He watched from the relative "safety" of the compound, his face painted by the glow of the red and orange flames. Liberian rebels, just 15- and 16-year-old boys really, were setting fire to the pumps at a gas station across the street.
For American Richard Haselwood and other staff of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) working in war-torn Liberia, this was a little more than just another day at the office, but not by much.
It was the same for Julie Steiger, who worked for the International Red Cross in Chechnya. Looking forward to a break from the daily fighting and misery of the Chechen conflict, Julie and a few other IRC staff were stopped at a roadblock. Ten Russian soldiers surrounded them, weapons pointed, locked and loaded.
These kinds of experiences are just the cost of doing business for young American expatriate aid workers like Haselwood and Steiger. They are individuals willing to endure the dangers of armed conflict and environments hostile in ways too numerous to count, including exposure to malaria, bullets and bombs, land mines, isolation and long separations from family and loved ones. “Some people might not value the work we're doing here," says Haselwood with a shrug, "but that's OK. I never see those people. I'm here with people who are grateful.”
In fact, in some circles, international aid workers are smugly derided as bleeding hearts or dismissed as misfits who can't get "real jobs." The reality is, international aid agencies are highly selective in who they hire as expatriate staff. It's too costly to bring on people who don't have the language abilities or skill sets to make aggressive contributions to overseas relief and development.
[Posted by Kevin Sites, Yahoo News]
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