Name Manuella Sfeir Age 44 Place of birth Beirut, Lebanon Languages Arabic, English, French, Italian

Job title
Information systems clerk

"I came to Rome 20 years ago and was glad to escape the war in Lebanon. Bombings and explosions had become a part of everyday life. We learned to tell from the sounds of bombs whether they were coming close to us or not. We’d shelter wherever we could, often running beneath cinemas or garages. Then our house in Beirut was destroyed, though thankfully no one was there at the time.

A friend told me that FAO was looking for Arabic and French speakers so I applied and was successful. When I arrived in Rome it was like being on a different planet compared to what I had been used to. Beirut was quite a closed environment in terms of meeting people from different countries; now I was coming across people from all types of backgrounds and cultures, and all with different experiences to talk about.

When I first joined FAO I worked in the Office of the Director General. One part of my work involved dealing with correspondence from countries seeking FAO’s help to reduce poverty; often I would need to translate the correspondence from Arabic or French and make sure it was sent to the right experts to deal with. There was an obvious sense of responsibility in dealing accurately and swiftly with information about countries that needed our help.

Now I work on the FAO Web site. I had always been interested in the Internet and the potential it had to instantly spread information around the world, and was keen to help FAO exploit this.

My job involves posting material on agriculture, fisheries and forestry. Through the job I read about the vast range of work FAO is involved in. For example in agriculture alone, I have recently posted news items on developing better farming equipment in Brazil, a scheme to improve children’s nutrition in Tanzania and a feature on the International Year of the Potato in 2008.

A lot of the material is for those who shape work on the ground. As a sample, recently I’ve posted guidelines on how countries can manage their forests better, on better access to water in eastern Africa and on improving rural people’s lives in Cambodia. The information is used by, among others, government staff to help design policies, co-ordinators in drawing up aid projects, and field workers to learn more about their subject.

I feel a sense of responsibility in helping promote information that hopefully can improve people’s lives in different parts of the world. Many of the people FAO helps have been forced from their homes because of conflict and can no longer make a living. After my experiences in Beirut it still affects me when I see people suffering and without the food they are entitled to.

I feel fortunate that I was able to break away from conflict in my own country and help others in some way."