Author Archives: Alessandra Pigni
Emptying my cup
‘Pause to move forward’ generally happens naturally in spring and autumn in my life. With markers and a big sketch-book I write down without censoring: what I’ve done over the past year what I’m doing now, and what I want … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged activism and aid work, reflection and action
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What’s your motivation?
‘Massive salaries seem to keep people going pretty well in South Sudan, from what I can tell: “Grin and bank it”‘ wrote a humanitarian professional in a LinkedIn discussion on burnout. I’m not sure how popular the comment was, but … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged aid workers' wellbeing, reflection and action
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Saving the world?
‘To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is itself to succumb to the violence of … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged activism and aid work, reflection and action
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Mindfulness and ’empty boats’
‘There’s a Zen story in which a man is enjoying himself on a river at dusk. He sees another boat coming down the river toward him. At first it seems so nice to him that someone else is also enjoying … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged mindfulness for aid workers, reflection and action
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Presenteeism and Burnout
A strange phenomena appears with those who are at risk, or suffer from burnout, it is called ‘presenteeism’. No matter how unwell you feel, or what you are going through in your personal life, you will show up at work. Continue reading
Posted in Burnout
Tagged aid workers' burnout, organizational culture in aid
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Jerusalem, stress and burnout
Obama is coming to town There’s never a dull moment in this land! I leave Jerusalem on a windy March morning, helicopters hovering over the city, freshly printed banners hang from lamp-posts declaring the unbreakable bond between Israel and the … Continue reading
Forget work-life balance!
I find most of the material I come across on work-life balance irrelevant. We need work, and we need rest: yes, even God gave it a rest on the 7th day. As much as I have my issues with Shabbat, as … Continue reading
Change and transition
It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions. They aren’t the same thing. Change is situational: the move to a new site, the reorganisation of the roles on the team, the start of a new job in … Continue reading
Making space, making time
Creating an oasis of quiet It is easier to do trivial things that seem urgent, than to do important things that are not urgent…. – adapted from John Cleese One cannot make room for care, learning and reflection – which … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged aid workers' wellbeing, reflection and action
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The beggar, the thief and the precious gem
How changing the world starts from within ‘Once upon a time a thief running away from guards noted a beggar sleeping in a dark alley. He secretly put the small but priceless piece of jewellery he had just stolen into … Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged aid workers' wellbeing, humanitarian ethics, reflection and action
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