Asia-Pacific Disaster Developments

Our official recognition as a registered charity couldn’t have come at a better time. The situation in Asia and the Pacific continues to evolve, and we are looking forward to launching our fundraising campaign in the coming weeks with an eye to deployment early next year.

The dates are still tentative and will largely depend on money, but we don’t see how we can call ourselves a disaster response organisation and not contribute to Asia-Pacifics recovery. There is no excuse for remaining on the sidelines.

With damage stretching from Vietnam and Cambodia through Indonesia and extending to Samoa, aid organisations are stretched thin. The extent and range of the damage means there will be work to do for years to come. An organisation like ours, which focuses on long term, community based recovery, is well suited to provide relief once immediate response organisations have had a chance to run their course. And that is exactly what we’ll do if we can raise the funds.

In the meantime, if you want to follow how events are unfolding in Asia and the Pacific you can use the breif outline I’ve provided here. More information on events in Asia and the Pacific and EDV’s official campaign launch, to follow.

Typhoon Ketsana killed hundreds in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Cambodia. It was quickly followed by Typhoon Parma. Parma’s effects would have been worse if not for “preemptive measures“, but despite the initial positive reports 184 people in the Philippines have since died in landslides. Overall, there are concerns over whether or not more could have been done to save lives.

As the death toll in the Philippines from landslides and flooding triggered by two typhoons in two weeks topped 600, experts said better weather forecasting, a rigorous early warning system and careful urban planning would have saved more lives in one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. (source)

Many of the inundated areas are expected to remain flooded for months to come, raising serious questions as to where survivors will live in the intervening time.  Disease is a serious threat in the coming months, and with some affected regions still cut off from aid, survivors’ ordeals are far from over.

Media attention has been focused mainly on the Philippines, but the struggles of typhoon survivors in Vietnam and Cambodia shouldn’t be ignored. These areas are just as hard-hit and also in dire need of aid.

The situation in Sumatra continues to be challenging, as many roads were severely damaged in the earthquake. With aid still not flowing to many of the hardest hit areas, disease is becoming a major concern. Without electricity, basic sanitation, and with necessities being airlifted to isolated villages, Sumatra’s recovery is just beginning.

Samoa is also just beginning to pick up the pieces. In the aftermath of the tsunami, many were afraid to return to their villages, making getting an accurate count of the dead difficult and delivering aid to all those who need it nearly impossible. Another recent tsunami warning was the last straw for some survivors, who have now permanently moved away from their homes and into the hills.

With the populations moving, Samoa’s recovery will be a long, slow process of completely rebuilding villages which have been wiped off the map.

Two organisations which also take volunteers at no costs are currently in their assessment phases. Hands on Disaster Response is currently assessing in Sumatra and American Samoa, after completing their assessment of the Philippines. Burners Without Borders will be in Western Samoa on 10/18 to begin assessing the possibility of a deployment there.

We wish them safe travels and look forward to joining them overseas early next year.

To learn more about EDV, or to donate, please see our website EDVolunteers.org (redesign ongoing!) or email media@europeandisastervolunteers.org

Typhoons, Tsunamis, and Earthquakes

Needless to say, we have been glued to the news. With all our time going into researching a possible EDV assessment and/or deploy in the coming months, I am going to keep this short and to the point. If you’re interested in finding our more about the disasters you can check out the links to further information on each disaster posted here, or follow me on twitter.

Typhoon Ketsana

Typhoon Ketsana hit the Philippines on Sept. 26, with the resulting floods affecting tens of thousands of people and forcing the Philippines to appeal for international aid. The storm moved on to Vietnam, slamming into the central part of the country on Sept. 29. By Oct. 1, the typhoon killed 400 people across Southeast Asia and another, even stronger, storm headed towards the Philippines. Government reports said 101 people had died in Vietnam and 18 were missing. More than 350,000 houses were damaged or submerged in Vietnam. In the Philippines, the death toll rose to 277 while 700,000 were sheltering in evacuation centres. Several foreign governments and U.N. agencies have pledged nearly $2 million in rice and relief supplies for the Philippines. (Source)

With another super typhoon bearing down on the Philippines the outlook for survivors in all typhoon affected areas could be further compromised.  The number of people displaced, combined with some of the worst flooding in living memory, has proved overwhelming for local officials, and sanitation born diseases are a major concern. A brief outline of who works where in the Philippines can be found here.

