Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Nicholas Kristof spoke at our school tonight as part of our 50th Anniversary Celebration. He can hold a crowd with stories of people he has met, in desperate and difficult situations, face, to face. His reporting and his column are both a great starting point and consistent place to keep aware of what is going on in development and aid around the world!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Afghan camp and education

Incredible photo essay on the NY Times website shows the impossible conditions of a camp in Afghanistan - with a small glimmer of hope - a classroom that includes girls. Education during emergencies is a now a standard in the humanitarian aid field.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

My experience with the RedR UK training course was so great, I am really excited at the prospect of so many more people having this opportunity with them teaching in the US. The curriculum is in depth, interesting and significant - from understanding the origin and role of the Geneva Conventions to more recent agreements and analysis of disasters and emergencies. Understanding how NGOs and the UN are organized and work together is an important part of the field as well. But what I really liked was the straight talk about finding and getting jobs in this field. Invaluable information and connections. 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

The humanitarian emergency in Syria is a very interesting, unusual and heartbreaking one, ultimately. Caused by violent conflict within the country, outsiders are having difficulty getting in and are providing  humanitarian outside of the country, for refugees from the crisis. Here is an organization taking the lead in Syrian humanitarian relief. They are asking for volunteer - I am not sure what you could or where they would send you as a volunteer, but it would be worth taking a look.

But of course, to do this kind of work professionally you would need to be skilled and trained - ready to manage yourself and maybe others in a stressful situation. I learned enough, when I took my Red R course, Essentials of Humanitarian Aid to know that I would like to to do this kind of work eventually, probably with emergency education. It is going to take some time and I may wait till my kids are in college, but I know I would be of value on the ground in some of these situations and I am almost ready for the challenge.

Friday, February 15, 2013

ReliefWeb offers the newest and best method to look at jobs available in the humanitarian field. Whether entry level, volunteer or experienced, the searchable database is amazing. It also give you a way to keep track of what is going on around the world. Technology is also upfront for those interested in new ways to use technology in humanitarian and emergency aid in ReliefWeb Labs. There they have new tools for humanitarian work. If you are already in the IT or ICT field you could meld these two areas together and get the opportunity to do some amazing work for those that need help around the world.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Apps for Humanitarian Aid workers seem to be exploding on the scene - Global Overview and Humanitarian Kiosk are two to surely be included on the iPad mini that goes to every student in the Global Development and Humanitarian Aid Training Program. Mirroring our use of the ipad mini to distribute useful apps and documents to students for the program, TED has decided to do the same thing at the upcoming conference in Long Beach, CA. Good company!

Monday, February 4, 2013

People have asked me how my own experience relates to my interest in humanitarian and emergency aid and also asked me if I was planning on doing this kind of work myself! Well, since I am now 52 and never expected I would travel and teach in Kosovo, Liberia or Rwanda, I can't say that I won't ever do this kind of work. I am particularly interested in emergency education. A new aspect of the humanitarian sector, I can see myself getting involved in this kind of work if I had the opportunity. Since I have already taken the RedR UK course Essentials of Humanitarian Practice, (the centerpiece of our program in Pittsburgh) I would probably be qualified, considering my 20 years of teaching, to work in a project like this.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

On a cold, snowy night in Pittsburgh, one could do a lot worse than running into Carrie Richards at the Park House on the North Side when the Beagle Brothers are playing. Ultra-helpful, and always cheerful, she works at the RMU Bayer Center and she has lots of great connections and ideas for publicizing The Global Development and Humanitarian Aid Program. Another sign that Pittsburgh non-profits cooperate and collaborate. If you want to get into this world, humanitarian and emergency aid training could be one way. First, it shows you are serious, made a commitment and followed through. Second, bringing this background to any non-profit will make you the go-to person for this field, and that is never a bad thing. Third, the publicity we are getting for this program may make our students in high demand - Feed The Hungry, in the UK, has asked us to let them know if we have any star students for possible work in Sudan, Somalia or the DRC. This is a great starting point for anyone entering this field.


Thursday, January 31, 2013

If you want be kept aware of all of the developments of our program, guest speakers, a special 'early bird' price coming soon and the date and time of an upcoming skype chat for participants in the training, send your email address to us at humanitarianaid@laroche.edu We promise not to blast you with spam but to let you know of important developments in the program!
I find the annual letter written by Bill Gates to be a great way of keeping with development issues, progress in certain areas and new and innovative views of development and education. In this year's letter he has a focus on measurement and the Millennium Development Goals. Interesting reading about a wide range of activities of the Gates Foundation.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Our program is mentioned in Dawns Digest, one of a few great new links and sites that I have been looking at recently. Dawns gives you plenty of news of what is going on in the world, what is happening, including research, reports and news.

PCDN -Peace and Collaborative Development Network is amazing as well. The lists of members there is incredible. You can find people all over the world working in the field as well as news, events and research.

This field is exploding on the web - people using great new tools to communicate and collaborate.

I'll be adding links along with descriptions all along the way here.

Of course, no list of important links would be complete without on the RedR UK. Their course, Essentials of Humanitarian Practice forms the core of our program and it wouldn't even be taking place if I didn't go to England and take it myself, last year, in the spring.

beginnings

It has been a long journey from sitting in the airport in Pristina, Kosovo in the summer of 2011 until now when our new training program has become a reality. In Kosovo working with SPARK, a Dutch NGO, I was thrilled to meet development and aid workers from all over the world. Inspiring me to understand the field more, I soon found what I was looking for: an opportunity. A new imbalance that hadn’t existed before – more humanitarian emergencies around the world funded immediately for relief, but not enough trained aid workers to fill the positions needed.

After taking a RedR UK course in the Essentials of Humanitarian Aid in London, a few months later and I am working with my extremely able colleague, Astrid Kersten developing the program,in partnership with RedR UK for the summer 2013. Now it is a reality and up to you to attend! Let me know if you have questions or keep checking out this blog for more info, background, links and other material related to the field.