I have completed my second week with the International Rescue Committee in Greece! This week, we officially began designing a new project to support the Roma community in Greece. This process consists of first mapping existing data and information on the target population -- that is what I will be working on for the next week, before moving into meetings with partners and stakeholders. This process involves desk research, but it is also approached in well-rounded and holistic way. We will be collaborating with community members directly to get information about their needs and how we can address them. Last week, I attended a meeting with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) team at IRC. This team ensures ethical practices are enforced throughout every stage of our projects. One of the main ethical principles is ensuring beneficiaries are empowered to have agency in the project design process. Rather than making assumptions about the needs of a particular community, we meet with them directly and ask. I have been very reassured by this aspect of the IRC, as someone who can be quite skeptical of the ethics of humanitarianism. It is nice to know that as an organization, they take active steps to combat some of the potential harms that could be brought by this field. 

Aside from my main project at IRC, I also attended a Doctors Without Borders conference this week. The first day consisted of two panels. The first focused on support for trans and gender non-conforming asylum seekers, particularly in the medical sphere. The second panel was comprised of doctors who have been serving on the ground in both Gaza and Sudan in the last several years. It was absolutely enlightening to hear the invaluable perspectives from all of these individuals. The second day was an in-person workshop on building solidarity networks and communities of care as humanitarian actors. There were many discussions here of positionality, although I honestly think there was room for more self-reflection here, given that most of the participants were Greek, and an overwhelming majority of the beneficiaries from humanitarian programs in Greece are non-native asylum seekers. I took notes the whole time both days and I would love to discuss or share with anyone who is interested -- please feel free to reach out!!! 

Tonight, the conference is screening a new film based on the events of the Central African Republic civil war, called "Safe House." The movie, despite its subject matter, tells the story through the eyes of a white Swedish woman working in a refugee camp, rather than Central Africans themselves. Also, the director, writer, and entire creative team are all white Swedes. I understand the film is set in a refugee camp, so it was made by people who worked in refugee camps and it's being shown at a humanitarian conference. I am just extremely suspicious of a movie made about a conflict where zero people on the creative team are directly impacted or involved, and that is the story they choose to tell. 

If I end up watching the film, I will definitely come back with a review!

The main theme of this week for me has definitely been thinking about positionality.