Although he now thinks it was probably the best decision he ever made, when Opart Ongwandee signed up for a post in the World Food Programme's IT department 10 years ago, he had no idea that the job would so completely transform his existence.
Opart Ongwandee.
Funded entirely by donations, the WFP is a United Nations body that is responsible for eliminating hunger and is currently assisting people in 14 countries in Asia alone.
"I must admit that, at the time I applied, I didn't know much about what the World Food Programme did, but the job description was interesting since I was already in the IT field," said Opart, who joined up in 2004. "But only a few months later, I learned, the hard way, about what the organisation does and about how much I myself could do to help others."
He was referring to his first mission: providing assistance to Indonesian victims of the tsunami that caused much death and destruction in coastal areas across the region on December 26 that year. Hovering above the ground in a military helicopter, he was greeted by a sight that would linger in his mind for life. "Everything was completely wiped out, save for some flooring tiles where homes must have once been. There were bodies everywhere, in very depressing conditions.
"On the one hand, I was shocked and devastated to see it, but on the other I felt good that I was there to offer help," said Opart whose job title at the WFP is Regional Information & Communication Technology Officer, Regional Bureau for Asia.
His role is to set up telecommunication and logistic systems for the local population and for any other organisations who arrive later to offer help. In the absence of a basic communication infrastructure, such as mobile phones, landlines and the internet, help can be difficult to arrange, he explained.
"When a disaster strikes, the first kind of assistance people need is not just food and water. Without a communications network, food and water take longer to reach those who need it because nowadays we rely so much on the internet. Also, when people have been through such a massive trauma they want to get in touch with loved ones to assure them that they're still alive. They want to go online to see if they're safe or if they should brace for worse to come. That's why we are always the first to get to the site of a disaster: it's our job to make the provision of assistance easier for others."
Opart explained that when something as severe as a typhoon or tsunami wipes out a settlement, that location becomes very isolated because its links to the outside world — roads and communication networks — have been destroyed. The local people cannot ask for help if they are unable to communicate with outsiders, and help cannot be delivered without a logistic infrastructure being in place.
He compared the hands-on experience he acquired in Indonesia after the Boxing Day tsunami to an intensive course that taught him all the skills he needed to do his job effectively. The time he spent helping the victims of that natural disaster also made it clear to him that he had chosen the correct career path.
"Before joining the WFP, I worked in the corporate world. I'd been on many business trips, but the sole mission of those trips was to make as much money for the company as possible. Here, my job is to help others as quickly as possible, without any monetary incentive involved. I really appreciate the chance to help those in need," said Opart, who has participated in several major WFP operations since then, including a spell in the Philippines last year in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.
Opart does not consider his job to be particularly self-sacrificing, although it certainly gives the impression of being so. He often has to sleep on hard ground, in a tent, just like the disaster victims he is helping, a far cry from his comfortable home in Bangkok. His life is also sometimes put at risk. In a close call that still haunts him today, a colleague of his, who had been dispatched to Pakistan to take over Opart's duties, was killed in a suicide bombing only a few days after relieving Opart.
"I always think that it could easily have been me. I had just left that place two days before and it happened out of the blue," he said referring to an attack by two suicide bombers on the All Saints Church in Peshawar last September. But that close call doesn't seem to have changed his mind about the kind of work he is doing, mostly because he knows how much his help matters to people in disaster-stricken areas; how so many people's lives depend on his efforts. The cherry on top of the cake, so to speak, is that he loves rising to the various challenges that the job involves.
"Look at how long it took to set up a mobile phone network in Thailand; it took several big firms about 20 years to get where we are today. But when I visit the scene of a disaster, they expect everything to be up and running within a day! I have to work 10 times faster than normal and I can't afford to waste a single minute."
One of the perks of his job is the opportunity to see places that few other outsiders get a chance to visit. He notes that while he has been to many of the same countries as his friends have, the experiences he and they have are rarely comparable. His memories of Nepal, for example, are vastly different from his friends' experience of going on a guided tour there.
And the most beautiful thing he has ever seen? People's kindness to each other, was his reply.
"Certainly, my job is very stressful and those sorts of situations can bring out the worst qualities in people. Colleagues of mine who are normally funny and playful will sometimes scream at each other in times of crisis. But the flip side is that I get to see that the world is full of kind people who are eager to help others. It's not always about money and donations, although that certainly is a way to help. It's nice to see how people will do whatever they can to make others feel better," he said, a smile of contentment creasing his features.
"My faith in humanity is constantly being restored."
