Safety and Protection in Dangerous Places—Part 3

Protecting Yourself and Others

Cover from Refugees magazine, 2000, UNHCR  

I’ve managed my stress levels pretty well in the past. But we saw some really horrible things in the places where I worked. I’ve seen rotting bodies. I’ve seen people who died of dysentery and cholera in the camps. How do you process that?…That’s not the norm. We’re not prepared for that…it pushed me to my limit in terms of trying to manage those experiences while in the middle of it. As a result of those experiences I attended stress management and stress debriefing courses which helped me a lot…Heather MCLeod, Development, (World Vision International, July-Sept. 1998), p. 16

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What do mission/aid workers and others who live is dangerous places need to do to survive? What types of member care resources help? This entry describes two additional resources to consider.

Keep in mind that “dangerous places” is being defined broadly. It primarily refers to physical environments marked by life-threatening hazards including war, human rights violations, poverty, and disease. It also refers to organizational environments, in which poor management/governance can wreak havoc on both staff and operational objectives. Interlaced with much of the above can be human corruption, which exploits and injures others, defined by Transparency International as the ‘abuse of entrusted power for personal gain.’ Covering up or ignoring corruption can be as lethal as the corruption itself.

Resource Five

Too High a Price? This landmark issue of Refugees magazine (Number 121, 2000) addresses the hard and shifting realities of life for aid workers, especially those in the United Nations. It is filled with personal stories, photos, and brief articles from around the world. Ten years after its publication, this special issue is still so relevant for workers/senders!

‘Staff safety is not a luxury but a necessary part of saving lives. Vulnerable people like refugees are most in need of assistance at the very same moment when refugee/aid workers are most exposed to personal danger.’ Paraphrase from: Refugees Magazine, Number 121, 2000 (p. 2).

Resource Six

Surviving War as a Caregiver is a personal account of the challenges of living in a country embroiled in war (Chechneya). The author, Paula O’Keefe, explores not only the external dangers to herself and others but also her internal world of struggles, growth, and faith. Here is an excerpt summarizing her spiritual growth, from chapter 25 of Doing Member Care Well (2002).

“There are many things that the Lord has taught me in the past few years in working in a war zone. He has taught me the importance of spending quality time with Him, of worshipping, of taking adequate rest and looking after myself, of taking breaks and having some fun. He has shown me that I can’t do everything alone and that I need other people with whom I can be vulnerable and share my heart. I also need to have adequate support from my home church, along with a good covering…He has done much healing and refining and is teaching me to enjoy just being His [child]. I am learning to get my self-worth from who I am in Him, not from what I do” (p. 226).

Reflection and Discussion--And Leave a Comment Below

1. What is the most “dangerous place” in which you have lived? Why is/was it dangerous?

2. What did you do (or do you do) to survive in this dangerous place?

3. Briefly describe any places where corruption has seriously affected you and others.

4. List a few ways that you have spiritually grown through your experiences in dangerous places.

5. Consider how you can use the above two resources in your current setting. What parts of these resources will help you and others to stay safe and/or help protect others?

Safety and Protection in Dangerous Places: Part 2

Supportive Environments 

The Dandora Municipal Dumping Site, Nairobi, Kenya, October 2007, is a serious threat to children living nearby and the city’s general environment, according to the UN Environment Program. © Julius Mwelu/IRIN(Worldwide more than a billion people live in slums, with as many as one million living in in Kibera, Nairobi, Africa’s largest slum.)

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"…the most stressful events in humanitarian work have to do with the organisational culture, management style and operational objectives of an NGO or agency rather than external security risks or poor environmental factors. Aid workers, basically, have a pretty shrewd idea what they are getting into when they enter this career, and dirty clothes, gunshots at night and lack of electricity do not surprise them. Intra-and inter-agency politics, inconsistent management styles, lack of team work and unclear or conflicting organizational objectives, however, combine to create a background of chronic stress and pressure that over time wears people down and can lead to burnout and even physical collapse." (p. 6). John Fawcett, Stress and Trauma Handbook: Strategies for Flourishing in Demanding Environments (2003, World Vision)

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Here is the next set of resources to help mission/aid workers and others who live is dangerous places. Keep in mind that “dangerous places” is being defined broadly. It primarily refers to physical environments marked by life-threatening hazards including war, human rights violations, poverty, and disease. It also refers to organizational environments, as John Fawcett aptly notes in the opening quote, in which poor management/governance can wreak havoc on both staff and operational objectives. Some would also say that the most hazardous place in the world today, where an estimated 40+ million humans experience terminal stressors each year, is the womb.

Resource Three

Mainstreaming Safety and Security Management in Aid Agencies, Humanitarian Policy Group Briefing, March 2001 by Koenraad van Brabant. This Briefing gives a quick overview of the issues involved in staff security. It is based on a larger report and related to the author’s field manual, Operational Security Management in Violent Environments (2000) available for free download from the Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN). Note that this manual is being updated and the revision should be available this year. This manual offers vey detailed guidelines and practical information and is one of the main references in mission/aid. Note also that HPN has done updates on providing aid in insecure environments in 2006 and 2009.

Resource Four

Responsible Logistics for Hostile Places is a case study on the expulsion of various mission/aid workers from a country How did this group fare, how did their national friends in the country fare, and what did the organization do to support them all? Find out in The Perils of Pioneering, chapter 43 in Doing Member Care Well (2002). This chapter can be used as a learning tool to help you/your group prepare for similar situations involving sudden evacuations in the context of religious/political issues.

Reflection an Discussion

1. In what ways is poverty a “dangerous” place?

2. How might mission/aid workers and their sending groups be too focussed on their own health (comfort?) rather than the needs of those with whom they work? How might they not not focussed enough on their own health?

3. List a few things that your organization does practically to improve its security management practices.

4. Do you agree with Fawcett’s assertion about the possible debilitating effects of organizational culture and management? 

5. Describe a mission/aid organization or setting that you know where the organizational culture and management are very supportive, thus positively impacting staff well being operational goals.