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FLYING KITES INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
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BECOME A HUMANITARIAN
COUNTING THE COST
WORKERS OF THE WORLD
in this magazine
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ISS 001
onepiece MAGAZINE
001 THE HUMANITARIAN ISSUE
HUMANITARI ANS IN ACTION STRIVING TO EMPOWER
WINTER 2012
TABLE of CONTENTS onepiece magazine
001 THE HUMANITARIAN ISSUE
WINTER 2012
To all volunteers, “do gooders”, and people seeking change; this magazine is for you.
become a humanitarian
photo essay
disaster relief worker
aid worker
social entrepreneur
workers of the world
08 10 14 20 25 30 16
12
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find out how written by alexis laurence
WANT TO BECOME A HUMANITARIAN?
FLYING KITES INTERNATIONAL humanitarian organization in Kenya feature article
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BUILDING A CAREER IN DISASTER RELIEF
interviewed by amy palanjian
COUNTING THE COST
written by andrea jones
NEW ENGINES OF REFORM
written by david gergen
NEED FOR HUMANITARIANISM
statistics on global problems
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A person who is devoted to promoting the welfare of humanity, especially through the elimination of pain and suffering.
HUMANITARIAN
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this is a
humanitarian magazine
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winter 2012
magazine
EDITOR IN CHIEF justin tyler lockwood CREATIVE DIRECTOR laura black ART EDITOR kari davidson ASSISTANT EDITOR taylor raquer CONTRIBUTING WRITERS rosie spindel, felix wang, jake robinson CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS james hedley, rachel davidson, amanda dootson, ellie bonner ADVERTISING www.onepiecemagazine.com ads@one piecemagazine.com CONTACT www.onpeicemagazine.com/info
letter from the editor The truth is, I’m not optimistic, but I am hopeful. I’m very troubled by the implosions in Africa, the prospects of the former Soviet Union and China, and the many ways industrial society demeans people–through overwork, poverty, and commercialism. The prospect of exponential increases in population and consumption on a finite planet is ludicrous. And perhaps most troubling, leadership from those in charge of the powerful institutions–media,
government, religion, business, and education–is sadly lacking. What gives me hope are the creative responses that are bubbling up in every sector of society and all over the world; these responses are, I believe, creating the seeds of a new era, the DNA for a new civilization. This magazine aims to motivate and inspire people to be the change they wish to see in the world. yours, david granger – editor in chief
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16,000,000 214,654
REFUGEES WORLDWIDE, IN ADDITION TO 51 MILLION PEOPLE DISPACED WITHIN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES
WORKERS of the WORLD The frequency and type of humanitarian emergencies in the past decade have increased at an alarming rate. Humanitarian work is not for the faint-hearted or the timid. To be successful in this work, you need to be able to function in chaos and live with uncertainty.
AID WORKERS. THERE ARE ONGOING HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS IN APPROXIMATELY 58 COUNTRIES.
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OF DEVELOPMENT FUNDING GOES TO HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMS
THE LARGEST CURRENT HUMANITARIAN EFFORT IS IN DARFAR
PEOPLE REQUIRE FOOD AID, 54 MILLION OF WHOM LIVE IN AFRICA
90,000,000 9.0 % 4,500,000
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social entrepreneur section
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KNOW YOUR ISSUE
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BUILD THE BRAND
THINK OF IT AS A BUSINESS
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HIRE SMART EMPLOYEES
BUILD PARTNERSHIPS
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BE TRANSPARENT & AUTHENTIC
MAKE A CONNECTION
MANY OF US FEEL THE NEED TO SERVE A GREATER GOOD IN LIFE, BUT TURNING A PASSION INTO A SUCCESSFUL NONPROFIT TAKES SERIOUS BUSINESS ACUMEN.
