Tomorrow, August 19th will mark World Humanitarian Day. It’s a day that commemorates lives that have been lost in humanitarian service and celebrates the spirit that inspires humanitarian work around the world – and, this year, it affords us the opportunity to honor the world’s Humanitarian Heroes.
The past 28 years of leading HVO have given me ample opportunity to meet many life-long humanitarians and witness the remarkable power of individuals dedicated to bettering the world for others. HVO’s mission attracts humanitarians at every level of our programming – from our supporters and members to our volunteers and leadership to our on-site coordinators, trainees, and overseas colleagues. These individuals demonstrate a commitment to improving global health and dedicate their time, resources and energy to efforts to ensure the ill and injured of the world receive the care they need.
To celebrate World Humanitarian Day, I wanted to share a recent story that highlights Humanitarian Heroism at an HVO site in Uganda:
“I cared for a four-year old girl in the intensive care unit who was the victim of a car-versus-motorbike accident. She was admitted to hospital during my second day in Uganda,” wrote an HVO internal medicine volunteer. “She wasn’t wearing a helmet and suffered skull fractures, a brain contusion, lung and liver contusions, a broken femur and several broken ribs….This little child had incredible odds stacked against her.”
Throughout the young girl’s recovery, the HVO volunteer worked closely with the local hospital staff. Like all HVO volunteers, she offered her knowledge and expertise to her colleagues; her mission was not to save one young girl’s life, but to ensure that local health providers develop skills they need to save her life and that of future patients.
On the final day of her assignment, the volunteer visited the young girl who survived her stay in the ICU. Summarizing the young girl’s case, she reported:
This child’s case demonstrated so many health needs – from public health interventions such as helmets for motorcycle riders – to pediatric ventilators and monitors in the ICU. But her story also illustrates the commitment of Ugandan health care professionals to their patients, and to doing the best they can with the resources available to them. I witnessed the diligence of the nursing staff who attended to her day and night, doing all they could to manage her symptoms, and aid her recovery. I saw the dedication of the ICU residents who, though not on call, would stay late, return early, and answer phone calls all night long when there were questions about her care. Most vividly, I remember her young, 22-year old mom, Justine, camping outside the unit with the other patients’ family members, coming in with food for her daughter daily, crying the day she realized she needed a new trach and couldn’t afford one, and grateful beyond words when we successfully resuscitated her after a hypoxic PEA arrest. This was her baby and she never stopped believing she’d get better.
Stories like this child are what motivate me to participate in work that seeks to improve health care in developing countries. So many avenues need to be traversed and I hope to focus on the delivery of critical care to help patients like this child who need airway support, ventilation, and ICU care.
With World Humanitarian Day upon us, I hope you will join me in celebrating the work of health providers like this HVO volunteer and her Ugandan colleagues. Their diligence, commitment and bravery in the face of challenging circumstances and limited resources make it possible for us to improve global patient care. The world needs more heroes like them – and I hope you will join us as we work to make that possible.