Grabhorn - Seeking light : portraits of humanitarian action in war

Bone-chilling cold seeped into the Land Cruiser as we drove fast down a road lined with high snowbanks. The snow had a purple twilight glow as night descended. In the headlights a policeman stood in the road, waving us down. It was impossible not to notice that we were riding in a Red Cross vehicle with the flag flying behind us and the insignia painted on all sides. Three delegates, an interpreter and I had been driving to villages and refugee camps in eastern Croatia all day. The policeman said there was an old woman alone in a house nearby and he was concerned she was very sick, or even worse, dying. Dianne Paul, one of the delegates, immediately asked to be taken to the womans house.

We followed the policeman and on entering the house found the woman in bed, buried under layers of blankets. The fire had gone out and with no heat, the house was the same temperature as outside, below 0F. She had not left the bed in days and was lying in excrement. Dianne gave the orders and soon the woman was on a stretcher and loaded into the Land Cruiser. We all squeezed in and drove her to the closest hospital. The admitting nurses were not happy to see the woman; they recognized her and said that they do not take in the indigent. Dianne explained in a heartfelt way how it was their duty to take her in, clean her up and give her a warm place for the night, which they did.

Diannes instinctive response showed me that when you are faced with someone in need and have the capacity to respond, then you must. This detour had nothing to do with our mission and everything to do with responding. Days before Dianne had said goodbye to her husband and two young boys back in the United States, whom she was leaving behind for three months. She had come to Croatia to help refugee children whod fled the fighting and ethnic cleansing in Vukovar, Bosnia, and were dealing with the trauma of having their lives destroyed.

Every day people leave the comfort of their lives and homes to help others. When fighting erupts, humanitarian workers enter the conflict zones to make a difference in the lives of those in need. This book shows some of the humanitarian responses to armed conflict. It also tells the story of my personal journey traveling and photographing in intense places with subjects that became embedded in my soul.

Much of this book focuses on the time I spent documenting the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). I have tremendous respect and admiration for their work, their delegates and their staff. This respect has grown over the years as I have experienced life more deeply and broadly. The ICRC is the only organization with the mission of preserving the dignity of people affected by war and standing up for basic principles and rules of humanitarian law. These rules protect the needs of those who are wounded, hungry, without a home, without clean water, cut off from contact with family members, or those who laid down their weapons or were captured as prisoners of war. As long as humanity turns to armed conflict it must also respect the need for basic humanitarian responses to the suffering that is caused by that choice. War is not dignified, but there is dignity to be found and maintained within the hardship of war.

It is my hope that the images in these pages speak to you at a level of feeling beyond the minds reach. I also hope that you are called to act, in whatever way you are able, on behalf of others in need wherever you see them: at home, at work, on the street or out in a distant country somewhere. We all become humanitarians when we answer the call and act.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is present in some eighty countries with around 12,000 staff worldwide. Its extensive network of missions and delegations allows it to act close to people affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with a meaningful response to their plight. The ten largest operations worldwide today are the Syrian Arab Republic, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Iraq, Mali, Israel and the Occupied Territories, Sudan, and Colombia. ICRC.org

The photographs in this book are from:

Abkhazia Azerbaijan Angola Armenia Bosnia Burundi Croatia Caucuses Chechnya Colombia Cambodia Democratic Republic of the Congo Georgia Guatemala Kenya Liberia Mali Nepal Nagorno-Karabakh Philippines Rwanda Senegal Somalia South Africa

Working in Conflict

Beledweyne, Somalia. September 1992

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.... Serve and thou shall be served.

Ralph Waldo Emerson