In 2005, a young man from northern Uganda walked into the offices of the World Smartly being Group (WHO) with a coronary heart beefy of hope and a 60-day contract in hand. As we recount, 20 years later, Patrick Wokorach is still strolling by these doorways—now as a seasoned shipping assistant, a veteran of public health emergencies, and a residing testament to resilience, dedication, and reason.
At loyal 27, Wokorach joined WHO as a Program Assistant below the Northern Uganda Restoration Program, a feature that aligned perfectly with his non-public mission: to motivate rebuild his then battle-torn homeland. “My supreme motivation to enroll in WHO was once to accept as true with an instantaneous involvement in supporting the participants of northern Uganda where I attain from,” he remembers. “At the time, there was once an ongoing civil battle with our other folks residing in camps, dealing with many health challenges.”
Since then, Wokorach has conventional many hats—supporting the capabilities of procurement, rapid management, travels and protocol, logistics, and now shipping. Nevertheless his core mission has remained unchanged: to help. Whether responding to cholera outbreaks, Ebola epidemics, Marburg, pure failures like floods or offering operational pork up, Wokorach has been on the frontlines, often sacrificing non-public milestones for the higher merely.
“One time in 2007, three weeks to my wedding, I had to head and acknowledge to the Ebola disease outbreak in Bundibugyo district,” he says with a smile. “I most attention-grabbing returned about four days to the marriage!”
His journey is no longer loyal one of professional boost however furthermore non-public transformation. “I joined WHO as a single young man. I obtained married and had all my adolescence while right here. My eldest child is eighteen years faded. By all standards, that is not any point out fulfillment,” he emphasizes.
Wokorach’s memoir is furthermore a lesson in adaptability and lifelong studying. “Twenty years in one organization offers a lot of studying,” he says. “I in point of fact accept as true with attain to love that our vision could well stop the identical, however the situations, dynamism, approaches and even the atmosphere keeps altering however you one must live resilient, focused and hopeful.”
Despite the high-rigidity atmosphere of emergency responses, Wokorach flourishes. His restful demeanor and solid work ethic accept as true with helped him navigate even potentially the most no longer easy situations, including the insecurity in northern Uganda in the course of his early days at WHO.
Balancing one of these demanding occupation with family life is not any small feat, however Wokorach credit commence conversation and intentional quality time for conserving his family bonds solid. “They understand the kind of work I construct and what it requires of me,” he says. “So, I be definite that whatever exiguous free time I in point of fact accept as true with is quality family time.”
To his colleagues, Wokorach offers a straightforward however extremely effective message: “WHO is a grand organization to work in. I motivate colleagues to rating pleasure from their work, pork up every other, and accept as true with a sure mindset. All will likely be effectively.”
As he marks two a protracted time of service, Patrick Wokorach stands as a serene hero on this planet of public health—a man whose journey from a 60-day contract to 20 years of unwavering service is nothing short of though-provoking.
