The brutal truth about giving to disasters ! Cash is needed !

The situation in Haiti is the worst I have seen for some years. For over 30 years I have worked in the frontline in times of major disasters, and you get so frustrated when all you have is junk in warehouses, and no cash to buy what the affected people want. Today I saw this article written by Edward Brown, relief director for World Vision, who debunks five myths around disaster relief.

1. Collecting blankets, shoes and clothing is a cost-effective way to help
The cost of shipping these items – and the time it takes to sort and pack – is prohibitive and entails much higher cost than the value of the goods themselves. World Vision has relief supplies already stocked in disaster-prone countries as well as in strategically located warehouses around the world that meet international standards and are ready to deploy as soon as a crisis strikes. Cash donations are the best, most cost-efficent way to help aid groups deliver these life-saving supplies quickly, purchase supplies close to the disaster zone when possible and replenish their stocks in preparation for future disasters.

2. If I send cash, my help won’t get there
Reputable agencies send 80% or more of cash donations to the disaster site; the rest is invested in monitoring, reporting and other activities that facilitate transparency and efficiency in their operations, as well as in sharing information with those who can help. Donors have a right and a responsibility to ask aid groups how they will be using those donations, and what will be done with donations raised in excess of the need.

3. Volunteers are desperately needed in emergency situations
While hands-on service may feel like a better way to help in a crisis, disaster response is a highly technical and sensitive effort. Professionals with specialized skills and overseas disaster experience should be deployed to disaster sites. Volunteers without those skills can do more harm than good, and siphon off critical logistics and translations services.

4. Unaccompanied children should be adopted as quickly as possible to get them out of dangerous conditions
Hearing about the specific needs of children often sparks a desire to adopt children who seem to have lost their families. However, early in a crisis, children need to be protected, but should remain in their home countries until authorities can confirm the locations of their family members and explore adoption possibilities within their own communities and cultures first.

5. People are helpless in the face of natural disasters
Even in the poorest countries like Haiti, people often reveal a great deal of inner strength and often show a resourcefulness that can save lives... While support and aid are necessary, the Haitian people are by no means helpless.

. So I implore you, we need you empathy, sympathy, support but not your hand-me-down clothes.

Latest on earthquake in Haiti - 20 January 2010

Here is the latest from Paul Conneally who has graduated from sleeping on the back of an abandoned flatbed truck to a mosquito dome. Paul is one of our Red Cross comms people out there. He was joined by Joe Lowry last night.
Below Paul's postings, is another update from our President.

conneally more than 500 tonnes of aid mobilized + scheduled 2 arrive in the coming days #redcross #haiti
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally Disaster response is a sprint but disaster recovery is a marathon says Bekele Geleta SG of International #RedCross in #Haiti 2day
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally people affected by this disaster will be full partners in #RedCross work 2 restore their homes, livelihoods + dignity ¦ http://bit.ly/5uaDzl
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally Haiti is what happens when an extreme natural event occurs in the lives of people already frighteningly vulnerable ¦ http://bit.ly/5uaDzl
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally news in from Channel 4 journo friends ¦ town 2hrs west of PAP in dire need ¦ hosp destroyed ¦ 1000+ confirmed dead ¦ thx Ch4 we're on it


conneally I should note that our basecamp has 150 #redcross international staff BUT we are more than 400 in #Haiti + 10'000 strong haitian redcross

conneally Response to #redcross appeal mind blowing ¦ it is really motivating for all of us here and we will make sure it makes a difference in #haiti
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally I have graduated from sleeping on back of an abandoned flatbed truck to a mosquito dome - Heaven! Also had a wash yday + hotmeal 2day :o)
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally Our basecamp now has 150 international #redcross specialists working with #haiti redcross staff + volunteers ¦ many more arriving evry day

conneally We have now landed 13planes ¦ today I saw turkish + iranian #redcrescent, mexico and german #redcross cargo offloaded ¦ 4 more planes 2morro
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally Fact: poss 2 park 4 cargo planes in 1 hr in #haiti airport ¦ #redcross urgent aid is getting thru, the rest we take by road via Domincan Rep
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally Lots of talk about US handling of airport ¦ let's get real ¦ US has increased #haiti airport capacity to 170% ¦ it's a massive contribution

