This has something to do with making press releases.
great fun and you get to travel around a lot and meet loads of people from
poor villages. The most important thing is to just go, starting a programme
can be really difficult so you may never come back to the village even if
there are some big problems. At least you have given the people some support
and an opportunity for them to give you their hospitality (with wild game
and colourful baskets), which makes poor village people really proud and
These are people who need help. Sometimes they are confused and difficult to
get to or even find, but as a humanitarian its important that we give them life
saving relief supplies and maintain there humanitarian access.
Complex Humanitarian Crisis: This
is worse than a humanitarian crisis and heaps worse than grinding
poverty. If you are not really sure what to call the crisis and
there are lots of factors involved like the weather and government etc. it
is better to call it a complex humanitarian crisis to be on the safe side,
especially if it is in Africa.
are really difficult reports and to some degree get in the way of our life
saving humanitarian work. The donors usually want lots of data on the
performance of the programme (it's as if proximity by itself
is not enough) to show that the money is well spent and the programme has a
positive effect on the population in danger. I would like to
know how the donors put a monetary value on solidarity and
seeing the smile on a child's face as he/she receives a life saving
humanitarian relief supply. As you can see I get a bit angry about
the donors and the power they have.
evil in the fight against grinding poverty, humanitarian crisis and
of a problem:
These are really important in problem solving although sometimes they don't
seem that important to making a decision. However they are really important
to the discussion, it takes along time to get through all the elements.
A necessary evil in delivering services in these countries. They seem to
make it as difficult as possible to deliver life saving humanitarian
relief supplies to the populations in danger with their customs duties,
work visas and registration for NGO's, the list goes on and it sometimes
makes me really angry. Things would run a lot smoother if the NGO's like Hope had a bit more control and told the government
what to do, or just let us get on with the job and run things ourselves.
is really bad poverty although it is a step or two better than a
International: This is an award winning humanitarian relief
organisation. Wherever there is a
humanitarian crisis we will be there with life saving humanitarian relief
supplies to give to a population in danger.
These are really good people like Bono, Bob Geldoff, Momma Patricia of
Calcutta and people who work for organisations like Hope, including me now.
These are people who get stuck in and give it a go to save poor people from
this you can't be a Humanitarian, it means getting to the
people so you can give them life saving relief supplies and
being able to give solidarity with populations in danger.
affairs officer: This
person is crucial for the humanitarian mandate of a mission.
This person writes a lot of long reports highlighting the precarious nature
of the populations in danger that we give life saving humanitarian
to. These reports can be cut and pasted by the head of mission for donor
reports or to make press releases.
can happen at anytime anywhere. These vary from country to country and
really depend on how use to the beneficiaries are to human suffering. A
humanitarian crisis in one country may not be in another country but grinding
gives us the authority to make press releases even when we are not 100% sure
of the facts. It also ensures that Hope can't be criticized for a bad
programme because we
provided life saving relief supplies and solidarity to populations
I think this is the same as neutrality.
Having enough money so you don't have to rely on those donors.
or International NGOs are more important than NGOs and can do more
important life saving work because we have more money and have lots of
expatriate staff. This makes the organisation more professional and gives
lots of people from western countries who have never really seen poor people
before the chance to experience what they are like.
saving humanitarian relief supplies:
See life saving relief supplies.
saving relief supplies:
This can literally be anything delivered to beneficiaries and populations in
danger to save them from a humanitarian crisis or to
demonstrate our solidarity and proximity.
You show neutrality by making press releases against the rebels and the
government in turn.
NGO's: This stands for Non
Governmental Organisation ( Hope is an INGO not a NGO). They
are usually nice local people or some church group and are really good to
have sub committee meetings with. You can exchange information with them and
point out what they are doing wrong and offer to give them a bit a hand.
Usually you don't have enough time to help them to much because of the
important work that INGOs like Hope are doing.
These are people we usually work with in the field or don't
have access to if the Rebels or the Government
are bad. Sometimes we can't find or loose the population in danger and this
becomes a perplexing problem. Sometimes it takes years before we give up the
search or finally find them.
is the main form of communication between Hope and the Government or
Rebels of a country. It is much easier to make a press release than to spend
a tiring week negotiating with a government official or minister. They can
also be used to highlight suspected or possible future unlikely events for populations in danger, like a 100% mortality rate. Press release can also be
posted on the Hope website and help raise awareness but more importantly
money from the public for much needed life saving relief supplies.
They should as much as possible highlight the effect of everything that
could go wrong going wrong.
This means making do with what you've got and giving it a go.
The easiest way to get proximity to the people is to personally give life
saving humanitarian relief supplies to poor people or having a photo taken
with loads of kids. If you are a you doctor you can take a photo with
a stethoscope on the chest of a sick beneficiary, to best show proximity.
Rebels: Working in rebel areas
to help the population in danger is a lot more important work than in
government areas. The public instantly understand the importance of working
under difficult conditions in rebel held areas and this sounds a lot better
than working under great difficulties in government held areas.
This is like a mini break and can sometimes last up to three weeks.
This is being down with the people and experiencing what its like to live in poverty
without the hunger and usually with running water. It is easier to give
solidarity if you are in the field. You can also give
solidarity if you are a lawyer and are working as a humanitarian
affairs officer and think about the beneficiaries and
there precarious humanitarian situation a lot.
This is a really difficult French word that can't be translated into English
and you can't really use it properly unless you understand French a bit.
the Humanitarian action takes place, where you get down with people and give
hope and a helping hand to the beneficiaries.
This means that your book keeping balances and you have receipts for all the
money you spent (sometimes you have to make up a few receipts, but this is
Underlying Causes: These are
the reasons for a problem (like malnutrition). Usually you can't do much
about them but they should always be in the back of your mind and should be
mentioned in donor reports. Just to think about them is usually enough and
to ask the opinions of the population in danger about them, so
at least you can show solidarity and proximity.
If the donor wants you to do more a latrine programme is always a good way
to show you are dealing with the underlying causes of pretty much anything.
Just getting stuck in and giving it a go.