Honoring Courage and Commitment
Although they rarely make headlines, aid workers perform great deeds every day. To carry out our mission, the IRC depends on the dedicated men and women who work with us around the world. We recognize a few of these dedicated staff members through the annual Sarlo Foundation Awards for Distinguished Humanitarian Service.
RANIA ALI ABDALLA
Environmental Health Manager
Somalia
Rania has worked in Sudan and Somalia, two of the most diffi cult and challenging places where the IRC provides humanitarian assistance. From 2004 through 2007, Rania managed the environmental health programs that aid people who have been uprooted by fighting in Darfur. Under difficult and stressful circumstances, she worked tirelessly to improve conditions in the displaced persons camps, focusing on water and sanitation services as well as disease-preventing hygiene practices.This year, Rania moved to Somalia, where civil conflict has uprooted a million people and where there is a desperate need for the humanitarian assistance she provides.
AMINA SULEIMAN FARAH
Resettlement Case Manager
San Diego, California
Amina arrived in the United States as a refugee from Somalia in 1997. For nine years, Amina has worked as a case manager in the IRC’s San Diego resettlement office, helping new arrivals adjust to life in California. On her own time, as a member of the refugee women’s leadership training program, Amina teaches refugee women in San Diego County the skills they need to lead independent lives. She holds weekend and evening meetings at which the women discuss problems and exchange ideas. She has gained keen insight into the special needs of refugee women,insights which she continually shares with colleagues.
AMIE KANDEH
Gender-Based Violence Prevention Coordinator
Sierra Leone
After fleeing Sierra Leone with her family during the country’s civil war, Amie returned there in 2002 to put her skills as an educator and counselor to use in rebuilding the country. Amie is widely regarded as one of the leading voices on women’s issues in Sierra Leone. She started and manages three sexual-assault referral centers—the fi rst in West Africa. She drafted the section of the national reproductive health policy devoted to violence against women. She authored a manual on how to recognize sexual abuse in schools and has organized legal workshops on women’s and children’s rights. In a major achievement, she helped gain passage of three national laws in 2007 that radically improved the rights of Sierra Leonean women.
RABIOU MANZO
Resettlement Program Manager
Boise, Idaho
Rabiou joined the fledgling Boise resettlement office in 2006. Originally from Niger, he is fluent in Russian, French and the African Ewe dialect. His hard work and determination quickly earned him promotion to resettlement program manager. Rabiou is known as the “heartbeat” of the Boise office. His colleagues praise him for the humility and humor he demonstrates while maintaining an absolute commitment to helping new refugees adjust to life in Boise and feel at home.
DR. PASCAL NGOY
Primary Health Care Policy Advisor
Democratic Republic of Congo
Pascal is one of the most effective and least recognized humanitarians working in his native country of Congo. His remarkable contributions include influential field studies on health care and war. His advocacy has been instrumental in attracting international aid to Congo. Pascal’s most recognized achievement is his leadership of two IRC mortality studies, in 2004 and 2007, that helped document the war and humanitarian crisis in Congo as the world’s deadliest since World War II. The latest study, which estimates that 5.4 million people have died in Congo as a result of poverty and disease caused by war, has been reported by the news media worldwide. To conduct these studies, Pascal paddled canoes, rode motorcycles and walked hundreds of miles to visit households in the most remote areas of Congo. While many talented doctors leave Africa, Pascal is more committed than ever to improving the health of his people.
