What challenges do you see for humanitarian groups working in conflict zones like Darfur and Aghanistan?
DUNCAN: The obvious answer is that there are constant threats to personal safety and security in a place like Darfur or Afghanistan. That said, what I witnessed with the aid workers for Save the Children and Relief International was a profound understanding that the dangers to them were no worse than the dangers facing the people they were there to serve. As an emotion, fear may, at times, play a healthy role in informing the way we choose to navigate the world. It’s not irrational to fear a poisonous snake, a bone chilling blizzard or a house fire. But I’m a big believer that how we manage fear makes a huge difference in our own emotional well-being and, in a larger sense, in the well-being of the planet. For much of the early part of the 21st century, some Americans in particular had their head in the sand. Many of us went about our lives with such extraordinary caution and fear that we forgot, literally, that people and families all around the planet share so many values and dreams.
