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Sruthi Sundaram

What is humanitarianism?
Humanitarianism is an immensely complex word to define and many
scholars, all equally qualified, have come up with entirely different definitions.
While I am definitely no scholar, because of this class, I have gained some insight
through reading the works of other scholars on the subject. Thus I will briefly go
through how humanitarianism and ethics intersect and have influenced each other
in the past, appear in the present, and what the future of this practice could be, and
then move on to talking about my personal experience with humanitarianism.
Ethics and humanitarianism closely intersect with each other. In the past,
once there were some moral standards built, which were largely results of various
religious beliefs, these moral standards were analyzed deeply by philosophers, who
looked closely at their merits. However, during the industrial revolution of the US,
the French revolution in Europe, and the Russian revolution of the USSR, the
countries we would identify as developed began to move toward a rule apart from
just the elite classes of the societies. In fact, rule of the common person became a
standard which these countries strove to achieve, with varying degrees of success,
and with this immense global change came concepts of human rightsthings such
as health, opportunity, equality, and many otherswhich today still stand as the
basis for humanitarianism.
This whole concept of developed versus underdeveloped brought about a
hierarchy, those of the helpers and receivers. The helpers thus stood at the
higher ground more most of the 19th and 20th centuries, and until the latter half of
the 20th century and into the 21st century, few ever really questioned this. However,
after awhile some people began to question whether this great endeavor of
humanitarianism was actually working. Without knowing the people who we are
aiming to help, how do we know what to do to help them? These were questions
that began to change the whole definition of humanitarianism to one of
collaboration rather than giving and receiving. Today, we still see both kinds of
humanitarianism in practice, old and new. Specifically in Africa, billions of dollars
are donated toward humanitarian projects in the continent every year, while at the
same time, partnerships are formed between western NGOs and local NGOs that
involve community input and collaboration between both parties.

In the future, we will hopefully move away from the old and toward the new.
This change begins with the millennial generation, the ones who are the future of
humanitarianism, to spread the new thought of equality between two parties rather
than the donor-receiver mentality. This intersects closely with my experience of
humanitarianism. I have gained so much perspective on the value of community
input into humanitarian projects from seeing the village committee members in
Burere talk about their frustrations with the latrine as well as the village committee
members in Nyambogo praising VLOP and EWB for working with them to complete
the latrine. What was especially striking to me was that the three communities
have a very personal input into the projects. The people that staff the projects after
their completion are all local staff from the village. Another example of an
experience that really struck me as spectacular was working with Daniel in Roche to
build the cook-stove. On the first day I was there, Thaddaeus, Mary Kate, Bri,
Michael F., Daniel, and Whitney and myself were all there together collecting sand,
making mortar, and laying down bricks. This is exactly the kind of collaboration that
is necessary to maintain a good relationship with the communities and accomplish a
common goal. This summer, I will be involved in an HIV education project in
Chennai, working with a hospital that focuses on care for HIV+ individuals. This
experience will directly contribute toward my practicum experience for my MPH. I
will gain skills, which I will try to use even in my career in the future.

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