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SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR seven steps to become a social entrepreneur image above TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie gives children their first shoes
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NEW ENGINES of REFORM written by david gergen photography by aya maceda
T
here won’t be any sleek limousines drawing up at the door, no red carpets, no paparazzi, no Vanity Fair afterglow, and, alas, no Annie Leibovitz. But when dozens of people roll into the Mohonk Mountain House in the Hudson Valley this week, they’ll be holding their own Oscar party, one celebrating the stars of a new group of emerging leaders in the United States. They’re called “social entrepreneurs,” and if you haven’t heard the phrase yet, you’re missing one of the hottest movements to ripple across college campuses and into young urban communities. Among them is Gillian Caldwell, who cofounded Witness, a nonprofit that provides video cameras to people in other lands who film human-rights abuses and bring them to public attention. Jonathan Schnur, CEO of New Leaders for New Schools, is seeking to transform urban schools by training leaders to be principals. J.B. Schramm runs a group called College Summit Inc. that helps high school seniors from low–income schools enroll in college. So far, it has served more than 6,000 students. Social entrepreneurs do more than treat society’s ills--they envision widespread, systemic change that could prevent those ills from ever occurring. They tackle social problems with entrepreneurial and innovative spirit. As the Schwab Foundation for Social
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Entrepreneurship says, this new breed is part Richard Branson, part Mother Teresa. America has seen social innovators before. Jane Addams became one of the most famous when she started Hull-House in Chicago in 1889, touching off a national effort to improve lives in poor neighborhoods. But pioneers like Addams were rare. As Bill Drayton, the godfather of social entrepreneurship, argues, the business sector from 1700 onward developed an entrepreneurial and competitive culture that bred huge gains in productivity, while the social sector fell behind. Today, the social sector is trying to catch up. The roster of all-stars in the social enterprise movement is growing rapidly and just as in business and politics, they are forming networks among themselves. Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg, cofounders of the KIPP charter schools featured on Page 41, are sending their new CEO, Richard Barth, to the Mohonk conference this week. Barth just happens to be married to another major figure in the social enterprise world: Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America. And they are capturing the imagination of large numbers of students on major campuses. At Stanford last November, the annual Net Impact conference drew 1,600 M.B.A. students who want to set up businesses that create as much social wealth as private wealth. With the support of the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, Harvard has started a fellowship program for social entrepreneurs, and one of the largest student clubs at its business school is devoted to social enterprise.
“A social entrepreneur is an agent of change. Finding the faults of society where change is needed.” The World Economic Forum now invites social entrepreneurs from around the globe. Social entrepreneurs are among the first to recognize that they face difficult challenges. The hardest is taking their efforts to scale. It is relatively easy to start a nonprofit; reportedly, Americans launch as many as 115 new nonprofits a day. But it’s tough to build a large, sustaining organization, says Vanessa Kirsch, an authority on the subject. Kirsch’s organization, New Profit, estimates that since 1971, only 21 direct-service nonprofits have reached the $20 million revenue mark. New Profit applies a venture capital approach to philanthropy to provide the resources social entrepreneurs need to make a national and global impact. The Bridgespan Group’s Tom Tierney, a respected figure for social entrepreneurs, says that another challenge for nonprofits is to recruit talent; his studies show that by 2016 nonprofits may need as many as 80,000 new leaders. As Jane Addams discovered, social entrepreneurs must also change the direction of American politics if they are ultimately to succeed. The challenges go on and on. Still, in an atmosphere of celebration, it would be nice if Annie Leibovitz were at Mohonk this week.
image to left CARE organization works with volunteers
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A
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MISSIONARY
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Missionary’s earnestness can be a sustaining factor but can be damaging when their ideology surfaces
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Mercenary types are talented and pragmatic, it is wrong to exploit human suffering for material gain
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Misfits think outside the box but sometimes an inferiority complex can get in the way of a successful team
BROKEN HEART D
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Broken hearts may be willing to take risks and may be less easy to fool
AID WORKERS A RE EMPLOYEES AND THE ASSOCIATED PERSONNEL OF NON PROFIT AID AGENCIES THAT PROVIDE MATERIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN HUMANITA RIAN RELIEF
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AID WORKER
what’s your story? image above aid workers work to help impoverished villages in Africa
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COUNTING the COST The life of an aid worker, notes from a global nomad
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id work is an intoxicating, exciting and richly rewarding career. When it works. Often it doesn’t. Often things like politics, corruption, violence, interpersonal relationships, or sheer incompetence means that things fall apart. Things, like projects designed to save peoples lives. This can shake the strongest of people. When people are driven by values and a belief in the greater good of humankind, watching this sort of failure can leave them deeply wounded. I’ve known of it costing people their faith in humanity and in God. I’ve seen my fair share of cynics, and periodically count myself among them (though I still find myself drawn back, like a moth to a candle, to the hope that we can actually do something about this broken
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this is the
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world). People become isolated. Some drop into depression. They say three types of people are drawn to aid work. Missionaries, mercenaries, and misfits. Humour aside, it’s a fair description. You find a disproportionate number of people driven by values, by their thirst for experience or money, or people who just don’t know how to function in any other environment. This can make the aid environment quite a dysfunctional one. Exotic, addictive, wonderfully unique, and utterly unhealthy. People jump from one emergency program to the next like it’s going out of fashion They do the same with friendships, with relationships, with lovers. Work hard, play hard is the motto most employ when in the field. This might be
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Aid work is an intoxicating, exciting and richly rewarding career. If you work dilligently to minimize harm and improve the quality of assistance given to people in need, you can accomplish great things.
