There are over five hundred thousand humanitarian aid and development workers active around the globe, each with their own story. Collectively, their job is to ease the suffering of those who have been affected by war, famine, natural disasters, and other forms of marginalization. These women and men bear witness to all manner of human struggles, and a precious few have allowed their reflections to be recorded. The French word t???moinage means to witness and speak out, and by reporting and amplifying their observations ...
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There are over five hundred thousand humanitarian aid and development workers active around the globe, each with their own story. Collectively, their job is to ease the suffering of those who have been affected by war, famine, natural disasters, and other forms of marginalization. These women and men bear witness to all manner of human struggles, and a precious few have allowed their reflections to be recorded. The French word t???moinage means to witness and speak out, and by reporting and amplifying their observations this book hopes to further the common goal of all humanitarians to make our world more just, equitable, and more humane. Bearing witness to those who bear witness is a job that lies on the boundaries of the humanitarian sector, and one that I constantly strive to embrace with all the humility, passion, and respect this task deserves. Dispatches from the Margins of the Humanitarian Sector continues an extensive journey begun over a decade ago. Using a blog format, I have published posts about the humanitarian aid sector 2-3 times per month since 2014, and in 2016 I published Aid Worker Voices, an edited collection of posts based on a large scale survey of these workers. Dispatches highlights posts since 2016 covering a wide range of topics and personal stories including from humanitarian refugees in Cox's Bazar, local NGO workers in Erbil, humanitarian consultants in Ethiopia, resettlement workers in North Carolina, and many others. The overall intent of my writing is to amplify the voices that have been shared with me by the scores of women and men who have trusted me with their views, opinions, and insights about their lives as humanitarian workers. My posts have always been personal and reflexive, always filtered through the lens of my academic discipline of sociology. This journey has taken me in many fascinating and challenging directions. Through talking with humanitarian workers from all over the globe I have heard many touching and personal stories and have gained fresh perspectives on how the sector succeeds -and at times fails- in addressing the needs of a humanity that suffers from too many natural and human made disasters. As a college professor, I have the opportunity to research and teach about the humanitarian sector and have been fortunate to host via WhatsApp (and other platforms) many humanitarians in my classes. These guests hail from around the globe, places like Iraq, Jordan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Honduras, Mexico, the UK, and here in the United States. Though Dispatches is a book not finished since my journey continues the reader is invited to share in -and hopefully learn from- this collection of essays, these short glimpses of the humanitarian sector.
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