Sandra Guillaume, a Humanitarian Affairs Officer at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Chad, shares the heartbreak of seeing thousands of people not getting the help they need, but also how she learned to transform frustration into motivation.?
What is the humanitarian situation in the region???
I am based in Baga Sola in the Lac Province region. The needs are dire.
We have close to 221,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) registered, in addition to 17,000 returnees.
The humanitarian situation here is critical, due to terrorist groups that continue to target the population, natural disasters that exacerbate the food crisis that is already plaguing the population, and resources that continue to shrink despite the growing needs.
What does mobilizing these resources entail???
Once needs assessments are completed and the IDP sites are categorized according to priorities, we meet with all the humanitarian actors, including NGOs and inter-cluster partners, to present the results of the joint assessments and discuss the response plan.?
Communication is crucial at this stage. We need to determine which organizations have the capacity and availability to address the needs and identify the gaps, which is vital as it informs the way we advocate for more assistance.??
Once done, we draft a report outlining the best way to use humanitarian assistance.
?It is part of my job to ensure that all actors involved are aware of the situation in the Lac region so they can advocate for the resources needed to deliver the required assistance, or to at least alleviate the suffering of as many people as possible.??
In the best-case scenario, donors and partners already have the resources available and ready to use, but other times, it can take days, weeks, or even months to get what we need.
On the positive side, there is strong solidarity within the humanitarian community in the region, and we all try very hard to find resources anywhere we can.??
Where do you find the motivation to keep going???
Not being able to respond quickly to a crisis that is affecting so many lives can be not just frustrating, but also heartbreaking. I once saw a mother desperately trying to breastfeed her newborn, but she couldn’t produce any milk because she didn’t have enough food to sustain herself.
You can overcome this frustration by choosing to be motivated by what you see instead of letting that defeat you. I find my motivation in wanting to do everything I can to help people in need, to help that mother and her child. This surpasses the frustration - at least for me.
To me, IDPs in the Lac region are warriors and heroes.
They continue to show remarkable resilience and gratitude for being in a safe place, even with limited access to necessities like food, water, and essential services.
Interacting with them and witnessing the positive impact we made has been incredibly rewarding.??