“
the house-party scene, with drink or pills optional but frequently endorsed extras. It might be adrenaline sports. It might be risky travel options. Regardless, this line of work attracts the sort of person who thrives on an element of risk in most things they do. Not always the best approach to life. Aid workers expose themselves to all manner of stresses. Some of us wander into life-threatening situations, which may sound great recanted in cavalier fashion over a couple of local brews, but in fact are anything but when you’re actually in them. Even those that don’t bear direct witness to terrible events are usually indirectly exposed to them on a routine basis. Reports suggest that above all of this, the single biggest cause of stress to aid workers is organizational dysfunction, where the pressures of a poorly managed response in a highly value-driven culture can be devastating, psychologically speaking. These pressures lead to a whole range of stress reactions on the brain. I won’t go into too much detail, but this regular exposure to
steady stress, which may or may not be coupled with repeated exposure to critical incident stress, results in physical changes to the makeup of the brain which cause longterm and in some cases irrepairable damage. The mobile and uncertain life of an aid worker takes a huge toll on the personal life. While the constant changing from one emergency-focused community to the next can be a lot of fun, it also means that forming deep, meaningful and stable relationships over time is very difficult. You meet a lot of single aid workers. You meet a lot of divorced aid workers. You meet a lot of aid workers who have significant marital problems, or who are disconnected from their children. And if you hang around long enough, you hear plenty of stories of married aid workers sleeping around on assignment too. Even if that’s not the way you roll, finding and maintaining a relationship to a life partner is a challenge in this line of work. For all the negative stories I hear above, I also know plenty of men and women who make it work. But I’ll wager that they work at it a lot harder and more deliberately than their peers who don’t jet around the world at the drop of a seismograph. It’s not just spouse and children you suffer disconnection from. Whether married or single, connecting to a stable group of friends in your home community becomes difficult as well. With you constantly on the move, you’ll find that most relationships start to slip, and you have to work hard to stay in touch with those you care about. It’s not uncommon to find that people simply stop inviting you to events because they never know when you’re
around, or they’re tired of hearing you say that you’ll be overseas that weekend. I’ve found this has been one of my biggest struggles over the years, and I’ve spent long periods of time back at my home base feeling restless and lonely, struggling to maintain social networks, and wishing for my next overseas ‘fix’ instead. But it ends up being just as lonely, in the long run. If you’ve gotten this far and admitted, “You know what, that’s way more than I’m ready to cope with right now,” then no worries. Aid work isn’t for everyone. There are a zillion ways to help people in need in your local community, and there’s a lot of very wise argument that would say your efforts are best placed helping there anyway. continued on page 50
image above workers pick through the rubble in Port Au Prince, Haiti.
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“
A person who has sympa lump, faith in its future
serve the great cause of
called not a humanist u his creed may
as humanit
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this is a
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athy athyfor formankind mankindininthe the progress, anddesire desiretoto progress, and
this thisprogress, progress,should shouldbe be
a humanitarian, and utbut a humanitarian, and be bedesignated designated
tarianism. itarianism. JEFF KOONS
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COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
CYCLONES
EARTHQUAKES
FAMINES & FLOODS
HEATWAVES
LIGHTNING STRIKES
TORNADOES
TSUNAMIS
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
WILDFIRES
3 4 6
9 1
THERE IS A GNAWING NEED INSIDE, A PULL TO DO MORE TO HAVE AN IMPACT, TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. FOR SOME OF US, THIS MEANS HELPING PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN STRUCK BY DISASTER OR MISFORTUNE
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DISASTER RELIEF WORKER ten most destructive natural disasters image above earthquake hits Haiti in 2010
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BUILDING A CAREER in DISASTER RELIEF Interviewed by Amy Palanjian April 13th
After running a community affairs and volunteerism group at Willamette University, Claire Bonilla knew she wanted to pursue a career in helping others. She works at Microsoft Corp., and for the past year and a half, she’s been coordinating the software company’s relief efforts following natural disasters such as the 2007 California wildfires and the recent Fargo, N.D., floods, among others. Q: What is the spectrum approach you say
Q: What convinced you this position would be a
helped you succeed?
good fit?
When I was younger I had an interview question that asked what color I’d choose to describe myself. I chose black because it’s made up of the entire spectrum of colors. I believe that every person is made up of different components—skills, talents and facets. With any job it really comes down to understanding what talents, or colors, you will pull out that align with that job.
I'm a philanthropist by nature. From the time I was young, I've always been involved in volunteering, reaching out and helping communities. This position marries my passions outside of work with my experience in information technology. In my most recent position prior to joining Microsoft, I was the righthand man to the vice president of global field sales. It was a 450–person organization and I worked with governments and nonprofits on how to mobilize our partners. I'm good at identifying and marshalling resources across cultures. And the networks I've built and my understanding of the company have helped me to know which resources to pull exactly when I need them.
Q: How did you use that approach to land your current position?
I was working part time in a job share after having my third child, and a friend sent me the job description because she thought that I was perfect for it. The search had already been narrowed down to the top six finalists, but I knew this was the job I'd been waiting for, so I pulled out all the stops to get them to allow me to interview. I reached out to six different vice presidents that I knew and each sent a request to the hiring manager.
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Q: How is Microsoft positioned to offer help in disasters?
The core to the effectiveness of any disaster response is the ability to share information and coordinate the effort between the many
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KINDNESS IS CONTAGIOUS
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whether it's a flood, or a hurricane or an earthquake, the first step is to establish a connection with the leading local response organization, such as a government agency or the United Nations. Then we help with real-time communication and use mapping software to provide partners with situational awareness so relief agencies, for example, could see the location of a shelter in need of medical supplies. We also give data-sharing capability to first responders and government agencies so they can share relevant information with outside organizations without compromising security. (The amount of money Microsoft spends on each disaster varies, but for example, the China quake efforts cost $3.1 million.) Q: What do you do between disasters?
We spend a lot of time and resources in the preparedness space, working to build technology capabilities in advance. This helps so that when something does happen, local agencies are ready and prepared to respond and they might not even need us to intervene. Best Advice: Connect with real people. "After college, when I wanted to work at Ernst & Young and they weren't hiring, I took the most senior administrative assistant to lunch. She helped me understand the challenges and limitations the company was facing and was able to recommend me directly to management. I got an interview and was able to have a meaningful conversation about my understanding of the company," Ms. Bonilla. Skills you need: Ms. Bonilla counts her understanding of how to mobilize partnerships with
international agencies as key experience to her current work in disaster management. It also helps, she says, that "I'm emotionally and genetically engineered to help people." Many people work in disaster management have a strong background in global relations, whether through experience working in governments or with NGOs. And, says Ms. Bonilla, knowing how to communicate across cultures is key in providing effective relief. Professional organizations to contact: Volunteering with a local organization that interests you is a great first step to becoming involved with their work—whether that's the American Red Cross, CARE or a local community organization. Salary range: Varies by industry and location, but according to salary Web sites, lower-level disaster management professionals typically earn $60,000 or more. Q: Do you ever get overwhelmed by the volume of disasters?
A: The amount of natural disasters around the world is astronomical and there is no possible way that we can respond effectively to every one. So the challenge is to find the best way that the company can scale our efforts and technology to help as many people as possible in a time of need. This also involves harnessing the passion of volunteers because when disaster strikes everyone wants to get involved right away. It helps that I have a daunting amount of conviction and that I find it personally empowering to be in such a galvanizing space. The outcome is measured in lives saved and
“
I’m a philanthropist by nature. From the time I was young, I’ve always been involved in volunteering, reaching out and helping communities.
