2021 Book Talk Series
Discovering the World of Humanitarian Aid
About the Event
“The Realities of Life as an Aid Worker” is the final event in VCWA’s three part Book Talk Series: Discovering the World of Humanitarian Aid. This all women’s series will explore the complexity of international humanitarian aid, assess its impacts – for better or worse – on local communities, and share strategies for increasing its effectiveness. Authors include researchers, journalists and humanitarians who will share from their unique on-the ground experiences around the world.
This final event will feature special guest, Jessica Alexander, a humanitarian aid professional, as she discusses her book “Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid."
This series is free to all VCWA members. We encourage individuals to purchase and read the book prior to the talk, however it is not required in order to participate. This event will be via ZOOM.
We look forward to welcoming you to this discussion on the challenges and realities of the work as a humanitarian. VCWA Board Member, Denise Johnson, will moderate.
About the Book
Jessica Alexander arrived in Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide as an idealistic intern, eager to contribute to the work of the international humanitarian aid community. But the world that she encountered in the field was dramatically different than anything she could have imagined. It was messy, chaotic, and difficult—but she was hooked.
In this honest and irreverent memoir, she introduces readers to the realities of life as an aid worker. We watch as she manages a 24,000-person camp in Darfur, collects evidence for the Charles Taylor trial in Sierra Leone, and contributes to the massive aid effort to clean up a shattered Haiti. But we also see the alcohol-fueled parties and fleeting romances, the burnouts and self-doubt, and the struggle to do good in places that have long endured suffering.
Tracing her personal journey from wide-eyed and naïve newcomer to hardened cynic and, ultimately, to hopeful but critical realist, Alexander transports readers to some of the most troubled locations around the world and shows us not only the seemingly impossible challenges, but also the moments of resilience and recovery.
About the Author
Jessica Alexander
Author
Jessica Alexander is a humanitarian aid professional with experience in operations, evaluation and policy. Her career includes global deployments spanning Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. She has conducted large scale evaluations, assessments and policy research for the UN, Red Cross and various NGOs on a range of humanitarian issues including: child protection, shelter, emergency education, coordination, accountability and humanitarian effectiveness. She has also overseen programming in Sudan, South Sudan and Haiti.
Jessica is two-time Fulbright grantee who received the award to research Japan’s approach to disaster risk reduction in 2019 and the use of child soldiers in Sierra Leone in 2006. She received a Master of Public Health and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University. She is an editor at The New Humanitarian and teaches humanitarian affairs at numerous global universities. She has authored policy papers and mainstream articles about the humanitarian sector and is the author of “Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid."
About the Moderator
Denise Johnson
Vermont Supreme Court, ret.
The Honorable Denise R. Johnson was the first woman to be appointed a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. She served on the Court for 21 years. She participated in historic decisions regarding public school funding, gay marriage, and the right to privacy in one’s home, as well as numerous decisions reviewing criminal trials and procedure.
She was a leader in improving access to justice and was active in the field of continuing judicial education for appellate judges nationwide. In international work, Justice Johnson lectured on criminal procedure at the Universita di Trento, Trento, Italy, and on property rights and employment at-will at the Universita degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy. From 2012 – 2014, she was a Legal Specialist for the American Bar Association’s Judicial Reform Program in Yerevan, Armenia, and its Criminal Defense Capacity Programs in Belgrade, Serbia and Skopje, Macedonia. In 2016-2017, she was the Director of Judicial Education in Cairo, Egypt for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative.