Victor Tapia

Member of Engineers Australia
Position:
- Humanitarian Engineer
Area:
- Humanitarian (Primary)
Education:
- Engineering
Location:
- NSW
Personal website: http://www.redr.org.au

In 2009 Victor Tapia was engaged by RedR Australia and seconded to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to work in Ethiopia, where tens of thousands of people had sought refuge from conflict in Somalia.

Victor’s role included site assessment for a refugee camp for 20,000 people, preparation of contracts for infrastructure construction, and attention to transport links including the need for a basic airfield.

Communal latrines had to be positioned, water supplied, a food distribution centre established together with a market, a mosque and schools. UNHCR worked with the Ethiopian Government and a range of non-government organizations to develop the camp.

The assignment was physically challenging, but very satisfying in a professional and personal sense.

Victor has commented on his pride to “witness the growth of the camp from a desolate and inhospitable terrain to a development where refugees have access to shelter, water, sanitation and other facilities to make their existence more bearable.”

It may have been basic engineering, but it was humanitarian engineering in the true sense of the term.