Humanitarian workers have their own lives and families. As they brave the threat of the virus and other challenges in order to give aid to those in need, their hearts break as they bid goodbye to their families and march off to work.
Kitty Arce, a mother and staff of Save the Children Philippines, has her hands full ever since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic broke out. While her own family needs her, her heart knows there are more people in need of her time and aid.
“It breaks my heart to see my son cry as I leave to conduct humanitarian response,” she said.
She explained to her son how important it is to provide support to families and children who do not have the means to protect themselves from the deadly virus. "We need to do what we have to do to protect children of poor families from the pandemic because this is our duty," she said.
Arce is just one of the many kind-hearted individuals who have devoted their time and resources to the marginalized members of society.
Save the Children staff and volunteers have been working tirelessly in Metro Manila, Visayas, and in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao to distribute hygiene kits, food packs, water, hygiene sanitation kits, as well as other essential services.
As the world observed the 11th World Humanitarian Day Aug. 19, Save the Children paid tribute to its founder, Eglantyne Jebb -- a teacher and activist who protected children who were bombed, starved, and raped during World War II.
She founded Save the Children back in 1919 and wrote the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which inspired the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Atty. Alberto Muyot, Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Philippines, said that the work put in by their staff and community volunteers have been pivotal in ensuring the health, safety, and education of children during the time of the pandemic.
"We take pride in our history of providing humanitarian work in the most difficult and risky situations in the last 100 years in more than 120 countries including the Philippines," said Muyot.
"The legacy of our founder Eglantyne Jebb lives on in our hearts through the unwavering commitment and dedication of our staff, and volunteers," he added.
Jebb and the rest of the members of Save the Children have even inspired Samarudin Samsudin, a 21-year-old volunteer of the Child Peace Movement Council (CPMC) to conduct educational aid in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Because of the health crisis, many learners in BARMM have been missing out on school. So Samsudin and his friends have promoted the lessons taught by Save the Children Philippines in its Spaces for Peace program in partnership with the Bangsamoro Civil Society in 2017.
Their efforts have strengthened the protection of children from ongoing conflicts in the province of Maguindanao.
"We want to ensure that children and youth in the Bangsamoro areas are protected from all forms of abuse and violence in their communities," said Samsudin.
"As a responsible youth, it is also our duty to help and raise awareness for others, in any way we can. Our volunteer work may just be simple but we strongly believe that it could change the situation positively and save the children," he added.