I am interested in interviewing someone who has worked as a humanitarian aid worker. Preferably in the Caucasus, but any area is fine. Particularly looking for what a “day in the life” was like for you as the aid worker, how the aid was distributed and what kinds of precautions you took or security you had.
Humanitarian Aid Workers
- Thread starter rosewood
- Start date
I've done some similar research but my focus was in Sudan and about a decade earlier. It seems that aid operations and daily activities differ greatly with locations (war zone or mountains etc), jobs (WFP pilot, Water & Sanitation coordinator, nurse, etc), and aid agencies (UNICEF, MSF, or missionary groups like WHI.)
Food distribution can be very varied. Check out these UN photos:
World Food Programme aircraft is dropping food
Following an air-drop of food
Nurse checks registration cards to issue cereals (non air-drop)
Baby is being given oral rehydration solution
One goofy thing was at first I assumed these agencies would rent a hotel room for a VIP on field visit. I later realized at that time, Juba, the biggest city in Southern Sudan, didn't have any hotel (after 40+ years of civil war.) Tents were the only option. There are now many new, crazily-expensive hotels but most aid workers still live in tents or sometimes mud huts.
Many of these aid workers have written blogs, often very informative and can serve as a contact point for a potential interview. Various aid operations also provide reports and invaluable photos. These are good starters.
AFAIK, NGO personnel are not armed. Big operations like OLS may organize their own security teams (I assume with consent from local government--if there is one.) When UN peacekeepers are involved, I bet they also serve the aid workers. In extreme cases they may even hire local warlords to provide security (see technical trucks and Afghanistan news.) But once in a while you'll read in the news aid workers being kidnapped or even killed. These are not the safest jobs in the world. These people deserve a lot of respect.
Food distribution can be very varied. Check out these UN photos:
World Food Programme aircraft is dropping food
Following an air-drop of food
Nurse checks registration cards to issue cereals (non air-drop)
Baby is being given oral rehydration solution
One goofy thing was at first I assumed these agencies would rent a hotel room for a VIP on field visit. I later realized at that time, Juba, the biggest city in Southern Sudan, didn't have any hotel (after 40+ years of civil war.) Tents were the only option. There are now many new, crazily-expensive hotels but most aid workers still live in tents or sometimes mud huts.
Many of these aid workers have written blogs, often very informative and can serve as a contact point for a potential interview. Various aid operations also provide reports and invaluable photos. These are good starters.
AFAIK, NGO personnel are not armed. Big operations like OLS may organize their own security teams (I assume with consent from local government--if there is one.) When UN peacekeepers are involved, I bet they also serve the aid workers. In extreme cases they may even hire local warlords to provide security (see technical trucks and Afghanistan news.) But once in a while you'll read in the news aid workers being kidnapped or even killed. These are not the safest jobs in the world. These people deserve a lot of respect.
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When NGO ops are part of a UNPROFOR mission, the NGOs are provided armed security by the blue helmets. During RESTORE HOPE and PROVIDE COMFORT, US military provided on-station armed security, complete with ground troops and attack helicopters overhead.
But for lower profile ops -- and most of them are just that -- security is a dicey proposition depending on the nation one is operating in.
I understand that in the Caucasus region, security can be rented out, but one should know who the players are, and take great care in who gets hired.
But for lower profile ops -- and most of them are just that -- security is a dicey proposition depending on the nation one is operating in.
I understand that in the Caucasus region, security can be rented out, but one should know who the players are, and take great care in who gets hired.
These comments have been helpful and seem to verify what I've researched so far. I think the idea about searching for blogs is a good suggestion. My next approach was to see if someone from Doctors without Borders would be willing to talk to me. I think the problem though with contacting these organizations is that they may be unwilling to provide contact informaton of the people who have served.