BOOK: The Disaster Gypsies
Blogged by: Megan Rowling
"I had met far too many people that were left alone, lonely, and bitter after years of wandering fieldwork. There were the drunks and misanthropes, people who were reduced to a husk of their former selves by cynicism and personal and professional estrangement ... This was not to even mention the crazies, of which there were more than a few," writes John Norris, senior political adviser to the U.N. Mission in Nepal, in his new book, "The Disaster Gypsies: Humanitarian Workers in the World's Deadliest Conflicts".
Lying in bed in the stifling heat of Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula, with a lullaby of small arms fire playing in the background, Norris wonders if he's become a "disaster junkie". After stints in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, he worries he's getting hooked on the adrenalin of war zones. "Walking near the edge was enthralling like an exotic narcotic," he admits. Back at his desk in Washington, life is dull and uninspiring.
Ten years later, Norris seems to have escaped the worst ravages of conflict addiction, describing his membership of the "disaster gypsy" community as "honorary". While he's spent three to six months a year in humanitarian hotspots for the past 13 years or so, he says he's also "had time for a life". But writing a book about it all has still helped him deal with the leftover emotion, he told AlertNet by phone from Kathmandu.
"I've had friends say to to me, we didn't know these things were in your head," he explained. "People ask, how was it in Rwanda? But do they really want me to run through the details for three hours? The answer's usually no."
On the other hand, if you are interested in the intricacies of aid work in some of the world's nastiest conflicts, you'll find Norris' book surprisingly engaging for such a tough subject.
Pitching up in Rwanda on his first mission, Norris tries to act like a "seasoned disaster hand", but for the reader, his lack of experience is invigorating. "For me, it was the shoes. I often spotted single shoes lying in the roadway or on the front lawns of houses ... With each lone sandal, slipper or shoe, I could almost feel the panicked last moments: sweaty, desperate with adrenaline, and sick with the realization that death would be ungainly and cruel."
Norris writes honestly about his own mistakes. In Rwanda, he and an experienced colleague find themselves driving around on the dangerous Rwanda-Burundi border as night falls, hopelessly lost and without radio contact. In Sri Lanka, where Norris is meant to put together a "transition programme" for USAID, he admits: "I got everything wrong." But then again, he's not the only aid official to have misread the politics of a complex conflict.
The book dips its toe into the age-old dilemmas faced by aid workers - should they speak out or preserve their neutrality at all costs? Norris tells the story of Fred Cuny, a relief worker who became a celebrity after restoring water supplies to parts of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war and later dedicated himself to public advocacy for Western intervention in crises. He was kidnapped and killed in 1995, while trying to arrange a ceasefire between the Russian government and Chechen rebels.
Norris, rather typically for a humanitarian, stays sitting on the fence. But he points out how, every time a humanitarian gets killed, it's easy for the rest to think they'd have done things differently. "Most relief workers felt that anyone who took fewer risks than they did was hopelessly timid; anyone who took more chances than them was certifiable."
MORE PROFESSIONAL AID
While the book paints a grimly realistic picture of conflict and aid work, there are flashes of humour. Ever heard the story about former Liberian President Charles Taylor, the ostrich and the mobile phone?
In fact, Norris is fairly optimistic that the world - including humanitarians and peacekeepers - has got better at dealing with war. This view is tucked rather sparsely into a few paragraphs in the final chapter and could do with a bit more fleshing out.
So what's changed, I asked him. "In the 1990s, the view was that sovereignty trumped everything else, but now the international community has changed that posture, and people like Charles Taylor are being held accountable," explained Norris. "There's been a shift in how the world looks at international law and the behaviour of leaders."
Another positive for Norris is that aid agencies have developed a more sophisticated approach to humanitarian relief, specialising in areas like de-mining and post-conflict reconstruction. Aid workers have become more professional after honing their skills in a smorgasboard of complex emergencies over the past couple of decades.
The trouble is that the vagaries of geopolitics and expanding military involvement in humanitarian work often limit aid agencies' freedom to put what they've learned into practice. Norris cites Iraq as the starkest example of the international community ignoring the lessons of the past. "After the invasion, a lot of signals went out saying we'll do things our way. In other places, you just wouldn't make the same mistakes, like firing the whole army."
Norris believes the world is going through a time of transition, as it works out how to implement the "responsibility to protect" (R2P) framework endorsed by the United Nations in 2005. According to its principles, the international community should act if a government fails to protect its citizens. "We need to make R2P accepted and standardised, or we will have a lot more ad hoc interventions," Norris warns.
The upside for the disaster junkies is that, in the absence of international agreement on when and how states should intervene, they're unlikely to find themselves short of places to get their latest fix.
