It has been 6 years for me and 20 years for Gerhard …. Humanitarian missions have been our lives.
After 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, of which I myself was a victim and was saved from death for some unknown reason…I decided to change jobs. Having worked for the French Embassy and for Alliance Francaise for few years, 2004 Tsunami experience made me to re evaluate the meaning of life. Meaning of our being and meaning of doing something which made a difference in someone else’s world. I found solace in talking to damaged souls as was mine at that time of my life after that terrifying experience of life and death. At emergency phase of the tsunami operation in Sri Lanka I volunteered for some French NGOs as a translator, guide and a reporter.
This experience made me to realize that this was not a mere job but a therapy to me. So eventually I joint IFRC to work with a Tsunami construction programme as a PMER officer. Having worked in Sri Lanka for few years, I was then sent to the zonal delegation of IFRC in Malaysia which overlooks the operation in the Asia Pacific Zone to widen my knowledge on humanitarian operations on a zonal perspective. This mission made me want to go back to the field and work close to the real people who are in need. Mission in DRC, Haiti and at the moment in DPRK has been major milestones of my humanitarian carrier.
Gerhard will express his history in the field, sooner or later. Which I guess would be a much longer list and has more interesting anecdotes.
We hope by writing this page we would be able to take you all to dark corners of the world where people like you and me, are in need and ever greatfull to us for the change we have been able to make in their lives.
“Changing minds, saving lives”…. Thanks Red Cross for being our school of humanitarian work.