and burnout if you allow the endless tide of problems that confront you at work to get under your skin.
Firefighter
Firefighters keep their communities safe from fire by standing guard at all times and fighting out-of-control fires when they occur. They also work in an educational capacity, making the public aware of the importance of fire safety, smoke alarms and evacuation plans in their homes. Firefighters may face extreme danger in the course of their jobs. A good firefighter needs to be physically fit and have a calm personality that isn't prone to panic. Firefighters enjoy a very positive public image, particularly since the tragic loss of hundreds of firefighters in the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Tags: areas world, fulfill many, needy suffering
