I set off with the almost childlike excitement of a double discovery in prospect: a humanitarian mission and a country, Cambodia. No less!
So yes, I was in an excellent frame of mind, since this was my own choice, a long-standing pull, the slow ripening of a word, “humanitarian”, buried deep inside and trying to make itself heard, to find a way through the concerns of daily life, family, work, social. Because that word is tenacious and stubborn; it keeps coming back so as not to be forgotten, despite the countless excellent pretexts that try to smother it. And not only does it persist, it makes its mark: growing, flourishing, until it settles in for good. Once embedded, its roots firmly anchored, it creates a space around it that only action can fill. My instincts and hopes were finally going to be put to the test.
As for the “choice” of Cambodia for this first mission, it was not really one; it is a secondary consideration of relative importance, the essential thing being to act where there are needs. But my taste for travel multiplied my joy on leaving Paris: setting foot in a country for the first time is always an event. Two weeks later I came home tired from a complicated return journey, but with a heart full of joy: the experience lived up to every promise. The outward journey was a chance to get to know the team, each of us giving a more or less brief and detailed account of our own path. The routes were varied, but you quickly sense that there is an essential shared purpose between us, and a spontaneous bond forms at once.
The first day of work confirms and strengthens that feeling of working towards the same goal. After a clear and detailed briefing, everyone is told about the general organisation put in place by HAMAP-Humanitaire, perfectly honed, and about the tasks assigned to them. Then, as one, everyone sets to work, in an atmosphere of obvious goodwill.
The impressive magic of solidarity works from the outset: things run efficiently, the patient's journey from being taken in at reception to leaving the pharmacy station unfolds calmly, every role is filled with energy and seriousness, and the machine moves forward and delivers its humanitarian purpose of help given to every person who asks. Alongside that comes the personal satisfaction of achieving something useful with the means at hand, even if, as we all know, it is a tiny drop in the vast ocean of human injustice. It has the merit of making one humble.
Day after day, the motivation, the energy deployed and the cohesion within the team remain intact. Everyone contributes according to their abilities and skills, and we who were there to give, paradoxically, in fact receive constantly.
We are faced with glaring inequalities, but there are moments of grace in which there is no longer nationality, religion, ethnicity or social class, only human beings in solidarity who bring and share what they can, fighting with the means available against injustice, no doubt the most widely shared thing on this planet, a sad irony. By bringing our help, we play a modest part in the wider and varied effort that rejects indifference and selfishness. By accepting our help, they show us their trust; that inspires immense respect.
I fully understand why most of the people I spent those two weeks with are not on their first mission: you cannot leave it there while there is still work to do, you go back, you still have something to give.
So, see you soon with HAMAP, for another “humanitarian” adventure!
Florence Sur.