conneally Basic Health Care (treating wounds, first aid etc.) also now in many areas in PAP ¦ Finnish, German + japanese #Redcross doing gr8 work
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally Relief distributions going well after a false start ¦ working with #Haiti #Redcross means we have really good contact with local population
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally #Redcross delivering fresh water now at half a million liters a day and rising ¦ that's 50'000 people a day getting good clean water #haiti
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally Also visited 1of many mobile clinics, this 1in an area called Croix Depres. 1000's of people camped out being treated rapidly by our medics
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally Y'day I went all over PAP ¦ devastation downtown is beyond the usual descriptors ¦ the sight is heartbreaking, the destruction unforgiving.
about 1 hour ago from web

conneally #Redcross field hospl @University hospital in overdrive carrying out 300 operations a day; backlog of wounded significantly down #haiti
about 2 hours ago from web


conneally #RedCross basecamp #Haiti now has wifi! So back online! An incredible few days since last updates. Lottsa stuff moving in rite direction.
about 2 hours ago from web

Red Cross Red Crescent intensifies relief and plans for early recovery in Haiti
19 January 2010
The leaders of the world’s largest humanitarian organization are on their way to earthquake-devastated Haiti as part of a massive disaster response and recovery operation.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) President Tadateru Konoé and Secretary General Bekele Geleta arrived today in Port-au-Prince to lead what is shaping up as one of the IFRC’s largest and most complex operations in recent memory.

“We must confront a natural disaster that is not only one of the biggest of the past decade, but is affecting one of the very poorest countries in the world,” says Konoé.

“Poverty is at the root of this catastrophe, and countless lives could have been saved by investment in quake-resistant buildings and other disaster risk reduction measures,” emphasizes Geleta.

“What we are seeing in Haiti is what happens when an extreme natural event occurs in the lives of people who are already frighteningly vulnerable, and the terrible human cost of this tragedy is only now becoming clear.

“The international community and humanitarian organizations such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement must work together to tackle the survivors’ urgent needs and ensure that they can recover and move towards a safer future,” he adds.

President Konoé praised the Haitian National Red Cross Society for its brave and determined response in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s magnitude 7 earthquake, which is estimated to have affected as many as three million people.

“Haitian Red Cross volunteers were among the first to respond because they live within the affected communities,” he says.

“They too have suffered appalling losses. They are shocked and grieving. And yet their desire to help their fellow human beings takes priority. They are true humanitarian heroes and we are both proud of, and humbled by, their dedication.”

Konoé said that the Red Cross Red Crescent would use the experience it has gained from five years of post-tsunami recovery work to ensure that Haiti’s devastated communities not only receive the help they need now, but will continue to do so in the months and years to follow.

“The people affected by this disaster will be full partners in all Red Cross Red Crescent work to restore their homes, livelihoods and – most importantly – their dignity,” says the IFRC president.

“Disaster response is a sprint but disaster recovery is a marathon,” adds Geleta. “I will personally ensure that sustainable long-term recovery plans are at the heart of everything the IFRC and its partners do in Haiti.”

More than 400 Red Cross Red Crescent aid workers – including 180 from Caribbean and Central and South American National Red Cross Societies – have arrived in Port-au-Prince, with dozens more en route.

Sixteen emergency response units (ERUs) have also been deployed to Haiti with 11 having arrived as of 18 January. These include a 70 bed rapid deployment hospital that is now set up in the grounds of Port-au-Prince’s University hospital, two mobile basic health care units that can provide curative and preventative assistance to 30,000 people each, a Red Cross Red Crescent base camp, and two logistic units to facilitate the rapid arrival and deployment of aid.

So far, more than 500 tonnes of aid has been mobilized and scheduled to arrive in the coming days.

These efforts are part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement response, which also includes the ICRC. The ICRC has distributed medical materials for more than 2,000 patients to hospitals and to the Haiti Red Cross. More than 23,000 people have been registered on a special ICRC website that helps to reunite families without contact since the disaster struck. The ICRC has also contributed to Movement efforts to provide relief aid and clean water to thousands made homeless by the earthquake.

The IFRC is currently appealing for 105.7 million Swiss francs (103 million US dollars/73 million euro) to assist 300,000 people for three years. As more information becomes available, this appeal is expected to be revised">

Latest Red Cross efforts in Haiti

The leading US general in Haiti has said it is a "reasonable assumption" that up to 200,000 people may have died in last Tuesday's earthquake.

Lt Gen Ken Keen said the disaster was of "epic proportions", but it was "too early to know" the full human cost.

