20 August 2020

Revisiting the World Humanitarian Day

The European Union support includes direct assistance to migrants and refugees accommodated in reception and asylum centers. This assistance is provided primarily by the staff of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration with support from the representatives of international and non-governmental organizations.

One of those representatives is Milica Andjelković Jovanović, field coordinator of the IOM mobile teams. In recognition of August 19, the World Humanitarian Day, Milica beautifully summed up what it means to be an aid worker in the field. Here is her post in its entirety.

To be an aid worker in the field means:

to have the skills to set up your office, kitchen, living area, and, if need be, a bedroom and still have enough room for everyone, even guests.
to wear your uniform vest properly buttoned up in scorching heat, while spending as much time outside as possible in the bitter cold. That is how you boost your immune system.
to go shopping for an evening gown and coming back with a pair of trainers, two sweatshirts, and cargo pants.
to be able to recite from memory the rules and procedures in the middle of the night, but still foster the art of improvisation because it is your last resort when the bureaucracy fails.
that multitasking is a must-have, just like a red lipstick and a little black dress.
to know many words in more languages. To bid someone good morning in their mother tongue can melt their heartstrings and ease their fears.
to offer respect in order to earn it.
to set the boundaries for others after your own are set because that is how you save face and your soul.
to build and nurture your team with coffee, birthday presents, tears, arguments, pranks, hugs, hope, support, philosophical debates, trash music, or whatever gets you through the day without burning out.
to love people.