When the Indian Ocean tsunami hit in 2004, hundreds of thousands lost their lives—and millions more were forever altered.

For Tai-Ring Teh, a civil engineer, the tsunami recovery set him on an unexpected path as a humanitarian. Using his engineering skills to help provide clean water for communities who had lost everything in Aceh, Indonesia, he has since devoted his career to supporting people affected by crisis.

From the Solomon Islands to Rwanda, from Nepal to South Sudan and beyond—Tai-Ring has used his engineering skills to help communities gain or regain access to safe water and improved sanitation.

Today, Tai-Ring shares this wealth of experience as a RedR Australia roster member and associate trainer, where he is passionate about mentoring the next generation of humanitarian engineers.

In this episode, Tai-Ring chats with Sally about his formative experiences in the humanitarian sector, the life-sustaining value of water, and why mentoring is essential to developing our next generation of humanitarian and development leaders.

You can read the episode transcript here.

You can join our conversations on LinkedIn and Facebook.

You can find out more about RedR Australia’s training courses here.

Host: Sally Cunningham

Guest: Tai-Ring Teh

Producer, engineer and composer: Jill Farrar

If you’ve worked in the humanitarian sector, it’s likely you’ve supported refugee communities—either directly or indirectly. And with humanitarian emergencies growing around the world, it’s never been more important to discuss the families and communities who suffer most during crises.

In this special episode of Humanitarian Conversations, Sally talks with RedR Australia roster members Ozlem and Greg about their journeys into the humanitarian sector and their experiences supporting refugees.

Originally recorded as a webinar to mark World Refugee Day in June, these two experienced humanitarians share wisdom about working with refugee communities and why quality training is essential when operating in dangerous contexts—from civil wars to cyclones.

You can read the transcript here.

You can find out more about RedR Australia’s training courses here.

Host: Sally Cunningham

Guests: Ozlem and Greg

Producer, engineer and composer: Jill Farrar

Jess Letch is a humanitarian dynamo. From connecting families torn apart by war in Angola, to supporting people to evacuate disputed territories in South Ossetia, to writing a billion-dollar plan to support Ukrainian refugees throughout Europe, Jess has had some challenging and rewarding roles during her humanitarian career.

Growing up in Melbourne Australia, Jess started her career with a social work degree, then soon landed a role working with refugees through the Australian Red Cross.

Now, with 25 years’ experience in the humanitarian and development sectors, she has worked in diverse contexts all over the globe, including across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Pacific.

In this episode, Sally and Jess chat about the challenges of working in conflict zones, the uniqueness of the humanitarian skillset, the importance of building a strong home base when constantly travelling abroad, and the power of strong institutions to protect societies when disaster strikes.

You can join our conversations on LinkedIn and Facebook.

You can find out more about RedR Australia’s training courses here.

Host: Sally Cunningham

Guest: Jess Letch

Producer, engineer and composer: Jill Farrar