The word “humanitarian” often elicits a specific mental image: someone in branded gear, working face to face with communities in the middle of a crisis. As seen in the photo above, illuminAid knows this experience well, training communities in places that we could not have pointed to on the globe a year earlier.
Our most impactful work begins the moment we step off the plane, whether meeting with local health workers, teachers, farmers, or rights advocates. Once oriented to their new video equipment – tablets, projectors, and solar recharge kits – they are ready to train communities to tell and share their own stories. Within a few days, our team can confidently depart knowing that local leaders are empowered to run the whole thing themselves.
It’s easy to forget that before all of this happens, someone far away from these communities made an important decision to support this work. The training, equipment, and empowerment can all be traced back to the humanitarian who may never set foot in the community their gift reaches.
Being a humanitarian has little to do with what you’re wearing and where you’re standing. The only requisite is a decision that someone else’s need is worth acting on, whether that means boarding a plane or supporting from afar. Both are essential to accomplish illuminAid’s mission: to help educate communities in the developing world with low-cost video technology.
Thank you to our fellow humanitarians who support this work, and to those who may be considering making a donation for the first time.