Volunteering is not a uniquely American phenomenon. True, the United States has a voluntary sector with more structure and impact than do other countries. But every country has developed ways in which people help people. By learning what other countries do by volunteer action, we can examine our own beliefs and get new ideas. Certainly we in the United States have made enormous advances in developing the profession of working with volunteers -- training, publishing, professional associations -- and we should share this information. In addition, though, there is the issue of what we can learn from each other.

Over the years, I've come across some intriguing examples of volunteer activity in other countries. For example:

In Japan, probation officers spend time coordinating volunteers who, in turn, are the ones working with offenders.

Volunteers maintain some of Ecuador's largest cemeteries.

In Israel, volunteers work with the military to offer bereavement support to families who lose loved ones in armed conflict.

In Spain, volunteers provide medical services in prisons.

The Internet has given us the world on a keyboard, and the impact on volunteerism has been significant. We have only just begun to explore the communication possibilities. For instance, two Greek registrants at the recent Edmonton conference happened to have learned about the meeting through my own company's website, which they came across while blithely cruising the "net." The power of the Internet is such that, at absolutely no additional cost -- only a bit of time and attention -- "passive" notices such as the announcement of the conference on my site can take on lives of their own. Why shouldn't someone from Sweden hop over to England for a seminar? Why wouldn't someone from Boston fly to Chicago for a meaningful conference? Even local or regional events are capable of attracting unanticipated attention.

The potential is limitless. Indeed, many causes in which volunteers are active have no geographic boundaries -- such as the battle against AIDS. Environmental issues affect the entire planet. Hunger and famine require international solutions. In all of the campaigns to confront these problems, volunteers are always private citizens -- unfettered by laws, treaties, diplomacy or red tape. Concerned individuals can simply pack a passport and cross all sorts of geographic and psychological borders. And thanks to the Internet, such direct person-to-person exchanges should increase.