March 25, 2017

Buckhall Volunteer Fire Department

March 17, 2015 will undoubtedly be tough to forget for the people in the Humanitarian Action Operating Group (HAWG) and others at class for Conflict review and Resolution, George Mason University. Andrew Baer, a co-founder regarding the group, passed on after he was involved in a car crash in Dubai while going back to america. Andrew is going to be missed for his contributions into the humanitarian team as well as the various other neighborhood teams he had been taking part in during their lifetime. The vacuum cleaner that their absence has actually remaining are going to be difficult to fill.
We found Andrew for the first time on December 4, 2012, at my very first general public event as President of Africa Operating Group (AWG). The big event, “Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo: record, reputation and Future Directions, ” had been well attended by folks from the George Mason campus therefore the Arlington neighborhood. After the occasion, a new guy strolled to me personally, launched himself, and stated “Please invite me if you have any event on Africa.” It was the very first day I came across Andrew, so we became friends. Andrew had been easy-going, made pals quickly, and combined easily with people from different backgrounds and countries. After our very first conference, we maintained contact and talked about job programs.

In March 2013, Andrew participated in the Atlantic Hope Humanitarian Simulation Exercise on Indian River College, Florida as a graduate pupil. He later became an active member of the Consortium for Humanitarian providers and Education (CHSE). He co-founded the Humanitarian Action Working Group (HAWG), the student-led humanitarian working group at S-CAR. Andrew was also the only real editor associated with the Humanitarian Action Monthly Newsletter (HAMN), a newsletter he founded to produce awareness in regards to the humanitarian field.

In 2014, Andrew again participated in the Atlantic Hope workout in a volunteer controller/evaluator part. Prior to the workout, he co-authored a report the Consortium for Humanitarian Services and Education about how to restructure the Ebony Swan Prison element of the Atlantic Hope Workout. The paper “Simulations for Sustainable coverage of Prisoners of War (PoW) and Detainees: The Atlantic Hope and Black Swan Prison Model” explored a brief history of security of prisoners and how a simulation model can enhance comprehension on how to protect detainees, through the point of arrest to eventual incarceration. The suggestion associated with the paper with respect to transportation of detainees rightly captures what causes the current crisis in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray after their arrest and transportation in police custody.

Additionally, during 2014 Atlantic Hope workout, Andrew demonstrated their love for humanitarian matters by playing various roles including supervising hotwash debriefings into the Black Swan jail guard. Upon returning from this 2nd Atlantic Hope exercise, he proceeded to co-author an article “Managing Humanitarian Crisis: The Atlantic Hope Experience, ” posted in SCAR’s Newsletter in May 2014. The article summarized the ability for the Atlantic Hope workout as a model for teaching humanitarian activity.

Along with Andrew’s active involvement when you look at the Humanitarian Operating Group, he was a part for the Nigeria project team at S-CAR whose proposition with the Center for Peace Studies, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria, won the United States Institute for Peace grant for sub-Saharan Africa Universities. The project “Strengthening Graduate Peace and Conflict Studies in Northern Nigeria” would not have already been feasible without Andrew’s contribution. Andrew in addition played a dynamic role in lots of associations and neighborhood teams. He had been treasurer of this Graduate scholar Associaton at S-CAR, and a volunteer utilizing the Buckhall Volunteer Fire division, Prince William County. Andrew had a humanitarian heart; he can be described as a humanitarian professional, always desirous of taking part in tasks that assisted alleviate the plight of susceptible folks.

Andrew had been ready for their chosen profession. He received a BA in national and Global Politics; certificate in Prevention, Reconstruction and Stabilization; and an MS incompatible testing and Resolution, every from George Mason University. In 2013-2014 educational 12 months, Andrew had been known as a Boren Fellow, an award as much as $30, 000 to graduate students to allow them concentrate on regions of research crucial to United States interest. He struggled to obtain the Intelligree Risk control business that provides security for the Kajaki Dam Reconstruction venture in Afghanistan, and in addition served once the Site safety Intelligence Officer, working with the US Military and Afghan safety Forces. These education and experiences had been a plus to Andrew's interest and career in humanitarian problems. After his graduation in Spring 2014, he maintained contacts and participation in Alumni tasks additionally the other-group activities which he assisted to nurture while he had been a student. The Humanitarian Action Operating Group is a testimony for this commitment.

The final message I received from Andrew while he was at Afghanistan, on March 6, 2015, stated “i am in Afghanistan before the seventeenth, landing in DC regarding 18th and DC for four weeks of break before proceeding back into Afghanistan." The wish of Andrew did not come true, nevertheless Humanitarian Working Group people won't ever forget their efforts towards the group. The team will honor Andrew by identifying aided by the investment the at White Sulphur Springs (WSS) that his familiy has established in his honor, and also will make sure that the Humanitarian Action Monthly Newsletter (HAMN) that he founded continues. Adieu, Andrew Eyvan Baer.

### Photo: Ernest Ogbozor and Andrew Baer, Co-founders of this Humanitarian Action Working Group. Photo Ariana Tuchman, Consortium for Humanitarian Services and Knowledge.