What some Participants say!
About the training on the
Training on Essentials of Humanitarian Practice (EHP)
Organised by ADRRN and Mercy Malaysia
Facilitated by RedR India
(January 17-21, 2007, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Three things to reflect about, namely;
1. What did you like best about the training and why?
2. The most important thing you have learnt in the training so you could use it in your work
3. Suggestions for making the training better...

1. What did you like best about the training and why?

It was the first training that I attended after I got involved in humanitarian work. I must admit that it opened a whole new perspective about humanitarian work and its dynamics. The training introduced me to the mechanism to be an effective operator of NGOs and conduct for better deliverances in term of assistances to the beneficiaries.
- Mohd Tahar Jumaat, (Tahar) MERCY Relief, Singapore

I liked the Operational Planing Exercise the best, because although I was personally tasked for Sanitation sector planning, I could see (as in the 3 blind men story...) the entire elephant in action and not just its tail or trunk...I feel I am more confident and equipped to plan and lead an emergency response. It was an excellent learning. – James Pochury (SEEDS India)

Yes, I too, enjoyed the Operational Planning Exercise. I think that was the best part of the training. In retrospect, I think just attending a 2 hour introduction to the SPHERE handbook followed by the OPE would be adequate i.e., a 2 day workshop is enough for me. As a team leader in the OPE, I was "forced" to use the SPHERE guidelines which made me more familiar with it... so this was useful. I felt all the other lectures were not particularly useful - most things we all know as general knowledge anyway. Things like working as a team etc are things we practice everyday at work and are pretty logical to me, so it was redundant for me. - Dr. Shalimar Abdullah (EXCO Member, Mercy Malaysia)

Back to the OPE, I've always been on missions as a team member but this time round as a team leader, things are way different. I have to see things from a bigger point of view. Personally, I prefer to be more of a surgeon / doctor on the field than to be involved in these “higher-level” things but if I have to, i could do it. - Dr. Shalimar

I like that Rwanda videoclip - just shows how helpless people are when it's someone else doing the decisions. - Dr. Shalimar

Lots of experience sharing & hands-on practical learning material. – Mr. Zairul, Mgr. Petronas, KL, Malaysia.

I believe one of the most valuable components of the training course is that we were able to meet and interact with many different participants from a wide range of backgrounds. Throughout the training course, participants could learn from each other and gain valuable insights through the sharing of knowledge, experiences, practices and different perspectives in the many aspects of the humanitarian field. These particularly proved useful in the group discussions and OPE exercise. – Siu Keat Chak, (Chak) Volunteer, Mercy Malaysia

I like the OPE the best, because it's difficult to explain to some people that have not been on the ground, on what it takes to run an operation during emergencies and how the coordination effort takes up lots of time and energy in bringing the aids together for the beneficiaries. Through this exercise, we can at least see some parts and parcels in a relief response work on the ground and share our experiences. – Puteri Rohayu, Mercy Malaysia

I like the group project allowing all of us from different background to put together a presentation. Just like a mission where you have to work as a team in a very short time to work through the differences and focus on the project to achieve a common goal. - Eddy Hew, Mercy Malaysia

This is Tam from Vietnam. I arrived safely back home in Hanoi. It was wonderful getting to know you all on the EHP training. I have learned a lot from the training and all of you as well. Thanks so much to all the Malaysian hosts for the wonderful memories of friendship and taking care us. I do hope to see you all again and welcome you to Hanoi. Thanks and my warmest wishes to all of you. - Hoang Thanh Tam (Tam), Chairperson, the SIDA Environmental Fund, Advisory Group Office

It was a very good learning process. I liked all the topics that we had gone through, and I'm still learning to understand more. In Sarawak, We are going to conduct our mission in Long Lelang (interior part of Sarawak). The mission will be on Community Health Project where we will bring along medicines, clothing and toys for the children. We are also conducting eye checking and the dentist will do their part. An opportunity for me to put the EHP learning into immediate use! - Martin Ak. Jandom (Martin)

Greetings from Bangladesh. In Malaysia, we have passed only five days, but in this short time, I think we became friends and organization partners. I would like to keep in touch if you all want the same, so that we can exchange our views, findings, and recent materials on humanitarianism. Hope we can bind ourselves on a single orbit to work together living on different place of this world. Subrina Limu

