Main YWAM Page, or to YWAM CommunicationsCRISIS RELIEF WORKERS face more risks than ever as they try to relieve suffering, according to the director of an international Christian organization marking ten years' service among the world's "forgotten people".
Teams working in famine, war and disaster zones are increasingly likely to be targeted rather than thanked, says Dr Erik Volkmar, whose MEDAIR doctors, health workers and relief specialists have been sent into some of the neediest parts of the world.
Since 1988 around 250 staff have helped man medical clinics, resettle displaced people, provide food and counsel war-traumatized children in global hot spots like Liberia, Iraq, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Somalia and Chechnya.
Security issues are being emphasized more and more in preparatory training for MEDAIR teams, as the dangers of violence, robbery, assault and kidnapping escalate. "The risks have increased considerably over the past ten years," said Dr Volkmar from the organization's Lausanne, Switzerland headquarters.
As well as being caught up in fighting that indiscriminately includes the civilian population, relief workers are sometimes the focus of anger at Western governments' intervention policies and peacekeeping initiatives, he added. In some places "people are just living by the gun".
Yet despite the dangers - which have seen several MEDAIR teams face emergency evacuations, and one worker killed - the organization has been able to take an important Christian presence into areas of great need.
Often the only Christian group among international aid agencies working in such situations, the multi-national MEDAIR team's presence has offered a spiritual witness as well as physical help, said Volkmar.
"Our workers come from different countries and cultures but are able to work together under extremely difficult circumstances, so they are many times a model to the local people; they will remark on how good it is to see people able to live and work together and love each other despite their differences."
Founded as a partnership between Mission Aviation Fellowship, the French medical charity Medicaments pour l'Afrique and Youth With A Mission, MEDAIR - now an independent ministry - aims to take "a Christian presence and qualified technical assistance" to needy places that have fallen from the media spotlight.
The dozen MEDAIR projects to date have cost around $11 million, with most of the money coming from the Swiss, British, Dutch and American governments. "There's a lot of need, but we have been able to have a positive impact on the people and communities we have worked among," said Dr Volkmar.
Currently a small team in Congo is helping resettle refugees and organize the restructuring of 250 hospitals and clinics serving some three million people. MEDAIR's next ten-day training course for prospective workers is to be held for the first time in France, next month.
MEDAIR: Maison de Rovereaz, Chemin de la Fauvette 98, 1012 Lausanne, Switzerland.
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