After Susan Lutter stopped working for money she was looking to "work from the heart".  She volunteered to work with Koko, the chimpanzee who was talked sign language and thought that work fund her true passion: a sanctuary for orphaned gorillas and chimpanzees in Cameroon. 

She visits the sanctuary twice a year and spend a lot of the rest of her time raising funds for the sanctuary and the surrounding communities and organize the logistics to get critical projects done. 

If you ever doubted that one person with a vision, passion and energy can make a difference - they will be dispelled when you listen to Susan speak about her work.

Sometimes a small change just isn't enough and so - occasionally - I will bring you the story of somebody who did something radical.

All her life Jutta  wanted to teach and part of her professional career was spent on doing just that. Her other passion is traveling. During a trip to Laos she spoke with many of the local people and found out how eager they are to learn English. After returning home she found out that she had been laid off from her job and everything fell into place for her.  She sublet her apartment, packed a suitcase and booked flights to Luang Prabang, where she had spent some time during her travels.

What was meant to be a few months working and living in Laos turned into four and a half years during which Jutta taught at the local temples and started a girls only English class in her home.

Listen ton the podcast to learn more about her adventures. 

Andy Frazer is an accomplished and experienced diver.  During a trip to the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences he realized that he can combine two of his passions: diving and volunteering by becoming a volunteer diver at the aquarium and helping with the monumental tasks of keeping the algae at bay and the anemones well-feed while entertaining the visitors by waving and high-fiving them and raising awareness of critical conservation issues.

Listen to this interview to learn more about the rewards of being a volunteer diver.