“
this is the
Q: Since your job is so closely tied to your personal interests, it is hard to separate work from family life?
A: In times of catastrophic events, yes, work becomes a 24/7 job. But I've worked really hard to create a good work-life balance. I have such a strong commitment to my family that when we aren't in a crisis, I work very hard not to make any sacrifices to my family. When I leave my office at 5 p.m., that's it. I go home and stay off of computer. And on the weekends, it's all family time. Q: Does your work take you away from your family often?
A: Since last June, I've worked on 19 disasters and only traveled for three. We have over 90,000 employees around the world and it's effective for us to use the resources we already have on the ground to establish and coordinate a response team. Actually, on one of the first big trips I went on, we went to meet with the UN High Commissioner of Refugees in Geneva to talk about how we could help children in refugee camps—who are there on average for 12 years—gain access to computers and education. I was talking to my 5-year-old, who was 4 at the time, on the phone and she told me she missed me and asked when I was coming home. When I told her I'd be three more days, she asked what I was doing. I told her that we were helping children. She was silent for a minute and then told me that I could stay as long as I needed.
Continued on page 57
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people being helped and that is incredibly rewarding.
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FLYING KITES for INTERNATIONAL RELIEF PHOTO ESSAY humanitarian organization in Kenya, Africa
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“My wish is that photography would be used as a tool for social change, that it would provide opportunities for individuals to change their own circumstances.� -Zana Briski
image above joeseph is one of the newest children in the program
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image above three children who were taken in by Flying Kite
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image above volunteers in Kenya, AFrica
image above children play at recess
top left image a family supported by Flying Kites
top right image two brothers have benefited from the program
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image above children get the education they need to become future leaders
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BECOME a HUMANITARIAN written by Alexis Laurence
S
erving as a humanitarian aid worker can be a rewarding experience. Humanitarian aid workers serve in some of the most disadvantaged locations in the world, performing tasks that improve the way of life for impoverished people. Volunteers are always needed around the world, but getting a humanitarian aid position might not be as easy as just signing up. Job-seeking in the humanitarian aid sector requires many of the same techniques used to seek other jobs. instructions
1 Find the humanitarian aid program that performs the type of work you are interested in. Not all humanitarian aid programs perform the same work. For example, although Peace Corps volunteers perform many tasks, there is an emphasis on agriculture and education. Many countries also have their own programs for humanitarian aid workers that are for legal citizens only. Attend information sessions offered by humanitarian aid organizations and ask questions. 2 Volunteer locally. Until you are hired by an international humanitarian aid organization, volunteering close to home can help you acquire desirable skills and showcase your commitment to service. It also looks great on your application. 3 Market your talents and expertise. Be vocal about your abilities. Join organizations that showcase your skills. Write articles that demonstrate your expertise and try to get them published, or publish them on your website. If the article could benefit the organization for which you would like to volunteer, send the organization a copy. 4 Apply only for the positions that have duties that you have the skills and qualifications to perform. Some people will try to get into an organization through whatever job is available. The people doing the hiring are trained to screen candidates, so don’t expect to get a job that you aren’t really qualified to do. Focus on the jobs that you could do well. 5 Get your passport. You’ll need it to travel out of the country.
tips & warnings
Don’t wait until you have been hired to take care of the necessary paperwork. There is a waiting period to get a passport, so if you don’t already have one, start the process. While organizations such as the Peace Corps accept applications from all qualified candidates, getting a job in the humanitarian sector often depends on networking. You’ll have to get medical clearance and any shots that are necessary for traveling to your assigned country before going abroad. Before signing up to volunteer abroad, make sure you are prepared. You will be away from home for an extended period of time, often under an unusual amount of stress. It’s not a job for the timid. Humanitarian aid work has never been more dangerous. Aid workers are placed in areas of extreme upheaval and violence.
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“Humanitarian aid workers serve in some of the most disadvantaged locations in the world, performing tasks that improve the way of life for impoverished people.�
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I am a co窶田reator, an active agent in this universe who makes things happen. If I want the world to change, I have to change it. Thank you for being part of our inagural issue.
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