2. The most important thing you have learnt in the training so you could use it in your work

I think the most relevant thing that i learned from the training is about understanding how ineffective you can be on the ground if there is no knowledge of understanding the mechanics of humanitarian work. Things like Sphere, local sensitivity and knowing the different aspects of international bodies and their functions. - Tahar

What I learnt most from this training is...that, What is more important is NOT how many shelters we construct or food we distribute but how many hearts (and, perhaps, heads as well) we touch and mend as we go about our humanitarian or development and advocacy work...The International legal instruments, the Sphere Standards, etc are merely tools that would come in handy as we skillfully use them as Guides in our day to day work.

The most important thing yet is what has reinforced in me my earlier learning - that of the basis of humanitarian work - which is, Human Dignity - that, disaster-affected people have human dignity and therefore we do them no favour or it is not an obligation to "help" but rather it is their Right - Right to life with Dignity. – James

Sometimes money or allocation is for something else which is more important. This is done by someone who can see the "bigger" picture. So, I shouldn't always complain that my area or jurisdiction is not getting what I think we should get.

In a disaster scenario, there are so many things/people/factors involved that things are never simple. So, never jump to conclusions. - Dr. Shalimar

Sphere; Case study. – Zarul

The application of the SPHERE standards in the OPE. Previously, I have some knowledge of the SPHERE standard but I had not used it properly in practice. The OPE exercise gave me an opportunity to apply these standards in an emergency situation which I found very enlightening. With this, I have now a clear idea on how SPHERE could ease and benefit my future humanitarian work. - Chak

The International laws that guide humanitarian work. Even though it was a brief session given on that topic, I came to realize that it's very important for a humanitarian worker to know his/her rights and how to conduct humanitarian work accordingly. - Puteri

Once again it is proven for any NGO to be successful, the process of a project from the beginning to end and evaluation must involve the local authority and the beneficiaries. This will always be a bench mark for me in the field - Hew

3. Suggestions for making the training better...

I feel that you can’t learn much by textbook only. Exchanging experiences on the ground or what one does will help a lot in understanding the different sectors in humanitarian work. Exchanging of ideas or opinions about what is going on at the moment and the key players that are involved will help us to understand what goes on in a particular situation. My specialty is disaster response. I really want to share and get ideas from other participants on how I should prepare myself for the recovery phase so that there is continuity for non disaster NGOs to take over when I leave. So I think the training should be extended few more days so that exchange of ideas can be enhanced and appreciated. - Tahar

Since the training title says it all, "Essentials of Humanitarian Practice" I think I was generally satisfied with the essentials (topics) being covered. The presentation, however, could have been done more creatively, much more participatory. I mean, rather than rushing through the PowerPoint contents, perhaps, we could have used, say, pieces of chart/drawing papers cut in different shapes and sizes (star- shaped, circular, hexagonal, square, rectangular, etc.) with the most crucial points of a given topic written on each of them, and pasted on the walls after eliciting responses from participants - thus making learning fun and joyful! (Once these pieces are pasted on the wall they take the shape of, say, a man, a fish, a lotus, etc.). It takes some effort but it is worth it! – James

Cut down the EHP to 3 days. Yes, make things more interactive. - but sometimes, dry things are always dry... But when the lectures are long and dry - people just switch off - might as well not do the lectures. Maybe give handout to some groups to present a particular topic each - Most people are adult enough to understand a handout although it's on something they know nothing about. - Dr. Shalimar

Allow for all participants to share their experience & not selected participants only. Zairul

Some of the training parts which just required listening to lectures were too theoretical and dry for example IHL. Some reading parts could have been given to the participants beforehand to read by themselves on their own time before the training. With this, the trainers would not need to go through these "reading lectures" during the training session and could immediately go into group discussions. - Chak

I would like to suggest for a better selection of participants. Even if it's a basic training for a humanitarian worker, we need at least a person who has some inputs on the topic. Fresh volunteers for example with no experience would find themselves somehow lost during the activities. – Puteri

I think if the training is in Malaysia and it involves people from the corporate background, it will be good for us to share various projects, especially with members from ADRRN for further understanding of various projects from different countries. – Hew

EHP Workshop Participants' List>>