Balancing motherhood and humanitarian work: Insights from South Sudan's frontline

Dorance Cooper, World Vision South Sudan operations director, shares her insights and experiences on finding balance between womanhood, family, and fulfilling her passion for helping others. 

As a working mother, wife, and humanitarian working in one of the world's most challenging contexts, I reflect on the significant progress in improving working conditions for women on International Women's Day. This year’s theme, “Invest on Women: Accelerate Progress,” resonates with me.

I have worked in Haiti, Bangladesh, and South Sudan emergency responses. Working in such complex and fragile environments is not for the fainthearted. But I find comfort and strength from being a mother myself. I find inspiration, purpose, and joy in seeing other women in a much-disadvantaged position than myself take on bigger roles in their families and communities.

For many working mothers, there are now flexible working arrangements such as flextime, part-time, and work-from-home, availability of daycare services, and fathers who share child-rearing responsibilities. However, despite all these, being a working mother and a wife can still be challenging, and it requires assistance, flexibility, and a supportive partner, family, friends, and colleagues. For me, they are my support system.

Finding the balance between motherhood and my work as a humanitarian allows me to be who I am – a working mother and a wife, devoted to serve others.

Over the years, I learned to balance my family's needs and wants with my professional commitments. I routinely examine my calendar to ensure I can attend to everything, even when I'm away. I also send reminders to my support system about my family's requirements. As much as we want to be on top of everything, we must embody a high level of self-awareness; this includes knowing when to ask for help and delegate.

My job brings me to places most people only see in the news. I'm delighted to go to these locations and genuinely make a difference—to help people. My family is adaptable!! They recognize that I'm still assisting others while I'm not present. I know they're proud of me, and because of my career, they've learned about the importance of helping others.

Finding that balance can be challenging, especially when working in an unstable context where family members cannot visit. However, there are ways to make it work, such as staying on the phone with them most times, listening to their concerns, participating in their schoolwork virtually, having virtual family time, periodically reaching out to other female colleagues, and learning from their experiences. I make it a point not to miss out on family time. There is a need to balance time on the field with time at home, and when I am home, I devote my complete attention to the family.

Working in a fragile context is already hard, so I do my best to find ways to enjoy life. I am mindful of allowing myself to rest and pause. Taking my hardship break, combined with annual leave days, saved my life multiple times, and gave me that needed time to support my family and be there for them on all critical occasions in their lives. Finding the balance between motherhood and my work as a humanitarian allows me to be who I am – a working mother and a wife, devoted to serve others.

To God be thy glory. My children are now grown, and I have become a positive role model in their lives. They have come to understand that a woman can be someone who works outside the home and pursues a professional career. This instills in children that a woman's role can include a thriving career aside from being a stay-at-home mom. Working for a living knows no gender—and working mothers are proof of that.

Happy International Women's Day to all working mothers!