HWF is fortunate to count among its volunteers a wide variety of backgrounds — some from the world of healthcare, others from entirely different fields. The volunteer we’re introducing here belongs to that second group: after a career as an architect and cartographer, Alain joined HWF. He brings a valuable outside perspective and helps work out which type of equipment best suits each healthcare facility.

“To be honest, apart from maybe open-heart surgery at the age of six, nothing about my path pointed me toward the medical world — I studied architecture at Saint-Luc in Brussels, then cartography in Namur.

It was through my good family doctor, who suggested I join HWF — an organisation I knew absolutely nothing about — that the idea gradually took shape. I had no background in the field whatsoever, but once I’d reached retirement he still managed to talk me into giving volunteering at HWF a try, just for a few hours.

A little (a lot?!) nervous at first, I found myself among genuinely lovely people — easy-going, tolerant and interesting. So I stayed, and I’ve never regretted it.

I’m one of the odd-job hands here: I test equipment, for instance — stethoscopes, PC monitors, that sort of thing. ‘They’ tell me it’s sometimes useful to have an ‘outside’ opinion when the choices get tricky or delicate…

In this NGO world, I’ve come across some truly remarkable people, tolerant and full of resilience, along with some seriously motivated project leaders. I’ve also come to grasp just how hard it is to coordinate humanitarian aid, with all its choices and its costs.

So this team of volunteers does remarkable work — work that deserves more visibility. And, to my mind, a touch more modernity too — in stock management, for example — to make it all even easier and more efficient!”

– Alain Genette