HUMANITARIAN CAREERS to MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE

Have you ever wondered what people do in social work?

Are you someone who is interested in social work?

Do you want social work as a career option?

If you want to know more about social work, then this blog post is for you!

Kavya Narayanan is a program officer at South India AIDS Action Program. She is currently working on a project that focuses on the mental health of adolescents in low-income communities in Chennai.

Mental health is one of the key factors for a peaceful life in today’s world. This amazing personality is keen on exploring and researching the intersectional mental health of marginalized communities. She has dedicated her time and commitment to social projects.

In today’s world, where people are running behind money-making jobs, she shifted from her life sciences background to work in the humanitarian sector. She somehow always knew that she wanted to work as a social worker which is why she made a huge transition in her career life.

She has always wanted to be part of something bigger and she believes that the low-income communities have been unrewarded for a very long time which is why she chose to work with them.

Here are the excerpts from The Guiding Voice conversation with her on #TGV170. The episode link is in the first comment!

Career options in the Humanitarian sector:

There are a number of opportunities in the humanitarian sector.

For an NGO to work, people are needed for administration, accounting, managing, financing, fundraising, operation managers, and program officers. Outside this people are also needed in academia, policy research, and policy analysis. Here is a post with details of 20 different career choices in the Humanitarian sector

https://www.humanrightscareers.com/magazine/20-humanitarian-careers-to-make-a-real-difference/

Common myths about working in the humanitarian sector:

People have a wrong belief that working with an NGO means doing charity work like providing free food, food clothes, and free gifts.

But there is more to it.

The lack and the need in the community are fulfilled by the NGO workers.

For e.g.; communities lacking proper roads or public toilets are made accessible by the workers.

Providing the special needs people with the necessities and helping people with serious mental illnesses are some of the works done by these social workers.

Spreading awareness to the people and finding the root cause of the problems they are facing can be one way of solving the issues that are faced by them.

New trends in Social Work:

The caregiving economy is blooming in the communities which are completely different from caretaking. There are behavioral change analysts, health coaches, personalized coaches, and mental health apps for people who are in need of mental health advice.

Mental health is being mainstream in society and the services the mental health advocates provide are remarkable.

Kavya’s message to her younger version:

Grow with the people around. It’s okay to ask for help and it’s okay to help people around and a lot of change can be seen if people work together as a team on a common cause.

Advice to those aspiring to make BIG in their career:

One will always succeed if he or she keeps people in mind. One works with people and for the people because the future is people-centric design.

Therefore, one should always keep people in mind. And as for money, it will automatically flow into man as time pass.

Now that you have read insights on careers in the humanitarian sector, we look forward to your suggestions and input on how to spread awareness in this field.

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Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.