23 Things: The Seventh Tool = Online Avatars

Avatars are online images you create of yourself. I used Yahoo! Avatars to come up with mine. Very easy, lots of choice in terms of hair/eye/skin color, appearance, apparel, background, and so forth.

I didn't end up taking the Second Life plunge! However, I did come across an interesting story about Camp Darfur, an awareness-raising campaign to stop the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Apparently, a virtual version of Camp Darfur was set up in Second Life in the spring of 2006. (See photos.) But soon thereafter, the entire camp was destroyed by online vandals. Fortunately, some virtual good samaritans called the Green Lanterns decided to take on the task of guarding the re-built camp from future attacks. (Read a story about it, and view a re-telling of the events in comic form.)

A number of other virtual opportunities exist to experience humanitarian challenges, such as famine, disasters, and flight from conflict. This blog post catalogues 10 of them. Still others are provided by the IFRC and UNHCR.