WASH: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene - Essay Example

I wish to join the International Rescue Committee (IRC) based in Garowe in Somalia because I possess the potential, prerequisite knowledge and experience required to make a difference. According to Godfrey (2005), the IRC responds to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world by helping people survive and rebuild their lives. The IRC’s objectives and goals inspire me to contribute to alleviating the suffering of people afflicted by calamities, and in the process acquire more experience and knowledge with regard to disaster management.

My training on several essential WASH courses with redr.uk on mock WASH cluster gives me an added advantage. This is borne out of the fact that during these training sessions I have to collaborate with other WASH actors in identifying and addressing gaps in an emergency response. Given this opportunity to work with the IRC in Garowe in Somalia, I will be able to apply and test the viability of the proposed strategies to address the gaps in emergency response. My focus will be to address and enhance WASH protocols in a bid to improve disaster emergency responses by filling the gaps identified.

This will include conducting household water and hygiene promotion and assessments to gauge the safety and appropriateness of available water sources in use during and after disasters. This will be in an effort to mitigate the effects of unsanitary water sources in calamities. To this effect, my experiences will enable me to easily identify WASH related factors needed to control and eliminate neglected tropical and respiratory diseases. This has also enabled me to formulate prevention strategies against water-borne diseases and water-related insect vector disease phenomena, which I can apply to improve the capacity of IRC.