The first hour of the webinar and the presentation are available here below.
For the fourth webinar of the year, CoCreate Humanity gave the voice to children of humanitarian workers. And, for this special topic, we had the pleasure to welcome Géna Benavente.
Géna shared her story for the first time. At 20 years old, she already lived in eight different countries before settling down in Lyon, France. Before we asked Géna if she could raised up that special topic, and to organize a visioconférence for CCH as a speaker, she never really thought about it.
Here are some bullet points explaining what Géna as shared with us:
(1) Who is she, why a webinar on that topic, and where has she lived?
(2) Her father as a humanitarian worker and her mother as a humanitarian
(3) The advantages and disadvantages of being the child of a humanitarian worker (lots of travels, impact on mental health, disrupted education etc.)
(4) Testimonies of other children of humanitarian workers
(5) The impact of this experience on her life today
(6) Ressources
The webinar took place on Thursday 28 April from 6-8pm (CET - Geneva time).
Please do not hesitate to share this online video with your colleagues and other humanitarians.
WHO IS OUR EXPERT-SPEAKER?
My name is Géna Benavente, I am a 20-year-old Psychology student, pursuing my bachelor in psychology in France, and for about 17 years of my life, I have lived abroad in multiple countries.
My father being a humanitarian worker, my family and I traveled a lot from country to country. His name is José Benavente and he is the founder of Pilotes Volontaires. Pilotes Volontaires is a non-profit association whose action consists of providing aerial observation support to search and rescue operations at sea, enabling the location of boats in distress.
I recently started an internship with CoCreate Humanity and my interest in Psychology, linked to my habit of living abroad, have led me to pursue these studies in order to work as a psychologist in the humanitarian sector. In the context of my studies, I have a particular interest in the notion of trauma and trauma therapy. This choice also stems from my family history, as I am half Ugandan and half French. My experience as the child of a humanitarian worker has had a big impact on various aspects of my life such as my personality and my career choice, and has shaped who I am today and who I want to be tomorrow.
"Être l’enfant d’un travailleur humanitaire, c’est finalement être un enfant d’ici, et d’ailleurs, c’est finalement être un enfant du monde qui saura vivre ici et là-bas | To be the child of a humanitarian worker is, in the end, to be a child of here and there, to be a child of the world who will know how to live here and there." - Géna Benavente
HER FATHER: JOSÉ BENAVENTE
Credit photo: Martin Colombet | Libération, 17 Januray 2021 | Biography, source Bioforce.
Since 1993, when he trained at Bioforce, José has never stopped working with the most vulnerable: first on water and sanitation programmes with Action contre la Faim and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), then, passionate about aviation and convinced of its strategic importance for humanitarian interventions in remote areas, he trained as a professional pilot and became a coordinator of humanitarian air operations.
Like anyone committed to serving the most vulnerable, the sometimes tragic odysseys of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean Sea have moved him. As an aviation professional, he wonders how the boats of the associations involved manage to spot the frail boats and bring them help. He contacted the sea rescue associations and his questions were confirmed: yes, it is impossible to spot them, only luck makes them cross the path of those who have fled often inhuman living conditions to find shelter on the other side of the Mediterranean. What if the solution was to fly over the Mediterranean to guide the rescue boats? Pilotes Volontaires (Voluntary Pilots) was born.
RECORDING
PRESENTATION