University of Birmingham - Protect and survive

Humanitarian aid agencies must strike a reasonable balance between looking after their own safety and carrying out their duties, a lecturer who travelled to Haiti to help victims of the earthquake has urged. Moustafa Osman, who went to Haiti with the agency Islamic Relief, teaches a course on disaster management at the University of Birmingham. He said of his experiences: "There were several times that I felt my life was in danger. I confiscated a machete and temporarily evacuated some of my colleagues from the camp."