A SEA OF SOLIDARITY — IN JANUARY 2016 SOCIAL MEDIA HELPED SAVE REFUGEE LIVES OFF THE COAST OF GREECE. HERE IS HOW. — I find it disheartening to be constantly inundated by news of refugees losing their lives crossing the Mediterranean. For the people making this perilous journey, it is a distressing and frightening experience. On the night of 10 January 2016, a small group of refugees was stranded on a small uninhabited…

Ten years ago most workers had never even heard of “mental health days.” There were sick days, sure, but the concept of taking an emergency day off to recover before your physical health suffered was an alien one. Back then, the awkward conversation about mental health and stress was one…

When the Doctor first told me I had leukemia, I went out of my way to hide it. The last thing I wanted to do was to tell my boss and co-workers. I didn’t want to go through another uncomfortable, awkward conversation about cancer. I thought I could hide it…

Humanitarian Groundhog Day, August, 2014, Iraq. One of the constants in emergency response for me has been the difficulty of recruiting the right staff, at the right time, with the right skill set. In this respect, Iraq was no different to any other emergency I had worked in. With one…

As a young officer in the Australian Army, I was always taught to look after the soldiers under my command. While undergoing one of many training exercises in the North Queensland jungle, part of my evening routine consisted of visiting each soldier, asking how they were, and examining their bare…

Nine Tips For Becoming an International Aid Worker; Lessons From My Journey — Humanitarian Aid work, at a distance, is a romantic dream for many. It was for me. Over the past few months on Twitter, many people have asked me how to become an aid worker. Much has been written on this already. …

It was early in the morning in Tripoli. Even though it was late autumn, I remember it was hot. The airport terminal was even hotter. I had been in Tripoli for most of the past six weeks; long hours, little rest. In a few hours I would be in Malta…