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7 responses to “BOOK: The Disaster Gypsies”
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11 Jun 2007 13:48:16 GMT
been there, done that. although i'll get the book today, just reading the article sent a chill up my spine and vomit surging up my throat. the thing is the world's richest countries boasting the most sophisticated armies fail to provide pre- or post-conflict assistance for their armies, much less their humanitarian aid workers. and at least in the usa, we fellow travelers are some of the least likely to have the kind of health care insurance or other resources to assist. once we feel we are so estranged and damaged back home we'll only fit in in another bizarre hell hole, well, it's time to buy another plane ticket.. ab
11 Jun 2007 18:12:26 GMT
Having only this article to go by--and not having yet read this book--I get the impression that the author writes about conflicts as though they were inevitable. I can almost hear Norris sighing, "Here we go again, another saddening and scary adventure . . . but it's oh-so-exciting at the same time." The international community can and should do more to stop conflicts before they arise.
It's a pity that the best the internatinal community can come up with is sending a handful of self-confessed "disaster junkies" into conflict zones. Before Mr. Norris gets too mired in self-pity, somebody should remind him that tens of thousands of Rwandans and Bosnians no longer have the luxury of being alive, let alone the time to invent clever monikers and acquire lucrative book deals. After all, wasn't it compassion for these people that took him to conflict zones in the first place? Or was it perhaps his "addiction" to adrenaline and self-importance?12 Jun 2007 08:51:00 GMT
Books like this and "Emergency Sex" impact on the reputation of the well adjusted majority of aid workers who do not feel the self-important urge to bang-on about their experiences. I would be interested to see what some of our beneficiaries (remember those?) think of these books.
"Disaster Junkies" who see malaria, burn-out, alcoholism and other (often) self-imposed conditions as badges of honor are a drain on the resources of the aid system. Professional aid workers should be able to manage themselves so that they remain effective in their jobs. Of course there is also a responsibly for aid agencies to make sure that stress does not become an issue with their staff. This is a voluntary sector; nobody is making you leave your homes to work overseas. If you find that you have had enough and that the cynicism outweighs the altruistic zeal that used to drive you - maybe its time to hang up the flip-flops, cancel your subscription to Guardian Weekly and pray that you can still re-integrate into a normal life.12 Jun 2007 08:53:51 GMT
I look forward to people reading about the lives of those who recognise faults in themselves. I look forward to people reading about the lives of others that are professional, dedicated and compassionate, in the deliverence of humanitarian assistance. I look forward to those who have no understanding of what real humanitarian assistance professionals and volunteers do for those in need. I look forward for people to realise that the humanitarian assistance workers are not people with the power to stop conflict and suffering. Yet, attempt to bring assistance and support to those affected, so they may live safely and with dignity once again. I look forward to people realising that aid workers can not stop conflict, politics, hatred, nor the power of the gun. I look forward to people realiing that we are not all overpaid colonialists or junkies (of any sort). I look forward for the time when people can understand that aid workers are people too. I look forward to reading this book, so my friends and colleagues are finally heard (and may be even) listened to.
Those that criticise principled and competent aid workers have never seen, stood, worked with, nor helped communities in fear. Those that criticise have not toiled in the face of strong and self interested opposition from governments, armed and angry militants, comprmised journalism, political expedience and others who just don't give a s**t.12 Jun 2007 22:19:54 GMT
To Dave and Abdul- Don't you think it's possible that Norris became involved for professional or compassionate reasons, and then became a "disaster junkie" as an unintended consequence? I haven't read the book either, but I don't think discussing honestly the full spectrum of feelings experienced as an aid worker is somehow unprofessional, or evidence of losing sight of beneficiaries, or ignoring the plight of massacred Rwandans or Bosnians. In fact, it seems somewhat dishonest to deny that most people probably experience a sort of "thrill" from this kind of aid work--not necessarily positive. Adrenaline cannot be restrained by "professionalism"; it is an involuntary physical reaction to certain types of stress. It is silly to try to claim that most Westerners--who are not used to such conditions--would not (or should not!) feel exhilarated (again, not necessarily in the positive sense) by such an experience--particularly because they will be especially unused to such circumstances. Discussing! the effects of those experiences is useful, and, I think, a refreshing break from the sort of self-righteousness that can often characterize humanitarians' description of their field.
13 Jun 2007 12:15:55 GMT
Strange that a discussion of motivations for field staff talks about selflessness and adventurism but doesn't include the excellent financial deal that expat jobs represent. Salaries might not be so high, but without accommodation costs to pay, and often favourable tax planning, it's a brilliant deal, and most people from developing countries who work for international organisations happily recognise it. Of course, if you're from the west and you compare your salaries to city analysts, top lawyers or surgeons then you might be able to convince yourself that it's not.
17 Jun 2007 12:17:41 GMT
I don't think we should sit here and pontificate over the book's aims, pros and cons, or possibilities... working in aid is 'thrilling' and ultimately 'challenging', surely emotional...it's tough stuff!!! and I met a lot of people that were doing it to give a sense to their lives, to 'fill their vacuums', running from one conflict to a disaster... but I'm happy a book like this is out, because it tells a part of my story, of my life, a part which my friends and my people back home would never really (want to) know...