First time placement in Somalia

Sam Crawley, a Mechanical Engineer, attended our So You Think You Want To Be A Relief Worker? and Essentials of Humanitarian Practice training courses for people who are looking for their first placement as a relief worker. We caught up with him a few months later to find out if he’d decided whether relief work was for him.

Where are you off to?
"I have found a placement at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). I will be in Marere in South Somalia on the Juba river valley for nine months working as a Logistician. There is currently very little infrastructure and MSF is providing healthcare in the area. Access is by plane from Nairobi but the project has to use jeeps and boats to get about."

Any fears?
"I have lots but, specifically, I am worried about the security situation."

Did the training give you a better insight? 
"The training definitely helped; it looked good on my CV and showed a commitment. It also began the potential for networking into the sector and provided the moral support provided by other would-be aid workers, which helped maintain my enthusiasm. All the real examples given by trainers and speakers really enlightened me about the situations that I might face."

More Personal Stories