A Brief Social History of Humanitarian Engagement

Consider the figure of the rogue volunteer: a “doer” with resources. Often he or she has a commitment to a particular cause that motivates him or her to move from the global North to Central America, purchase a property, and build a dream. In San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, for instance, I met a retired New York firefighter, who in 2008 had bought a stretch of dry forest in order to construct, in the words of his business plan, “a private wildlife reserve for ecotourism that effectively achieves profitability, natural resource conservation, and community development.” Curiously, the reserve contains a fishing village, with whose residents he has positive relations in spite of the fact that he speaks almost no Spanish. His action is protective; it opposes the environmental degradation caused by the resort-style development that has engulfed this coastal town. Through his website, he appeals to me and other like-minded environmentalists to come help build the park, enticing us with this byline: “Have fun. Save the world.”