When Care Is Political: The Courage to Stay Human
In a breaking system, choosing care is not neutral.
In the humanitarian world, “care” is often framed as soft. Optional. Personal.
Something separate from the serious work of strategy, logistics, or security.
But here’s the truth:
Care is political.
It challenges hierarchies.
It threatens the status quo.
It slows down systems that rely on silence and self-sacrifice.
And when practiced fully, care becomes a form of resistance.
The courage to stay human in a system that numbs
Many humanitarian professionals don’t burn out because they’re too weak.
They burn out because they are too human in systems that demand otherwise.
They burn out:
When grief is expected to be compartmentalized
When trauma is minimized as “part of the job”
When empathy is punished as inefficiency
When emotional honesty is labeled as unprofessional
To stay human in these systems is to refuse to go numb.
To feel what you feel. To name what is wrong.
And to continue showing up in ways that don’t cost you your soul.
Care isn’t just personal. It’s structural.
When organizations treat care like a perk or personality trait, they’re avoiding the harder truth:
Care is a systemic issue.
It shows up in:
How decisions are made
Who gets to rest
Whose well-being is prioritized
What behaviors are rewarded or punished
Genuine care means naming harm, not just offering yoga.
It means rethinking leadership, not just adding a wellness day.
It means investing in people not just when it’s easy - but when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable, and urgent.
Courage, here, looks like:
Speaking up, even when it risks your standing
Centering staff well-being in times of crisis, not just calm
Refusing to normalize harm in the name of mission
Practicing boundaries, softness, grief, and honesty - especially as a leader
Care is not something we do on the margins.
It is the center of any truly ethical, sustainable, and human approach to humanitarian work.
Holding space with care and solidarity - here’s to staying whole, together,
~ Kate
Thanks for reading The Olive Pages: Fieldnotes on care, clarity, and staying whole
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KRC provides coaching, psychosocial support, and organizational consulting to humanitarian professionals and mission-driven organizations worldwide. Based in lived experience and trauma-aware care, our work helps clients navigate burnout, moral injury, organizational change, and career transitions — while staying human in the process.