The events of yesterday

Since I started my job at AidCom, my friends have been asking me what I actually do, what is the core of the job. Well, it is not so easy to explain it in few words because “I am monitoring the news from the whole world” sounds somehow ... too much? Well, if you think this way, you are wrong. 

Image from flightradar24.com, after Malaysian Airlines plane crashed.  July 17, 22:20 UTC

The media reveal plenty of information and my job is to select the news which is important to our clients while they are travelling. The Dreamers filter the news and once something that can interrupt or hinder our clients’ travels, we send an SMS alert to them. This way, they know which places to omit, how to plan transportation to the airport when everybody is on strike, etc. You can see the alerts for yourself on our webpage where you can also download a free app for your iPhone.

Yesterday, I had the News Watch shift. It was an intense day – conflict between Israel and Palestine, another bombs in Iraq and Pakistan, quite a strong earthquake on Alaska, typhoon Rammasun havocing Asia Pacific, heavy storms in the U.S. I was sending alerts one after another. While browsing through media sources, suddenly I came across this information: “Malaysian flight MH17 with 295 people on board crashed in Ukraine near the Russian border. Russian aviation industry source says the Boeing plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.” I held my breath, my hands halted. The information was not confirmed. I checked other renowned media sources – nothing, silence. What to do? You just don’t want to believe this kind of information, your inner voice rejects such a terrible event. Unfortunately, a few minutes later, similar information started coming in from other media sites. Whether I wanted to or not, I had to believe in this tragic news. Our clients were informed about the situation and updated about it later on.

News Watch is a great experience – your job is to know what is happening in the world, your duty is to inform others so that their travels remain safe and uninterrupted. But in some cases, there is little you can do. You can just inform. And try to hold back tears coming to your eyes. 

This was yesterday. Today is a new day. But I shall never forget that shift.

All the Dreamers are deeply shaken by the Malaysian Airlines plane having been taken down. We would like to express sincere condolences to the families and friends of all the victims.