I’ve learned that I wanted to be a campaign blogger

By Pelf Nyok

My previous guest posts here on Lorelle On WordPress revolved around what I’ve learned since I started blogging:

• Almost two years now and what have I learned from blogging?
• What EXACTLY have I learned, you ask?
• I’ve learned that blogging for money isn’t my cup of tea

And today, I’m going to tell you that I’ve learned that I wanted to be a campaign blogger *rolls eyes*

It all started when I blogged about a newborn baby with complex congenital heart disease and a teenager with acute myeloid leukaemia. That particular post did not generate much discussion in terms of comments but the satisfaction I felt was indescribable. I did not know how much my post would influence the baby and the teenager but I knew that I had done whatever I could at that point in time — to raise and spread awareness about them and their diseases.

Then I realized that I enjoyed doing it. I enjoyed spreading awareness on issues that needed the attention, and I enjoyed sharing with my readers the many ways that they could help the needy. And over time, that particular post grew into a category by itself and then a website by its own!

I recently participated in Blogathon 2007 and raised 810 USD for a Malaysian charity, Eden Handicap Service Centre. But that would not be possible without the generous and continuous support given by my local and foreign blogger friends. During the non-stop 24-Blogathon-hours, I introduced the charity I was representing, I shared my personal experiences with people with disabilities and I also interviewed some bloggers with disabilities and highlighted some issues that they face, and what the general public can do to make lives easier for them.

Somebody told me that my Blogathon posts were too “intense” and that people won’t be reading them but I thought I did enough to highlight the charity I was representing, as well as the plight of people with disabilities. I have learned a lot about disabilities during the days I spent researching the issue, and my participation in the Blogathon has also inspired me to do more. It doesn’t matter to me whether people would read those posts now because I know that someday, somebody would be researching about it and would stumble upon those posts.

Come 15 September 2007, I will be launching a month-long blogging campaign on environment-related issues in conjunction with Blog Action Day on 15 October 2007. Like I’ve mentioned, I will NOT be blogging about serious environmental issues every day for a month, but I will be highlighting issues relating to the environment that we are all a part of, and what we can do to reduce the stress we are causing to the earth. I will be blogging a little about global warming, pollution, the excessive use of plastic bags and other issues that I think are important.

While I understand that other bloggers may not share the same sentiments that I have for charity and the environment, I would like to see myself as not just another blogger, but a blogger who is determined to make a difference in the world we live in, not just for you and me, but also for our future generations.

So if you have a campaign you’d like to highlight, please let me know. It wouldn’t hurt to have a campaign blogger blog about it, would it? 🙂

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Pelf, the author of The Giving Hands, is a grad-student who is trying to save the turtles, the environment and humankind. Charity, conservation and volunteerism are things that are very close to her heart. She would be launching a month-long blogging campaign on environment-related issues in conjunction with Blog Action Day. You may subscribe to The Giving Hands via the RSS Feed.