Rescuers pulled more people alive from the rubble at the weekend, but at least 70,000 people have already had burials.

I am really proud that the Haitian Red Cross has responded so well and delighted
that Paul Conneally our communications guy, is on the ground in Haiti and is being joined by fellow Irishman Joe lowry today, Tuesday 19 January, 2010. Here is our lates update:

Operational highlights: 18 January

- Yesterday a Spanish Red Cross water and sanitation unit produced 120,000 litres of water that was then distributed by Red Cross volunteers to 24,000 people in six settlements across Port-au-Prince.

- It is estimated that in the coming days, the Red Cross Red Crescent will increase its capacity to produce and distribute water for between 200,000 and 400,000 people a day.

- A Norwegian and Canadian Red Cross rapid deployment hospital is now operational in the grounds of Port-au-Prince’s University Hospital. This 70-bed facility can provide assistance to about 200 wounded each day. A larger, 250-bed hospital will be operational later this week.

- Two mobile basic health care units are also in the field. These units, deployed by the German and Finnish Red Cross Societies, are designed to provide preventative and curative health care to about 30,000 people each. A third unit will arrive in the coming days.

- Relief distributions are planned to start today for 60,000 families. Each family will receive kits which include hygiene kits, kitchen sets, tarpaulins, mosquito nets and other items.

- So far, more than 500 tonnes of aid has been mobilized and is expected land in the coming days.

The IFRC has launched a preliminary emergency appeal seeking a total of 105.7 million Swiss francs (103 million US dollars/73 million euro) to assist 300,000 people for three years.

The ICRC, which was already present and active in Haiti before Tuesday's earthquake, works as part of the wider International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and cooperates closely with the Haitian Red Cross.

The ICRC is providing clean water to around 7,500 people in three makeshift camps. Latrines for around 1,000 people have also been built in the Delmas area. It has also provided materials to the Haitian Red Cross for the 10 first aid posts which have been set up around Port-au-Prince around the city. Six trucks carrying nearly 40 tonnes of ICRC medical supplies arrived on Sunday (17 January) with the supplies being distributed to local hospitals and clinics. A second ICRC rapid deployment team is expected to arrive in Haiti in the coming day or two to provide more forensics, tracing, nursing, communications and logistics support to staff already on the ground.

As of 18 January, more than 22,000 people had registered with the ICRC's special website, www.icrc.org/familylinks, which was activated on 14 January to help people searching for their loved ones.

Haiti earthquake, latest.

Judith Betrand, 10, attended by a Dominican Red Cross volunteer in Cite Soliel

Paul Conneally is at the cutting edge of reporting from the ground in Haiti by Twitter. Communications are bad and he is unable to get photos out by normal means, so he is using FLICKR. This gutsy, innovative Irishman is showing the world how to communicate, as only the Irish can. Here are his postings over the last 24 hours, starting from the latest one. Check it out first hand if you wish : http://twitter.com/conneally

conneally We have been on the go since 5am ¦ 22h30 now. Rest beckons. Thx 2 evry1 for following + 4 words of support. Much appreciated by all here :o)
14 minutes ago from web

conneally Spanish #RedCross also running 11 mobile water trucks constantly on the move, supported by both Dominican and #Haiti Redcross societies
16 minutes ago from web

conneally Spanish #Redcross continue to do gr8 work. Today, installed 2 ten thousand litre water bladders in hardhit areas with no water source #haiti
18 minutes ago from web

conneally #RedCross mobile clinics up + running. We are thinking 2 send them 2 same locations where we will distribute family kits. Good idea I think.
20 minutes ago from web

conneally HUH - University Hospital #haiti where we are now running field hospital. Situation dire, crowded with wounded + mortal remains #redcross
22 minutes ago from web

conneally Family kits incl hygiene items, kitchen utensils, blankets, mosquito nets, tarps, water purification tabs, jerry cans and buckets #redcross
24 minutes ago from web

conneally #haiti Steve McAndew is in charge of relief for #redcross tells me his team will reach 60'000 families with ready-made kits in one month
29 minutes ago from web

conneally Gennike my colleague from Trinidad + Tobago penned this report ¦ http://bit.ly/8gvW67 ¦ we will up our output as and from 2morro.
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally We are also putting as many of our photos as we can get uploaded here http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifrc ¦ xtrmely diff to get images out
about 3 hours ago from web


conneally Staying positive. Focused on the reason we are here despite setbacks + obstacles. The human cost must remain our main focus #Redcross #Haiti
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally #Redcross President and Secretary General planning to visit PAP in the coming days to meet Haitian RC staff and see activities on the grnd.

