Refugee response: Right place, right time, right skills

I was an environmental practitioner for many years, working in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. My work was very focused on environment and natural resource management - but throughout, I was working with people, including marginalised communities living in poverty in Vietnam and Laos. And although I’d never worked in a humanitarian context as it’s traditionally understood, I realised after I did RedR’s course that actually, the work I was doing did have a humanitarian dimension.

I first came to Lesvos Island in 2015, while studying for my Master’s in environmental sciences, policy and management. It was quite apparent that the small island and its residents were struggling to cope with all the new arrivals. I initially went up to volunteer at one of the camps because I could see all the litter drifting down the hill: I had done some WASH work and waste management in the past, so thought I might be able to help. I only spent a short time in the camp, but was determined I’d go back after finishing my degree.

I knew of RedR through word of mouth: the UK in particular has a great reputation. I saw on ReliefWeb that RedR were coming to Zagreb and my heart started beating! By sheer coincidence I had been planning a holiday to Croatia at the same time. I know these courses can be quite expensive, but this one was really accessible. I thought, I can’t ignore this opportunity!

I’m so glad I did the training, I really am. I was impressed with the trainer, and the composition of the group: there was an interesting range of experiences, and I think people were interested in me sharing my own experiences, too, which were quite different from theirs. The content and message were very relevant to the situation on Lesvos.

The course was a fantastic introduction to the humanitarian principles and conventions. I was already familiar with the Sphere standards, because I’d used them in the past (as they relate to environmental compliance, e.g. the number of people that could use one latrine). I also knew of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) - but I hadn’t really connected it to anything ‘bigger’. So although I was familiar with some of the tools, the training crystallised a lot of things for me. I was eager to learn as much as I could, in a condensed way, with a nice group and with really good trainers.

Basic humanitarian principles like neutrality and impartiality are so relevant to our work. Neutral and impartial service delivery is vital, but not always easy. When you’re working on the ground and you get close to beneficiaries, there is sometimes an unequal distribution of services. When we ensure the humanitarian principles are respected, we’re providing a better service: the team can engage positively, and maintain neutrality and impartiality, when they’re escalating beneficiaries’ requests and concerns.

It was also great to learn about coping mechanisms and stress management, and child protection issues. We come across these a lot in our work: cases of abuse, and burnout among volunteers. I’ve definitely applied this knowledge. For example, I hired a clinical supervisor for my team to manage burnout and stress issues, because I learnt during the training, and then saw for myself, how disastrous these can be for the team. So that’s something I maybe wouldn’t have done without the training.