Celebrating the World Humanitarian Day on August 19, the UN designated it as a way of honoring all those who are active in promoting and defending the humanitarian cause, giving of themselves to aid those impacted by natural disasters, wars or conflicts.
The choosing of this date memorializes the 22 people killed in the attack on the United Nations Office in Iraq, which occurred in 2003. Among the victims was the Brazilian, Sérgio Vieira de Mello, the official representative at that time of the Secretary General of the UN in that country.
A correct humanitarian response goes well beyond just alleviating the immediate material need of afflicted populations, and in this sense, Education in Emergency Situations is indispensable for establishing a continuity of proper growth and cognitive, emotional and social development of children and adolescents, and for the vocational, technical and professional training of young people and adults.
Education is an intervention that saves lives
According to the Interinstitutional Network for Education in Emergency Situations (INEE), “education in emergency situations assures a physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection that can support and save lives.”
The Fraternity – International Humanitarian Federation (FIHF), active since 2011 in humanitarian responses, has constantly expanded their educational formats in the five shelters that it manages in Roraima, managing to offer both education to the children, and professional training to the young people and adults.
Examples of Humanitarian Servers that are active in the Humanitarian Fraternity (FIHF)
Laerte Willmann
A humanitarian server in the Art-Education Sector, and having participated in the Carmo da Cachoeira and Roraima missions, Laerte recognizes that the humanitarian work was able to transform his personal and professional life. “Before serving in the missions, I only worked in conventional schools and teaching institutions; after this experience, I expanded my personal and professional field of activity, and began to work with populations with which I had never dealt with before, such as disabled people, the elderly, street people, etc.”
Using dance, singing, the telling of stories, theater and other group activities, Laerte states that “we live in times of accelerated change and emergency situations in all areas, and Education in Emergency Situations came about to help deal with all the challenges that emerge out of the multiplication of these emergency scenarios.”
For Laerte, “the Humanitarian Fraternity (FIHF) has contributed to the improvement of the quality of life of this vulnerable population, mainly through offering a safe reference point, a friendly presence, a group of companions that are not frightened by the problems that arise at all levels, and tries to help that population calmly deal with them.”
Sarah Grossi
Present at the Roraima, Brumadinho and Colombia missions, and collaborating with the Missionary Youths in interventions in slums and kennels, Sarah Grossi sees a broad meaning in her humanitarian activities: “For me it means everything, because it was an encounter with the truth. It is in volunteer work that I am able to be completely real. I feel that when I am in the missions, I manage to be truly happy (…), I can feel a joy that comes from the soul.”
Sarah, just like Laerte, feels that she went through a great personal and professional transformation; after being active in Education in Emergencies, she says: “that experience was very rich in my formation, because I saw that what is important is to provide effective help for a fellow being.”
She considers that after the basic needs of food, hygiene and shelter for the refugees has been provided, what is most important is the education, “mainly because, in a playful way, Education in Emergency Situations manages to reverse or minimize trauma.”
Sarah feels that the indigenous population is made very fragile by the refugee situation and by the cultural differences, and that the Humanitarian Fraternity (FIHF) provides a response that does not seek only just to provide basic assistance. “The Livelihood and Art-Education Sectors are focused on providing those in the shelters with [non-formal] education and training so they can express their potential and rebuild their lives with dignity, without forgetting their indigenous culture,” she says.
It is important to highlight that education, even in situations of vulnerability, welcomes and protects the assisted, and is capable of transforming realities, both of the refugee and those willing to collaborate. “To help another ends up awakening the best in us,” the humanitarian server, Sarah, ends up saying.
Obs.: Some of the photos that illustrate this material were taken in the period before the pandemic.
