Spirituality: a neglected resource in humanitarian work

摘要

I would very much like to thank Alison Schafer for her paper on the need for spiritual nurture in emergency situations. I have always wondered why an area that is an essential part of people's culture and way of life, is so often neglected within interventions. I also wonder why this topic seems so difficult to discuss, and generates tension and sometimes ridicule, among aid workers. The lack of evidence based research, proving that it works, fuels arguments for not taking spirituality seriously. However, this not a convincing reason to me. Humanitarian practitioners often accept and respect non-evidence based practices.