A humanitarian’s journey telling stories in the world’s most complex emergencies

The year 2020 is my 19th year as a humanitarian worker. I surpassed my own expectations to last this long. The most remarkable part of this amazing job is that I get to tell people’s stories who otherwise have no voice to take them out and connect into the world’s platforms.

I was struck by one humanitarian sharing with us how desperate mothers in South Sudan are choosing to deal with hunger first over the Covid-19 pandemic. “We have dealt with bullets and lack of food for years. This virus doesn’t match what we were up against.” Words like these from the frontline can stop us in our tracks and ask ourselves – what are my priorities in life?

What have I learned more over the years as a storyteller?

• Bring joy wherever you are and no matter what your job is. This is what gives meaning to every job – you give hope to people. You show them someone cares to listen to their stories, their circumstances and what their dreams are. Give time. You might not have the chance to show it again. This mother in one of South Sudan’s most remote areas showed us her garden and how it brings food for the family. Every woman shares that pride. We all want the best for our family. I may not see her again but the joy we shared together will make that moment last forever.

• Every emergency you cover has various levels of risk, many can be life-threatening. A healthy and prepared humanitarian can best serve any emergency work. You have to always be ready for that midnight call to respond. When you signed in for the job, you fully well know the call can come anytime even when you are fast asleep. Who has predicted Covid-19 sweeping us off our feet while covering other humanitarian emergencies? But, never forget this, remember that safety comes first. When the risk is too high, say no. Your family is waiting for you.

• Be kind. Kindness matters. In any job, much more in humanitarian work, you get to meet so many people whose lives were already mired with misery and unimaginable rough patches and violence. The driver you scolded could be going through a difficult period with his family. Or a noisy child in a community meeting might have lost a family member. A quiet and sulking mother you met might be a survivor of gender-based violence. Honestly, with my propensity for quality and timely work, I could be tough on people. So I remind myself all the time to make up and show more kindness and compassion.

• Give your very best. No in-betweens or excuses. The job is a privilege to serve people in the most difficult margins of society. I grew up from a small village in the Philippines and assumed I know poverty so well. I don’t. I learned over time that poverty’s many levels from its deepest and worst, must compel us to deliver our best kind of service. As NRC’s Jan Egeland said, “You aren’t allowed to be amateurish if you are in the game of saving lives. The one human right that the poor and the vulnerable should have at the very least is to be protected from incompetence.”

• The story is not about us. But sometimes we also need to step back and share what we have learned, as we raise the voices of people we have met. There is a lesson to learn and an inspiration to celebrate in every story, whether it’s a mother’s, a family’s or a fellow worker. Or your own. The power of every story does not diminish on who is telling it. But let us always step back and give more chance to those who have less opportunities to do so, so the world can hear them. There are also times that all we need is to listen. Every job must find a way for us to connect with the rest of humanity.

• Take time to re-charge, celebrate and have fun. Even in South Sudan’s, or Iraq’s or some of the toughest assignments I have been to, there is always a reason to spread joy and happiness. Find that joy and spread it around. Only then will you be able to give more and serve at your very best. Rumi says, “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river.” I truly believe every job is the best job in the world because it gives us the chance to serve others.

Related story: Communicating in the time of coronavirus pandemic