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| Myanmar cyclone emergency |
| Where there's shelter, there's hope |
| World Refugee Day: June 20, 2008 |
| In person with Abraham ABRAHAM |
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Eric Groonis and Wellington Pereira, ERTeam members
ERTeam members must be multi-skilled and prepared to move fast. They must have at least three years field experience, more than one UN language and very strong experience in one specialist area (e.g. Protection). They then receive extensive training before they are added to the on-call roster, ready to face whatever challenges might lie ahead. In 2008 the main ERTeam deployments have been in Kenya, Chad and Cameroon where Chadian refugees sought safety after fighting erupted in the capital in February. We spoke to Eric Groonis (EG) and Wellington Pereira (WP) at their base in Cameroon.
We ned YOU on our team!
In an emergency, trained UN Refugee Agency volunteers like Eric and Wellington are always standing by, ready to drop everything and go to the aid of people who are destitute and vulnerable. But in order to act quickly when it counts, we need you on our Emergency Response Team too, standing firmly behind our staff on the frontline with monthly financial support.
To join today, visit the ERT page today
Where are you currently working?
EG: We’re based in the town of Kousseri near the Chad/ Cameroon border.
What do you do when you’re not deployed in the field?
WP: I manage the protection unit in Brasilia. Our caseload includes refugees from 70 countries — mainly from Africa — scattered over an immense region, linked only by rivers crossing the Amazon.
EG: I work as a repatriation officer in Burundi, facilitating the repatriation of Burundian refugees including accompanying convoys and monitoring the resettlement of the returnees back in their villages.
Why did you join the Emergency Response Team?
WP: Emergencies are the most critical humanitarian situation that we face. So it’s a responsibility of all humanitarian workers to attend emergencies as much as possible.
EG: I wanted to learn more about what an emergency situation entails — and to contribute further to reversing the plight of refugees.
Has the work lived up to your expectations?
WP: It’s rewarding because in the field we can see how much we are needed by thousands of refugees. Sometimes they have nothing left except us — and their own hope.
EG: I can’t see myself doing anything else ...
What have you found most challenging?
WP: We had a sudden arrival of new refugees and it surpassed our capacity to quickly register them and they were facing all kinds of shortages ...
EG: The heat is intense, up to 43 degrees Celsius, and it’s so intensely dusty. Also our work is specifically centred around an urban population who now find themselves living in tents — this is unique to this experience and quite challenging both on a personal and professional level.
What have been the highlights?
EG: A particular instance was assisting refugees in their transfer from the first reception centre, setting up the camp and distributing tents so they had shelter.
WP: When refugees come to say hello or just to show how appreciative they are, or children raising their hand to say goodbye when we leave the camp. Being here, listening to refugees’ stories, their aspirations and fears, it inspires in me a very strong sense that we are one indivisible humanity.
In person with
Dear friend, I am a fortunate man in my new post as Representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Canada. Since my arrival in Ottawa this January, I have been touched to see the tremendous outpouring of aid coming from individual donors like you, from all parts of the country. In May, one area of primary focus was providing comfort and shelter to victims of the Cyclone in Myanmar. Once again, Canadians have lived up to their international reputation, rapidly offering aid in response to an international emergency. It is heartening to see the Canadian tradition for generosity in action, to see how many of you get involved to bring a better life to refugees and displaced persons. I was, until recently, posted in Nepal, where I directly supervised the work of the UN Refugee Agency. I met and worked with individuals from among the tens of thousands of refugees in Somalia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Guinea, West Africa and Rwanda. I have worked with the UN Refugee Agency for almost three decades. I want to personally assure each of you, from my on-site experience, that all your donations are being used to help stave off illness, hunger, fear, persecution and tragedy. Each of these displaced individuals, with their children and their aging parents, need us and they need you. On behalf of the many we serve together, I thank you for your past support and I look forward to your continued interest and caring for more than 33 million refugees and displaced people, victims of natural disasters, violence, persecution and powers beyond their control. Abraham ABRAHAM
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