Here are the materials to help orient you as we meet together on Saturday 30 November 2013. We are delighted that you are able to come!
Warm greetings,
Kelly and Michèle
1. Professional Quality of Life Measure
(ProQOL; http://www.proqol.org/uploads/ProQOL_5_English_Self-Score_3-2012.pdf). This free online tool measures compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue (burnout and secondary trauma) in relation to one’s work life. Take this 30 item Measure, score it, and then reflect on your results. You will have to print it as it is in pdf (three pages, including a description of the three areas measured). Feel free to bring it and share some of it when we meet. The web site: http://www.proqol.org/.
2. Compassion: Humanity in the Midst of Hardships
This short reading consists of excerpts from various sources (two pages--see below). Read this material in advance and take some notes--we will be interacting about it when we meet.
3. In addition to the above two items (time permitting), there will be:
a) a group exercise involving several large photos from settings in which the UNHCR works, and
b) a short reading from David Mazel’s My Heart’s World (as in the Trio 1 and Trio 2 gatherings).
Two questions to ask ourselves as we go through these materials: what can we learn from these materials and how can compassion be an increasing part of our everyday lives?
Compassion: Humanity in the Midst of Hardships
(including horrific life events)
We the peoples of the United Nations determined:
· to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
· to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
· to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
· to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
and for these ends:
· to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
· to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
· to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
· to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,
have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.
Preamble, UN Charter, 1945 (http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/ )
*****
“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.”
“Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing... And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished. Behind me, I heard the same man asking: "For God's sake, where is God?" And from within me, I heard a voice answer: "Where He is? This is where--hanging here from this gallows..." That night, the soup tasted of corpses.”
“I shall always remember that smile. From what world did it come from?”
“For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.”
“Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.”
“There's a long road of suffering ahead of you. But don't lose courage. You've already escaped the gravest danger: selection. So now, muster your strength, and don't lose heart. We shall all see the day of liberation. Have faith in life. Above all else, have faith. Drive out despair, and you will keep death away from yourselves. Hell is not for eternity. And now, a prayer - or rather, a piece of advice: let there be comradeship among you. We are all brothers, and we are all suffering the same fate. The same smoke floats over all our heads. Help one another. It is the only way to survive.”
Elie Wiesel, Night (1958). Selected quotes taken from the goodreads website (http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/265616-un-di-velt-hot-geshvign)
*****
I’m called Mako because I’m just about the only one who can remember my long, “funny sounding” second name. It’s the same for most of us local staff, though, especially as there’s so little time for personal things, such as second names. I’m the logistics officer of Express Action (EXACT), and I’ve been working with them since the war broke out in the north over two years ago. I studied marketing and business administration, but I have now specialized in procurement, storage, and transport of aid supplies. I’ve learned much about EXACT on the job and, of course, from the numerous “emergency experts” regularly sent out by headquarters in Milan. Some of these experts are good. The rest are too busy to get to know. They seem always to be in a hurry and are constantly talking to Milan and the field. They’ve developed a brilliant evacuation plan—for themselves and non-nationals.
I like my job, and the pay is more or less adequate, given the situation in my country. But I am struck with how “cheap” life is valued up north. It’s threatened by land mines, rebels, and fighter planes. Hunger, disease, and death are also present. My family spent some great holidays there when I was growing up, and it’s hard to imagine those happier, more peaceful times now. I’ve been trying to trace my uncles and grandmother to see if they are safe. Their village was evacuated after the bombing last month. It’s not easy to juggle work with tracing people, so I’ve given their names to a friend of mine at the Red Cross tracing office. My mother expects good news from me every day about the search results.
I basically enjoy the speed and urgency with which emergency operations are done. I am glad to be helping people suffering because of the war. These days, the national drivers talk more often about the risks we take, but always casually over their tea or as they pack their trucks to head out. We all worry, but we try to keep focused on our tasks. Sometimes the secretary and the cook—not many others— inquire about our journeys. They only have a vague idea of how it is for us...
My family worries when I travel, not convinced about the thoroughness of the security precautions that I say we take. Sometimes I really miss my family. These days, I try to avoid telling people back home that I’m going to the field. At times, I’m not sure about things myself. The politicians keep doing things more out of their own interests and not necessarily based on what is best for the people affected.
I don’t share my concerns, though, with others. We all have our own share of troubles, and these risks come with the territory as an aid worker. It’s enough to drink beer and joke together after a hard day. Sometimes I’m scared, and I know that the others are as well, but it’s as if to acknowledge fear is to give it life. But when my anxiety becomes desperate, I try to think through my future. I stop and wonder what my family would do if I were killed or disabled by a mine, and the war moved to where we now live. I also puzzle over why we’re struggling to stop the bleeding when we can’t repair the artery. I’ve started looking for another job.
Viola Mukasa, Life for National Humanitarian Workers. Excerpt from Doing Member Care Well: Perspectives and Practices from Around the World; 2002, edited by K. O’Donnell pp. 287-288.
*****
"...the world community has further advanced [the international human rights] dimension of its mission [more] than in any other field, and the international consciousness about genocides and other abuses of rights is higher today than at any other time...[however] the disappointments come with the knowledge--amply provided by UN agencies, the churches, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and others--that so many governments, large and small, are still acting in defiance of the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights], the Geneva conventions [the rules of international humanitarian law in armed conflicts], and all subsequent protocols. Few countries have completely clean hands, a number of them are major culprits, and where political order has collapsed, the atrocities multiply. ...international pressure against abuses has to be kept up...But the real improvements will come in the hearts and consciences of humankind, not in additional machinery.
Paul Kennedy, The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations (2006), excerpts from chapter 8, "The Promise and Peril of the 21st Century" pp. 272-273 [bold font added]