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conneally PAP airport can only handle 4 planes an hour (or less) when we need a plane a minute. Massive bottleneck so Santo Domingo notta bad option.
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally Aid effort undeniably slower than we would want but the reality is what it is. No infrastructure. Little central control (govn. in a tent).
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally will now meet 2 brief on the days activities + a clearer picture will emerge from the dozens of #RedCross people working in PAP 2day #haiti
about 3 hours ago from web

-

conneally #RedCross has now managed to get 8 planes of relief + equip into #Haiti, only 3 of these thru PAP the others thru Santo Domingo.
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally big focus is still on surgical care for the wounded, clean water and rebuilding the capacity of the Haitian #RedCross
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally Trying 2 explain to media the need 2 focus on life-saving priorities in a situ where 3ml are in desperate need of support. #haiti #redcross
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally Went to civil aviation building where many media are based. Was Live with Sky, ITN, ARD, BBC, NZ radio etc. etc. More than 40 interviews.
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally Haitian #RedCross (HRCS) offices + blood bank destroyed. Many staff still missing presumed ... lots of Haitians offering help HRCS.
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally Had the pleasure to talk @length with Mme. Gideon of haitian #redcross. Amazing lady. She tells me as many as 10'000 volunteers working now.
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally Big reinforcement of staff and equipment, relief items again today. We are more than 100 at base camp with one toilet which does not work!
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally We are not witnessing violence or rioting, the opposite. Calm Q's 4 water and relief items. Extremely harrowing scenes in the hospitals.
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally Spanish #Redcross doing amazing work providing clean water. 200k litres today, double that tomorrow and so on the next day. #haiti
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally Norwegian colleagues putting up field hospital @ University hospital + our surgeons, nurses already working hard. Vital medicines given.
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally Cite du Soleil is one of the hardest hit areas in PAP. Relief distributions and water distributions already underway. #haiti
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally People in our neighborhood Cité du Soleil screaming with fear and then sang and clapped till 6am. Incredible. We are in Cité du soleil PAP.
about 3 hours ago from web

conneally Slept underneath the stars last night. Heavy aftershocks @ 4am.
about 3 hours ago from web

What can we do to help earthquake affected people in Haiti ?

It's amazing how Twitter takes you to the front line of disasters. Yesterday I signed up for Twitter as I wanted to be able to keep up to date with what's going on. My good friend and colleague Paul Conneally, head of our media department in Geneva, arrived in Haiti yesterday, and I am getting first hand accounts from him. He flew into Santa Domingo yesterday and drove accross the border into Haiti.

Having been in the front line of large earthqaukes before around the globe, I feel helpless being a spectator. But what can people like you and I do, who are not in Haiti ? I can sit back and feel good about the fact Red Cross is on the ground there, and doing a fine job. But I am a paid worker, and that's not a good attitude.
I went to church last night in Jakarta with my two boys, and Wayne Ulrich, the Red Cross disaster management coordinator in Indonesia, and his family. The Pastor spoke with such pain, concern and passion about those suffering in Haiti, and our responsibility as a church to reach out and help the people who have lost everything, who are trapped under buildings, who are in hospital, who are dying. We have opened a fund for Haiti and with a very large congregation, we will be able to support relief efforts in Haiti. But sadly, its takes a tragic event like this to put the spotlight on Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world.
To quote Paul Conneally, " For this to happen in any country would set it back a generation but to happen in Haiti, the most impoverished and under developed country in the world - well this was simply cruel and disproportionate. Almost impossible to get back up on your feet again. But Haitians are resilient people and arise they did though understandably still haunted by hurricanes. And now, to fall victim to a devastating earthquake is the cruellest of blows to this struggling nation. "

The Pastor last night, brought us together to pray for the rescue, survival and quick relief for all those affected in Haiti. My ten year old boy had tears rolling down his checks and was greatly distressed by what had happened in Haiti.

It brought back memories for Wayne Ulrich and I for he was our Operations Manager for the first month of the West Sumatra earthquake operation in October last year and we worked closely together throughout that tragic event.
We can feel from experience what the victins must be going through. It's a chilling thought.

