KEY POINTS:
If the words dangerous and arduous in a job description are not off-putting, then joining a team of aid workers may be the position for you.
Many Kiwis are attracted to the humanitarian idea of helping people who are less fortunate and, with our love for travel and
adventure, it is no surprise that New Zealanders are working for aid organisations in all kinds of communities all over the world.
Bernice Chiam has settled back into life in Mt Wellington, Auckland - for now.
But the environmental engineer spent 12 months toiling for the Red Cross in Liberia last year and in 2005 she was in the Maldives helping residents reconstruct their lives after the Southeast Asian tsunami.
In Auckland, 29-year-old Chiam works for Watercare as a project engineer.
While she enjoys her job, the work in Liberia and the Maldives gave her more satisfaction.
"We have it so good here [in New Zealand]. When you see how many people are starving out there and don't have water and need to walk hours to a market or a medical clinic, it really makes you appreciate what we have here.
"Everyone feels they have to contribute in one way or another. For me, the action satisfies me more than giving money.
"Completing a well and knowing a community has safe water for the first time is fulfilling.
"In the developed world things happen slowly and the impact is not so big so there is not so much personal satisfaction. The contribution you make here doesn't seem as life-changing as compared with working in a developing country," Chiam says.
Despite the post-war environment and poverty in southeast Liberia, she never felt threatened.
"The Red Cross are a big organisation so they can spend the time finding the right person for the job and taking care of them. They enforced security so much that I felt really safe.
"I heard stories about people stealing money and machinery from aid organisations but that never happened to us.
"It was my role to deliver so many wells and to make sure the community had proper sanitation. The Red Cross looked after the living conditions and transportation. It made it easy and I found that very refreshing."
Originally, Chiam had planned on doing some work in a developing country in her retirement.
But when she saw the television coverage of the tsunami in South Asia, she wanted to help.
Six months later, she was in the Maldives, implementing desalination plants on behalf of the Red Cross.
The atolls and little islands which make up the Maldives did not have a water supply and rain water harvesting tanks were damaged.
Chiam's team installed desalination plants and a community distribution system.
"I didn't really know what to expect to be honest.
I was afraid I would not provide the assistance they needed as I wasn't a very experienced engineer.
"Once I got there, I was more comfortable knowing, 'Yes, I can do this job', even though I was homesick from time to time.
"Another challenging aspect of aid work is making do with what is available. Coming from Auckland, where labour and materials are easily arranged, it can be difficult to adapt to a place where you can't take anything for granted."
In her six months in the Maldives, Chiam had to organise for materials to be shipped from India or Sri Lanka. Physically getting the materials to some of the islands, with no wharf available, was testing.
"You have to use the available resources and the appropriate technology," she says.
"I loved it and knew instantly that I wanted to do more of this. I came back for six months, then went to Liberia for a year.
"Now that I am back here I know that my choice of career would be having a base at home and then doing one or two missions from time to time, shorter ones, maybe not for a year."
On her first mission, Chiam took six months' leave without pay. For Liberia, she resigned. In the future she hopes to do short-term missions.
"Half of us choose to have a career and a home base somewhere and then fly around wherever we can help out and the other half are going from one mission to another and have being an aid worker as a career."
Some humanitarian organisations pay quite well and recognise people are bringing in a skill that is hard to find.
"They pay you enough to pay the bills at home too. Some organisations really depend on people volunteering their time.
"So some people are doing it for income and then the others, the volunteers, they are really doing it to test if they want to be an aid worker for a job."
Part of the buzz for Chiam is going to places where ordinary tourists would not go, at the same time as using her skills to make a contribution.
She gets varying reactions from her friends and family. Many worry about her safety and security, some wonder why she wants to put herself through such hardship and a small number say, "Wow, how exciting".
Currently New Zealand Red Cross, together with NZAID, the Government's international aid agency, supports 21 aid workers in 14 countries using their specialist knowledge to improve the lives of vulnerable people.
* Volunteer service abroad
VSA believes development assistance works best when local people decide their own goals and the type of assistance required to achieve them.
Volunteers share their experience, skills and energy, usually on two-year assignments.
At any given time, there are 100 Kiwis working for VSA in the Pacific, Asia and Africa. They range in age from university students to retired professionals.
Travel costs and medical insurance are covered by VSA and volunteers earn a living wage in line with the local people they are working with.
The Government's aid agency, NZAID, partially funds VSA. The organisation was set up in the 1960s and had Sir Edmund Hillary as its founding president.
For more information see www.vsa.org.nz.
* How to become a Red Cross aid worker
Before heading overseas as an aid worker for the New Zealand Red Cross, applicants have to go on a basic training course.
The six-day selection and training programme provides information on the structure and mandate of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, case studies from practical field experience, training in international humanitarian law, life in the field sessions, security and media training.
Once a candidate has successfully attended the basic training course, they are placed on a database and wait to apply for international vacancies as they arise.
Successful New Zealand Red Cross aid workers are seconded to work for the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) or the International Federation of the Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) when suitable positions arise.
In some cases, aid workers are offered immediate deployment, while others may wait some time before a suitable mission becomes available.
With the exception of some emergencies, standard missions will range from six to 18 months.
Aid workers are employed by the New Zealand Red Cross on fixed- term employment agreements which cover salaries, travel costs and in-country allowances.
With the exception of long-term postings, all positions are unaccompanied.
On standard missions, aid workers have the weekends off. Depending on the length of the mission, they also have allocated time off away from their deployment to have a real break from work.
The range of professions recruited by the Red Cross include humanitarian disaster management professionals, logisticians, water/sanitation engineers, doctors and nurses, programme managers, organisational development specialists, finance and administration staff, construction workers, engineers and shelter experts, protection and detention delegates, information technology and telecommunications staff, and fleet managers.
Strong communication skills are a must-have requirement as well as initiative, diplomacy, cultural sensitivity and the ability to live and work in a team.
For more information, see www.redcross.org.nz.
