Coping with Aid Bureaucracy Through Humor

by Daniel J Gerstle · 2010-01-28 09:11:00 UTC
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Now that we've come to terms with the enormous task ahead in Haiti -- and DR Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, inner cities, and on and on -- momentum will slow and motivations will buckle with each reminder of the sheer scale of the demand for reconstruction and assistance.

Some backseat compassioneers may be surprised, but many field workers rejuvenate in these times on the darkest gallows humor. Here are some great examples to put a shine on the moon.

My friend Manu has been drawing global affairs comics for quite some time in New York, then Berkeley. Now he's putting together a website of greatest hits and new zingers coming out in the next weeks. Already he's heard back from people in many countries on this recent hit comic, The UN Addresses a Critical Issue. [If link isn't fixed yet, go here: http://www.helo-magazine.com/wit.] Several confirmed that it's even posted at UN and aid agency compounds in remotest Chad.

But if you want something to buy and take with you, there's a terrific satire of the West Asia wars and reconstruction in Garry Trudeau's Tee Time in Berzerkistan. In the states, you might still have a chance to get a copy signed while he's on tour. To get a sense of what it's like, Berzerkistan's president is named Trff Bmzklfrpz (pronounced "Ptklm"). And he's building a golf course in the desert.

For something more serious about humanitarian issues but with a bit of comic wit, definitely read Josh Neufeld's lively and honest comix journalism on Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. And there's always the comix of the great Joe Sacco on Palestine, Bosnia, and beyond.

Photo credit: Emmanuel Letouze

Daniel J Gerstle is a journalist, human rights researcher, and humanitarian aid consultant. He is Editor and Chief Correspondent for HELO: The Crisis Story Magazine.
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