Here's to the heroes

It’s getting uglier by the day in Syria. This week, another six international staff were evacuated from the country, leaving only a skeleton crew behind. It’s the same for the other humanitarian organizations. Syrian colleagues -- the so-called "national staff", are still on the ground, trying to work, but it's not easy. Incidents of hijacking and looting of aid vehicles and compounds are on the rise. Convoys come under small arms fire on a daily basis. Mortars have landed just steps away form UN offices, and shelling can be heard on an hourly basis from the office. Staff are working from alternate locations, or from home, but it's of little help -- you can hear the shells from there, too.

I can't express how much I admire my colleagues for sticking it out, in spite of everything. It's genuinely heroic.