I found this hillarious blog called “Hand Relief International”, who kind of reminds me of so many things that happened in the past 10 years.
I pay hommage today to the 10 Remarkable Individuals in Aid. They are the development work’s equivalent of the unknown soldiers. The change they have gone through, will never be truly appreciated. This is why they deserve to be unnamed here.
- That guy who, having been an incompetent bureaucrat his whole
career, has become an efficient, result-oriented employee after having
attended a HRI management training; - The guy who changed his domestic ways to become a loving, caring
husband after having been exposed once at a road-crossing to a billboard
that said: “Stop GBV Now! (HRI with support from Country South of
Canada)”; - The underpaid employee of a community-based HRI affiliate who felt a
sudden commitment-inducing calling after a brief meeting with a HRI
consultant who spoke to him about HRIs “Vision and Mission Statement”
during a short field-trip; - The Donor representative who, every month, reads every one of the 76
reports they receive from relevant HRI affiliates and therefore has a
very clear idea of what each affiliate is doing and where they need most
support; - The refugee-camp dweller whose quality of life has suddenly improved
after her camp was visited briefly by Angelina, who successfully
“declared” an “end to violence now”; - The inhabitant of the village in “Africa” whose life has changed to
the better once she received a slightly used pair of shoes from a
mythical place South of Canada; - The owner of a yogurt-business in Baltimore who succeeded to “give
something back” during his one-month trip to the Philippines, when he
gave a free lecture abut yogurt to a group of local entrepreneurs,
facilitated by his local church back home; - The government employee who has successfully made the transition
from a cynical, underpaid, mis-qualified relative-of-someone-important
to a dynamic, modern element of change in the government, after having
interacted with a HRI “Technical Advisor” during a capacity building
workshop; - The guy who returned part of his per-diem after a trip to Nairobi,
claiming that the three meals and tea offered during the training were
quite sufficient for his subsistence; - The “social media enthusiast” who learns something from the daily platitudes posted on the HRI official twitter account (“HRI Executive Director mentions importance of right-based approach in speech given at meeting with African Delegates“)
Here’s to all these remarkable people. The world of aid would just not be the same without you.