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A growing number of voluntary aid workers like the Koreans abducted in Afghanistan are kidnapped in conflict areas. When volunteer workers go to developing countries that are politically unstable, many experts warn that they should be thoroughly prepared from security training to familiarity with the country¡¯s religion. While volunteers from advanced nations with several decades of experience in voluntary service are armed with security manuals, many Korean volunteers rush recklessly into the lion¡¯s den.
Members of World Vision, the evangelical relief organization active in 100 countries, must get security training at centers at the UN and RedR before they go overseas. This includes specific guidelines such as what to do in a gunfight or in captivity, advice for vehicle trips, how to use a wireless set, and how to relieve stress when being kidnapped. All members of World Vision carry a small security manual.
Han Biya, who has led the Emergency Relief Team of World Vision Korea since 2001, was sent to Afghanistan when she started working with the organization. ¡°It¡¯s unimaginable to violate security guidelines in conflict areas like Afghanistan,¡± Han said. She herself got training on how to deal with mines and gun accidents as soon as she arrived at the World Vision office in Afghanistan in March 2002.
¡°World Vision¡¯s aid workers distribute food to 50,000 residents in Herat, Afghanistan. If any aid workers die due to violation of security guidelines, 50,000 people are on the verge of hunger. It takes only a few aid workers¡¯ reckless attitudes to put a complete stop to an aid program,¡± Han added.
The international headquarters of World Vision assesses how much dangerous the world¡¯s regions are and updates the result of assessment every week. The organization categorizes countries into color groups based on the level of danger. For example, Mongolia and Vietnam are green, meaning not too much dangerous to aid workers. Thailand, East Timor and Burundi are yellow, meaning moderately dangerous, while Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are red, meaning dangerous. Somalia, Iraq and rural areas in Afghanistan are black: highly dangerous.
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An aid worker from World Vision with a Pakistani child
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The international NGO Save the Children, which is engaged in medical services and education in about 120 regions in the world, is also well known for its thorough guidelines for volunteers who are sent to conflict areas.
The guidelines consist of 10 basic principles. They include that aid must be evenly given to people regardless of their race, religion and nationality; relief workers must respect foreign culture and customs; and when aid workers manage relief supplies, they should encourage beneficiaries to participate in their management.
The domestic aid group Vision Care Service always decides where they do volunteer work based on advice from the Korean embassy to reduce the risk. Vision Care Service is an organization of ophthalmologists and volunteers working together to offer free eye surgery to underprivileged people in foreign countries. The organization is now planning to go Egypt in August and Pakistan in September.
A member of the organization said, ¡°We invite local experts through Korean embassies and volunteers to learn about local culture, distinctive character and advice about the country. Experts including missionaries to the country and people living in the country give lectures to volunteers.¡± It also sends official documents that ask help from the Korean embassy in the destination country before volunteers leave Korea.
But experts say Korean relief organizations need more thorough preparation before they send volunteers overseas to do relief work. Prof. Kwon Man-hak of Kyung Hee University said, ¡°When Koreans do volunteer work in developing countries, the most important two things we should be careful of are politics and religion in the country. Volunteers must take extra caution when they do aid work, since the mere fact that volunteers are church members can cause conflict with local residents.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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