He is NORCAP's staff care adviser and the right person to turn to if you are going through a difficult time.
“We don't automatically know what triggers stress or issues with the deployees, so it is vital that they pick up on the signs and contact us when things get tough”, he says.
Being a NORCAP expert means working in challenging environments and often stressful situations with people from all kinds of backgrounds. It also means being away from home, family and friends for a long time and in areas which can make it difficult to stay in touch.
NORCAP places strong emphasis on the welfare of the staff deployed to conflict and disaster areas. Close engagement with experts before, during and after their deployment is critical to NORCAP's staff care system
Continuous stress
Ole Martin has been a staff care adviser with NORCAP for the last three years. He has his background in psycho therapy and has worked with NGOs in South- and Latin-America and with refugees and asylum-seekers in Belgium.
After countless conversations with deployees, he knows a lot about the challenges and difficulties that people meet on mission.
“Usually it is not a single dramatic event that is most difficult to handle, but continuous stress over time. For instance, we experience e more challenges with local managers who are not able to communicate with their staff, than with anything else”, he says.
Confidential contact and counselling
The many stress factors in the life of a deployee is the main reason why effective debriefing is crucial. Every year, NORCAP conducts debriefs with approximately 100 roster members.
During debriefings members share experiences on topics like harsh working conditions in the field, unhealthy food, poor accommodation, heat and illness, as well as conflicts in the office and the lack of interpersonal and communication skills.
But deployees can also get in touch with Ole Martin outside of the official debriefings.
“There are many who need to talk and they have very different concerns. The fact that you can contact me confidentially is also a comfort to some and I try to get back to everyone within a day or two”, he says.
If you need additional support, the NRC will pay for up to ten counselling sessions, either while you’re on mission or after completing a mission.
“There is an increasing number of deployees who want this kind of treatment, which I think is great. Being a NORCAP expert is challenging work, and a challenging lifestyle, over time and I believe it is an important and very useful way of building your own resilience”, Ole Martin stresses.
Newcomers sceptical
People who go on missions for the first time are often most reluctant to get in touch with Ole Martin. They are worried it will look like they are not able to do their jobs and cannot handle their working environment.
“On the contrary, we don’t look at it as a sign of weakness if people contact us on their first mission. To us that is a signal of responsibility and strength, and we’d much rather they contact us at an early stage than wait. Often stress accumulated over time is much more difficult to deal with”, he says.
Useful tools and techniques
In order to combat problems that usually occur during a deployment, Ole Martin says it is important to find ways to relax and get away from work, which in some places can be a challenge in itself.
“If you are in a high risk area, your movement is often very restricted and you could be in a prison-like existence. We try to give our experts tools for relaxing and many tell us that they use these techniques while on mission. Some also try to get together with other deployees and share their experiences with them”.
“The most important thing is that you are able to read your body’s signals and when things get tough, you act on it, whether it is by doing exercises, taking some time off or picking up the phone to talk to me, says Ole Martin.