Daicelis Beria, who works with indigenous communities in Delta Amacuro, Venezuela. Photo: LWF Colombia-Venezuela
LWF staff share why they stay and serve in hardship places
(LWI) – “Humanitarian work is not for the faint-hearted,” says Caroline Wainaina, area manager for LWF in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya. “It is for those willing to carry the weight of others, paying with courage, compassion, and hope.”
Caroline is one of more than 7,000 LWF staff serving in crisis areas worldwide. Her duty station, Kakuma, is one of the largest refugee camps in the world and a temporary home for people fleeing war and violence across the region. Her faith is her anchor when resources feel far too small for the overwhelming needs.
We press on because every smile, every saved life reminds us that our work matters a lot.
Caroline Wainaina, Kenya
“I believe God gave me a humanitarian heart, a heart that aches to see people suffer and beats to restore dignity where it’s been lost. Every smile, every saved life reminds us that our work matters.”
Carrying on in hardship
This deep sense of purpose is shared by colleagues around the globe. “In my career with LWF Ethiopia, humanitarian work has meant dealing with limited budgets, poor communication networks, and security concerns,” says Yibrah Amare, livelihood officer in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. “Still, we delivered aid to people whose homes and resources had been destroyed.”
Caroline Wainaina in her office. Photo: LWF Kenya-Somalia
Yibrah Amare at his duty station. Photo: LWF Ethiopia
The reality is stark: in many places, shrinking budgets meet rising needs as conflicts flare. Staff are often forced to make the most difficult decision of all: who will receive aid, and who will not. “Recently, a mother told me: ‘Before, I had enough to dream. Now I only have enough to survive,’” says Daicelis Beria, who works with indigenous communities in Delta Amacuro, Venezuela. “Funding cuts aren’t felt in offices. They’re felt in the eyes of those who stop receiving medical care, in the children who lose a safe place to play, in the women left without support at their most vulnerable.”
Working under threat
“All my life, I have helped people maintain their health — first as a doctor, now as a psychologist,” says Mariana Buhaievska, who provides mental health and psychosocial support. “In this constant stress, it is more important than ever to be close to people, to remind them to take care of themselves so they can face tomorrow and be there for others.”
For some, the challenge is not just scarcity but danger. In Ukraine, LWF’s team in Kharkiv works under the constant threat of drone attacks. In Gaza, medical staff and hospitals have become targets themselves, food and water are scarce not only for the people they serve, but for the humanitarians themselves. "We speak of human rights, yet none of them exist here”, says Alaa, an oncology nurse who works with the LWF Augusta Victoria Hospital in Gaza.
She pleads for protection of civilian life and humanitarian work, especially in the most violent conflicts: “My work has always been a service to patients in need. Today, the patients and I are in need of the service”.
