World Humanitarian Day 2022: Celebrating and Honoring
August 19th, was World Humanitarian Day, and while this is a day that not many know about, it is an important one. World Humanitarian Day is an international day dedicated to recognize humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. When we think of humanitarian’s we think of those who are well known, but this day celebrates and commemorates those who go unnoticed, those who do the hard work that are often not heard about.
This post will share stories of those heroes, and shed a little light on why we celebrate this day.
Camille Ogoti, Ukraine Program Manager at ORAM (Alight Sister Organization) - Global Citizen
The asylum seekers coming in from Ukraine are from all forms of backgrounds and are now trying their best to rebuild their lives from the ground up. Our focus being the LGBTQI community brings about its own challenges besides starting life afresh. We are seeing traumatized queer individuals who were not able to live a life of being openly queer in Ukraine. Our work, aside from helping them integrate into life in Berlin — where [the] majority want to stay — is to also build a bridge for them to know about the vibrant queer community in Berlin. We have started creating opportunities in collaboration with other well-established queer organizations.
Being a refugee is a life circumstance and doesn’t define an individual. It is a painful experience in itself, which is why they deserve to be cared for. They deserve compassion and humanity. The refugees I work and interact with in Mahama are some of the strongest and [most] courageous people I have had the opportunity to come across. They are full of talents and potentials to be unlocked.
Preventing SGBV involves positively changing individuals' mindsets. We believe that individuals are influenced by the people around them and in order to create change, the whole community must adopt the change.
For this reason, my work is focused on working with the community directly through groups that are part of it. The main groups we work with are community activists, drama troupe members, and community action groups. My daily work is to provide regular coaching, supervision, and facilitation so that they lead activities that aim at engaging community members who can be their families, friends, neighbors.
Heather Nelson, One Village Transformed Communications Coordinator
I stepped off the plane and immediately felt the crisp air telling all my senses I was back home. After a week in the dry, scorching climate of Kenya, breathing in the Seattle air reminded me of drinking a tall glass of water after feeling uncomfortably parched the last seven days.
Still, there were two things I thirsted for more than the familiar scenery and drinkable air: seeing (and squeezing!) my two sweet boys I’d left behind while I flew across the world for my first trip to the field with World Concern.
I have the privilege of working as the One Village Transformed Communications Coordinator with World Concern, a vocation that lets me deep dive into the incredible transformational development happening in more than 30 villages in Asia, Africa, and Haiti.
The thing is, my job mostly takes place at a desk. I read technical reports emailed from the field, and I write from the comfort of my office chair. I share exciting updates with One Village Transformed supporters so they can see and feel the impact their gifts are having. It’s blessed work that I care about deeply. But until a few weeks ago, I mostly did this job from my head.
Now that’s changed.
So, this World Humanitarian Day, we encourage you to learn more about those who are making a difference in the world around us!