I also saw a message Mauricio Bustamante who is our operations manager for Haiti. We worked together during the large Gujarat earthquake in India in 2001. He says “besides the deployed teams, trained Haitian Red Cross volunteers are also playing a vital role in saving lives, carrying out search and rescue operations in the areas most affected by the earthquake”. “But every aspect of Haitian society has been impacted in the past days, including civil society.

It was reassuring to get home last night and get Paul's notes on Twitter: I start with the most recent one. Remember he is sending them from a bus travelling on a bumpy road from the Domincan Republic to Haiti. I list the most recent message first:

1. Successfully crossed into #haiti. Heat and dust trucks with aid as far as the eye can see. Nearly there. Battery nearly dead!
Talking 2 team on ground. Fresh aftershocks causing lots of panic. No supplies for eating or drinking available. I hope I can stay connected.

2. Approaching #Haiti border soon. Meeting alot of traffic going in opp direction. "c,est horrible" cries a taiwanese man to me as he flees.

3. Still lots of interviews. Just did new york times. will b live on Sky after 6pm UK time. also in the loop now #haiti.

4.Just an hour away from #Haiti border now. 35 degrees outside + much more inside our locally hired vans. Slow but steady progress in hills.

5. Really excellent that we are getting capacity to assess needs and treat wounded

6. Now less than 3hrs from la frontera. Lots of media calling about our #redcross convoy with emergency medical and water/sanitation aid #haiti

7.. Just did live interview with Sky news about our #redcross heading twds #haiti. Loud and bumpy truck! Everyone eager to hit ground asap.

8. thx bob. This is 1 of those hugely difficult moments which also allows u to see the amazing global family of #redcross upclose

9. mobile field hospital can treat upto 200 seriously wounded people a day, says Brin from Norway. #haiti

10. mobile field 'hospital in a box' from norway can be up and running "in a matter of hours" according to head surgeon Brin Ystgard.

11. Extremely experienced #Redcross team of about 50 from norway, finland, denmark, spain, japan, canada. #haiti

12. On the road 2 #haiti now with about 50 #redcross aid workers and truck loads of relief incl. Field hospitals, water purifiers, surgeons etc

It is simply amazing to be travelling with Paul Conneally and seeing how aid workers get to the site. This is what the Red Cross is doing:

Haiti earthquake: With an eye to both short and long-term needs, Red Cross increases appeal to 100 million Swiss francs

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has revised and raised its Haiti appeal, and is now calling for 105.7 million Swiss francs (103 million US dollars/73 million euro) to assist 300,000 people for three years.

The appeal, which replaces the 10 million Swiss franc appeal launched on 13 January, maps out the response of the world’s largest humanitarian network. It includes a scaled up relief component. In the coming days and week, significant focus, for example, will go towards trying to reduce the risk of waterborne and water-related diseases.

“This revision reflects the need of Haitian communities for long-term and sustained support,” said Yasemin Aysan, Under Secretary General, disaster response and early recovery. “For many of these people, this earthquake has robbed them entirely of their limited means. For many of them, they need help to totally rebuild their lives.”

Examples of longer-term assistance potentially includes the physical reconstruction of homes and community infrastructure.

Relief operation continues, despite logistical challenges

This announcement comes as vital relief continues to arrive in the devastated city of Port-au-Prince. Yesterday (Friday 15 January), two planes laden with 22 tons of aid land arrived. Today (16 January) a convoy of aid supplies and personnel is travelling from Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) to Haiti.

In the coming days, the IFRC expects to have at least 14 emergency response units (ERUs) on the ground and operational, (for more information on ERUs click here). These will include two full-service ‘base camps’, designed to provide all necessary logistical and technical support for the initial relief operation.

The base camps will also act as a temporary headquarters for the Haitian National Red Cross Society. The organization’s offices were near-destroyed in the earthquake.

“Besides the deployed teams, trained Haitian Red Cross volunteers are also playing a vital role in saving lives, carrying out search and rescue operations in the areas most affected by the earthquake”, said Mauricio Bustamante, IFRC Operations Coordinator in Panama. “But every aspect of Haitian society has been impacted in the past days, including civil society.
“Part of our long-term plan is to support the National Red Cross to recover and to become a stronger organization in the months and years to come,” said Bustamante.


To make an online dontaion go to : internationally - http://www.ifrc.org/ or if you live in New Zealand : http://www.redcross.org.nz/cms_display.php?st=1&sn=13&pg=6551

All photographs supplied by IFRC. The photos depict the work of the Haitian Red Cross volunteers.