Welcome
AAI has started 2011 as busy as it finished 2010! With programs in Pakistan, Thailand and Burma thoroughly underway and many of our staff deployed in remote locations, this year looks to be yet another busy one for the team at AAI and our large group of supporters.
AAI is able to deliver vital programs to some of the most vulnerable communities around the world due to the continued and much appreciated support of its volunteers. Follow our activities on Facebook.
Water and Sanitation Programs in Pakistan
World Water Day is just around the corner on 22 March, 2011. This day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiroas. As this day nears, AAI takes time to recognise its international contributions to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene efforts and in particular we look at our recent efforts in Pakistan.
Click here to read more about AAI’s WASH program in Pakistan.
Get Involved! - Tales from Thailand
Maarinke Shares her Experience from Mae Sot.
I will always fondly remember my time in Mae Sot. Though it was only a little over four weeks, time passed at a slower pace and time felt far more significant. There were none of the distractions that eat up so much my life here. Life was simple; each day I rose before the sun, and went to bed soon after it set. The hours in between were spent teaching, on walks with the children, going to markets some days, and preparing for class.
Click here to read more about Maarinke’s, as well as other volunteers experiences in Mae Sot, Thailand.
Thai-Burma Border Program – Medics Training
Director of Operations, Frank Tyler recently returned from the Thai-Burma border where he was delivering lifesaving medics training. Frank Tyler shares a story from one of the many inspiring and dedicated medics.
I first meet Paw Char three years ago. She was only 18 years old when we met but already a healthcare worker with the Karen Department of Health and Welfare, waiting to undertake war trauma training. The Karen community, who play a deadly game of survival against the brutal Junta in Burma, live in daily fear for their lives and are slowly being squeezed into smaller areas of the free Karen State.
Paw Char was a sweet unassuming young lady who despite the tragedy around her, was always smiling. She was wearing military fatigues and a camouflaged bandana when we met on this occasion. She was part of a group of medic trainees that would act as our escorts into the area where my two colleagues and I were to live in the jungle for seven days providing training in war trauma medicine to the Karen medics.
Click here to read more about Paw Char’s life as a medic.
Progressing Within our Profession
Australian Aid International continues to recognise the need for professional standards within the humanitarian sector. AAI has become a member of the People in Aid Network as well as a signatory to ACFID as a part of its commitment to providing the highest quality humanitarian programs in some of the most neglected regions of the world.
Click here to read about AAI joining the People in Aid Network.
Meet one of our volunteers
Rachel Heenan is a doctor in Geelong, who has previously volunteered in India, and with Indigenous communities in remote parts of Australia. She has completed research in Public Health through the University of Sydney and hopes to pursue a Masters in Public Health in the next few years. Rachel volunteered with AAI for the first time in Sindh Province in Pakistan, where she worked with local doctors conducting mobile medical clinics. Rachel completed the AAI Introduction to Humanitarian Operations course in October 2010.
Rachel was an amazing asset for the disaster affected communities in Pakistan and AAI looks forward to working with her again soon.
Sphere Project Handbook now updated
The Sphere Project Handbook, an essential humanitarian tool has now been updated. Revisions include updated qualitative and quantitative indicators that better reflect necessities on the ground. Climate change, disaster risk reduction and early recovery are now also better addressed in the updated version.
Click here for more information on the new Sphere Project Handbook.
Upcoming Events
AAI will be conducting its next Introduction to Humanitarian Operations course in the second quarter of 2011. Register now to express your interest and to secure your place on the next course.
Click here to read more about AAI’s training course and to download your application form.
REGISTER NOW for the course by simply downloading and filling in the application form and emailing esturrock@aai.org.au or faxing to +613 8319 0907
Opportunities to volunteer with AAI
Participants that successfully complete the AAI Humanitarian Operations course will have the opportunity to register with AAI for international volunteer positions. All volunteers will be required to go through a selection process if a suitable position is identified.
AAI is now on Facebook!
Our Facebook page is now drawing a lot of attention, and we encourage you to get involved with the discussions and make comments on the various posts. AAI is only successful because of your continued support and assistance. Look us up on Facebook now!
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DONATIONS are the only way AAI can continue its work.
AAI is a non-profit organisation, which specifically targets communities that are difficult to access due to remoteness and other community vulnerabilities.
We urgently need funds from the public and private industry. Donations go directly to:
• Essential emergency supplies and equipment.
• Vital medicines.
• Keeping local humanitarian programs operational, with a focus on health, water, sanitation, hygiene, and disaster risk reduction and reconstruction projects.
• The training of local staff including doctors, nurses, engineers, interpreters and drivers.
All donations are tax deductible and can be submitted through our Secure Online Payment System sponsored by
AAI distributes hygiene kits, jerry cans and buckets to a group of women who were severely affected by the floods.
Mr. Julius Njorge from FOAD Kenya demonstrates a newly installed hand pump.
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Connecting to Facebook
