Sphere Training

Last week, I was asked to submit a story to be posted on the website. Well, I did come up with the story but I guess it won't get the green light from the management. So, here is another story which will perish and never make it to the website. You know, the phase `human rights' is a very sensitive phase. So, here you go...

X NGO always believes in capacity building. So, both volunteers and X NGO staff are often put together to attend all sorts of trainings. Sphere training is a special training tailor made for humanitarian workers. This means that this training is very important. In fact, the training is based on a handbook called The Sphere Project which emphasizes on humanitarian charter and minimum standards in disaster response.

X NGO held a 4-day Sphere Training on 24th to 27th January 2008 at Sri Dinar Training Center in Janda Baik. The training was facilitated by Mr. C.K Pathak and Mr. Sriraman who hailed all the way from RedR India. RedR India is part of RedR International network, a humanitarian and independent voluntary organisation which has an executive committee composed of persons having a long track record in the field of disaster response, disaster preparedness, rural development, training and humanitarian work.

Upon arrival at Sri Dinar Training Center, Wendy and I were totally lured by the outdoor training facilities such as the endurance circuit, the flying fox, rock climbing wall and so on which were not included in our training programme but it was fine because we managed to tried out one of the training facilities.

The chalets were spacious and clean, surrounded by mother nature which we, the city folks are deprived of. The 4-day training programme incorporated both theoretical and stimulation activities. What I found to be really inspiring and comforting during the training was that the Humanitarian Charter in the Sphere Project was formed based on International Declaration of Human Rights 1948 and many other human rights related international covenants and conventions recognized by the United Nations under international law. At last, humanitarianism was explained and put in the right context.

On the second day, during the simulation session which started at 7am, we were asked to fill a bucket with the amount of water for survival during disaster response based on Sphere minimum standard, which is 7 litre to 15 litre per person per day. We were so shocked to see that the water is so little that it looks really pathetic.

Then, we were asked to fetch water from point A to point B based on the amount of water we think we need for ourselves and our family and it was not an easy task at all. The invaluable lesson learnt that morning was that we tend to take the most important and invaluable things in life for granted. It is such a blessing that we have water to drink and wash ourselves every day.

Another simulation activity was camp building. We were divided into two groups. One group was assigned to play the roles of the Internal Displaced Persons such as children, grandpa, grandma, mother, father, disabled sister and a cow. Then, another group was assigned to build a tent that could accommodate a family of 7 people.

It was a fun and laughter filled activity. We were given two plastic sheets and a few wooden poles. So, we had to improvise. We even took the blankets from the chalet to partisan the tent. Again, it was such a good learning experience. Time moved on without notice, the training finally came to an end. I felt reluctant to leave and go back to the city. It was a great training and I came away feeling inspired, motivated and empowered.