Maia Brandstadter is a Psychologist from Argentina. During the internship component of the Glocal program, she was a Programs Officer at IsraAID. Her responsibilities included supporting the Regional Director in follow-up communications between internal departments and the country teams, and collaborating in the development of the annual work plan, proposals, reports, M&E plans, and budgets. Furthermore, Maia was a member of the Protection Team, participating in content development and research. Within this sphere of work, she had the opportunity to join the emergency response in Lesvos, Greece. She held training sessions in PSS & Education for volunteer teachers, and collaborated with colleagues in conducting a needs assessment and designing the mission’s strategy. Glocal helped her to build a comprehensive and broad perspective of International Development and its complexities. Her internship brought her closer to the everyday challenges of this field while balancing the needs, the possibilities, and the potential of all stakeholders. Hence, Glocal was an exciting opportunity to acquire tools and knowledge about humanitarianism, community-work, and gender and feminism. Her internship helped her to enhance her knowledge and experience from both the HQ and the field perspective. The communities she worked with had suffered the effects of the pandemic while dealing with the consequences of other emergencies at the same time (such as Tropical Cyclone Harold in Vanuatu, and the refugee crisis in Greece). However, these communities have proven to be their own engine of change, by creating networks of support, joining efforts to disclose and reinforce hygiene methods, develop educational alternatives, and carrying out emergency responses. 

 

Moria Camp after the fire, Lesvos, Greece. October 2020. Refugees volunteering with IsraAID Hellas in Lesvos. They all have something in common beyond where they come from, the displacement, or what they have lost in the fire. Around that table, Maia met people who shared a love of teaching, the hope to be able to go back to school, and the commitment to be agents of change in their own communities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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