Celebrating 40 Years of ADRA – Michael’s Story

To mark our 40 year anniversary, we wanted to hear from some of our staff and showcase a significant experience or memory they have from their time at ADRA.

Today’s story comes from Michael Peach, Senior Coordinator Network Emergency Preparedness for ADRA International. Michael started with ADRA as a volunteer in 1997 and found opportunities to explore both sides of ADRA’s work: development and relief.

“It can be difficult to get into humanitarian work as a young person, but I encourage people to explore volunteer opportunities locally and overseas,” Michael says. “It’s really rewarding and opens up opportunities to transition into paid employment in our network of more than 100 country offices.”

Between 2000-2005, Michael worked as a Program Manager at ADRA Australia. During this time, he did a project visit to Laos in 2003, when our CEO, Denison Grellmann, was the ADRA Laos Country Director.

“I enjoyed development work but knew that disaster response was more my thing,” Michael says. “I responded to the Asia tsunami in December 2004 and then moved my family to Thailand for three years in 2005 to coordinate the long-term recovery from the disaster.”

In 2006, ADRA developed the global Emergency Response Team (ERT) training. ADRA provides emergency management and disaster response training to select staff members worldwide. Then, in times of mega disasters, ADRA has a pool of trained individuals ready to be deployed to disaster zones.

“I was part of the first group through the ERT training in Indonesia,” Michael says.

Ever since then, Michael has been heavily involved in emergency management, both with ADRA and other agencies.

“Disasters are becoming more frequent, more intense, and increasingly protracted,” Michael says. “ADRA’s work in disaster preparedness and response is not slowing down and I encourage young Australians to explore this line of work as a career. See what university courses are available here in Australia, get some local experience with your local Government or other civil society organisations, and then consider an international mission. ADRA needs the next generation of young people to be thinking “how can I get involved in the next 5-10 years?'”

Watch Michael’s video below to hear some of his reflections of what it’s like to be on the ground in a disaster.