“We were the only international aid agency operating there at the time,” he said.
Seawright said the reality of being an aid worker in areas like Aleppo was that if you worked on one side of the line, you were then considered party to the conflict and considered a “legitimate target”.
“We’re looking after the families in the middle,” he said.
Seawright said he lost two colleagues who were moving aid along Castello Rd in 2016.
Nicknamed the death road, Castello Rd was the only route for food, fuel and medical supplies to enter Eastern Aleppo.
“It was probably the most dangerous road in the world at the time,” Seawright said.
He said his colleagues would have to “run this gauntlet” avoiding fighter jets, rocket attacks and mortars just to get into the city.
Although the majority of his team had since left Aleppo, Seawright said ReliefAid team leaders were still in Syria working with communities on education programmes, and providing shelter to people in camps.
“The war in Syria is still volatile, but it’s not open conflict any more,” Seawright said.
“We recently supported families in the northeast of the country when there was an offensive between Kurdish forces and the new government forces.
“So lots of families were displaced. But a lot of people have simply been left behind in camps because they have no homes to return to.”
In Gaza, eight ReliefAid staff have been killed and two injured since October 2023.
“Our entire northern team in Gaza is either dead or injured,” Seawright said.
“It’s a testament to our southern team who see what’s happened and yet they get up every single day and deliver water in Gaza despite the risks even now.”
He said ReliefAid wasn’t alone regarding staff losses in Gaza.
“It’s happened across the board. Either incidental killings because there’s been levelling of homes, apartment buildings or systematic attacks against humanitarian action such as water trucks.”
Since starting ReliefAid, Seawright has seen hospitals and schools deliberately targeted, when they were once off-limits.
“We’ve got our team members who live quite literally in these areas and yet they’re getting up, taking the risks every day just to help their communities.”
Mike Seawright on the front line of the Russia-Ukraine war with ReliefAid.
After starting in Syria, Seawright said the charity now also delivered aid to the frontlines in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon and Afghanistan.
Seawright and ReliefAid were in Ukraine two days after Russia’s invasion started.
Seawright was in Europe at the time and quickly flew to the Romanian border with Ukraine.
“The problems starts, [we] get in quick and start helping quick,” he said.
Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, the ReliefAid team had moved through the country as the front lines changed.
Seawright said he’d visited villages that were 80% destroyed, where all the men have gone to fight the invading Russians.
Yet the remaining residents are determined to stay and lead their communities while drones endlessly fly over.
“These older women would come up to me crying and give me hugs every single day, just because we turned up,” he said.
“This happens in every single settlement that we go visit because they feel forsaken in the midst of this war.”
Mike Seawright on the front line of the Russia-Ukraine war with ReliefAid.
Seawright said ReliefAid started with one person in one country delivering aid to 18,000 people, and now operated in six countries with up to 110 employees delivering aid to 1.7 million.
He said ReliefAid had incredible support from Hawke’s Bay and around the country and donors could choose where their donations go to directly.
“Money today turns into water tomorrow in Gaza, homes and medical facilities in Ukraine, food to families in Lebanon, education programmes in Afghanistan and supporting kids in Syria.”
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany and New Zealand.