I have some exciting news for you. As many of you know, for the last year I’ve been writing a book about stress and wellbeing in the aid sector. It is entitled The Vulnerable Humanitarian: Ending Burnout Culture in the Aid Sector. It is a personal, emotional account – as well as a research piece … Read more
“I think mental health problems in this sector are greeted with laziness and weakness. We’ve always not delivered in this sector, we can never do enough no matter how hard we try, so if you’re not always in tip-top shape, you’ll be seen as not dealing with it well.” “I’m not sure they really know … Read more
The perils of projectisation, how we embody our activism and push for a right to rest, what it means to truly listen and meet the other person where they are, challenging masculine behaviour and discourse in aid; these were just some of the many conversations taking place at the Healing Solidarity conference last week. This … Read more
Today I am providing a quick update on my work on stress in the aid sector, and news of an exciting, inspiring and innovative conference coming up next week, which everyone can join and participate in! These last few weeks I’ve reached that point that many doctoral researchers will be familiar with; where the Phd … Read more
I recently wrote an article for the online academic platform, The Conversation. You can read it below, or go directly to the Conversation website here (and sign up to their newsletter if you enjoy it!) Why a commonly held idea of what aid workers are like fails to tell the full story hikrcn/Shutterstock Gemma Houldey, … Read more
Commitment is a key element of aid work. It is assumed, or may even be a requirement in a job description, that in order to work in this sector, one must be committed. And in aid work, the idea of commitment arguably stands out as different from many other professions because there is a very … Read more
It is nearly two weeks since I left Kenya. The feelings I have as I readjust to UK life are very similar to what I’ve been through before when I’ve returned from mission, only this time I’m returning as a doctoral researcher who has just completed her field research. This fuzzy-headedness, lack of clarity, depletion … Read more
There’s been a fair amount of debate recently regarding people from the western world who travel to the developing world (particularly Africa) with high ideals of saving lives and leave feeling disappointed or worse, depressed. First there was the ‘Linton Lies’ debacle where a white British woman’s published book describing her experiences as a volunteer in … Read more
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been up in Turkana county, in northern Kenya. This is one of Kenya’s poorest counties; dry, arid and hot, it is not an easy life up here. Rural and pastoralist communities are spread out throughout the county, struggling to survive with a scarcity of water and relying on … Read more
Motivations remains a big topic in the ongoing debates and reflections on why aid workers stay in their jobs and why they leave. A few days ago, the Guardian published a piece by the author of a recent survey that investigated, among other issues, aid worker motivations. The article itself is only a brief reflection … Read more