Echos in Time
Echos in time.
Squiggles of disturbances during the early morning hours.
Arising from the darkness of the great beyond.
Floating, and not tethered, returning on a yearly cycle,
Dependably at this time, four days before the winter solstice.
Like a tide, for some it is stronger, and for some it is weaker.
Forever imprinted in the elements, and calling to be acknowledged.
Our departed humanitarian colleagues, have left footsteps, voices and results of their work.
Their stories are in the air.
Their passion and fire is still burning in those who carry on.
Mingling and dispersed everywhere, the joys of healing, flowing from person to person.
The memory of them, imprinted in the earth.
Often in items and lands now broken and/or lost,
It is a memory that needs preserving, acknowledging.
A memory that deserves more than just echos
Only perceptible by those who might be sensitive to them.
I commemorate the 17 December as a Remembrance Day for humanitarian workers who were killed, injured or taken hostage. It would be only appropriate that there should also be a physical location dedicated to remembrance, accessible on any day of the year. That is why I welcome the ICRC’s project of the construction of a memorial at the Garden of Remembrance at their headquarters in Geneva. This place will serve as a symbol for the dedication, achievements and passion of humanitarian work, and in memory bear the names of our colleagues who have gone before.
The project is funded by contributions from different sources, not the least also from individual donations. I like to ask and appeal to you to participate and contribute to the building of this place. No donation is too small to not have an impact. Please become part, and in spirit, a co-owner of this project.
Details of the projects can be found on this website: https://www.icrc-alumni.org/memorial
Please do not be put off by the stated deadline of 15 December 2025 – the funding goal has not quite been reached yet and it would be great if we could raise another CHF 15’000 before the end of the year – or as soon as possible.
As many of my work colleagues in the humanitarian sector, I have lost close work colleagues to killings, injury and hostage taking. The memory of those people is still here in the stories we tell, the passion we feel and the healing they have brought. Please help to make that memory also physically visible and touchable at the Garden of Remembrance, by enabling the creation of a place of acknowledgement and contemplation.
This is about giving those echos in time a place to resonate!
Christoph Hensch