Marking International Women's Day, we spoke to the founder of the Hitchin-based Humanitas charity, who built the charity after a gap year turned into decades of relief work.
Sarah Wade left for Romania, aged 18 - having just finished her A-levels - with plans of spending a year volunteering before coming home to start university.
The year away fuelled a life-long passion for aiding humanitarian crises across the world. She estimates to have helped more than a million people alongside her team at Humanitas over the last 20 years.
Sarah told the Comet: "I went to Romania in 2000, and ended up staying there for 13 years.
"My plan was to take a year out and then go to university. I volunteered at a few orphanages, and I realised, if I leave I will have achieved very little. So I decided to stay.
"We've got children's homes there and run a private foster care system. That's where the journey started."
From there, Sarah and her friend Emma Cox set up Romanian Relief - a project committed to assisting and protecting the long-term emotional, physical, and psychological development of abandoned and orphaned children.
By 2006, Humanitas was born, following a merger with fellow UK charity, F.R.O.D.O.
"Next, we started working in Africa and aiding refugee crises. We work with Syrian refugees, and are now working with the Ukrainians," Sarah continued.
"It started with just me and my friend from school, and now we have about 60 staff working internationally.
"We did things to meet the need of what was going on, and that's what we've continued to do as a charity."
When asked about how rewarding her work is, Sarah said: "Everyone thinks that - but there's no end to the suffering.
"I finish one thing and move on to the next - every place I go, I think "I have seen it all", but I never have seen it all."
Remarking on the current war in Ukraine, Sarah said often people donate in "trends".
"We've got an office and a team on the ground in Romania, so it's been easier for us to respond - there's three of four borders next to Ukraine.
"We're also putting a medical team together to go into Ukraine and set up a clinic there."
A solidarity event is set to take place in Hitchin on Wednesday, in association with Hitchin BID and The Half Moon pub. Money raised will go to Humanitas' Ukraine appeal.
"Hitchin has been amazing - they have enabled us to double our efforts. We have come into the Hitchin community, and what a community to be a part of!
"People have gone above and out of their comfort zone to help people in Ukraine."
To find out more about Humanitas, or to donate, go to humanitascharity.org.
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