Pacific Tsunami

Tsunami waves smashed into the Pacific island nations of American and Western Samoa on Sept. 29, destroying in minutes a paradise of palm trees, resorts and pristine beaches. On Sept. 30, the death toll stood at 146 in Samoa, but officials said it was rising, with hundreds missing. Some 20 villages were destroyed in Samoa and scores flattened in nearby American Samoa. U.S. President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in American Samoa, where more than 20 people have been killed, and ordered federal aid to help the recovery. (source)

Information has been difficult to come by as infrastructure has been destroyed, but many villages have been completely annihilated and the current death toll of nearly 200 is expected to rise as rescue workers reach rural villages. Furthering concerns in Samoa:

Aid officials have warned of disease outbreaks with more than a thousand people crowded into makeshift camps around Apia and a lack of fresh water and floating sewage. (source)

Sumatra Earthquake

A powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the Indonesian city of Padang on Sept. 30, trapping thousands under debris. The quake struck the bustling port city of 900,000 people, toppling hundreds of buildings. Telephone connections were patchy, making it hard for officials to work out the extent of destruction and loss of life. By Oct. 1, officials put the confirmed death toll at 529. A second quake, initially put at magnitude 6.8 but later revised down to 6.6, hit another part of Sumatra island on Oct. 1, causing fresh panic. (Source)

The death toll of the Sumatra quake has since jumped to over 1100. Rescue efforts are hampered, again, by the destruction of the infrastructure. Rescue workers have not yet been able to reach trapped survivors, and the death toll is expected to continue rising. The immediate international response to the Indonesia earthquake has been strong, and more aid is expected to be pledged.

We are currently working to decide if we have the funds to launch an assessment. As we are a new group, our funds are limited.  As soon as we know if, and when, we’re going, I’ll post here.

I’ll also re-post with more complete lists of which charities are currently working where as the dust starts to settle and organisations set up their programmes.

Long time, no post

It’s been a while. Between no internet while my mom moved house, answering questions from the charity commission about EDV’s registration, and working on our website’s redesign, this blog has been sorely neglected.

But, no longer!

Since my last post, EDV has incorporated as a company, thereby creating a legal entity separate from its founding members. That separation between the legal body and the actual members who founded the organisation means we founders have a limited liability. Put simply, it means you can sue EDV separately from me, or another founding member.

Incorporation is also a big step on the way to registering with the charity commission. We sent in our application for charitable status a few days after incorporating, and expect to be a registered charity in a matter of days.

Registering as a charity will let us take the remaining steps needed to begin working abroad in disaster zones. It will open doors to official fundraising resources, grants, and pro-bono assistance.

Exciting days!

We also continue to track a multitude of interesting resources for charities. I’ve listed some of the articles I’ve found useful and/or interesting here… happy reading!

Online ‘could be more effective than face-to-face’

Donations make charities ‘dependent and subservient’

The World Bank has produced a major report on the threat of climate change, which estimates that developing countries will bear 75 to 80 percent of the costs of damage caused by climate change and says rich countries should pay for them to adapt to global warming.

Floods threaten schools

Moving House

It seems that my life has become about projects – and the bigger the better. Over the next few months, we’ll be selling the house where I grew up. Moving is always stressful, but leaving the house where you were raised is always a particularly startling experience.

When I was first on the road a few years ago, I fell into the trap of having high and mighty conversations about home being wherever the backpack was for the week. We had a sort of contempt for people who didn’t travel, who chose not to leave home.

Now, a few years later and facing the prospect of selling this house, I can see that the only reason I was brave enough to  travel independently was the security afforded me by knowing that if it all went wrong, I could return to the nest.

Strange then, to think that this home won’t be our home next year.

Also strange that the strategies I used to organise the tasks involved in forming a new charity are the same strategies I’ve been using to organise the sales of my mom’s furniture, find homes for all the “stuff” that won’t fit into her new place, and keep the task of selling my childhood home from being completely overwhelming. If it worked for EDV, hopefully it will work on the house.

It’s been a while since my last blog post, and EDV has been busy. New Start Magazine has run an article on our executive director detailing his journey from a disaster survivor to the executive director of an up-and-coming disaster response organisation. They’ve generously provided us with the PDF of the article.

In addition, here are some interesting resources we’ve been using in the past weeks.

Media Trust is running a new scheme:

Community Voices is a two-year nationwide programme in England funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (formerly DIUS) and delivered by Media Trust. It aims to engage and equip citizens who feel unheard or voiceless with the tools to help them express and exchange views on issues of relevance to them, thereby increasing individual and community empowerment.

They’ll be providing grant opportunties, so have a look if interested.

We’ve also been developing our online resources regarding the links between natural disasters and climate change. While these  three great blog entries aren’t directly about this link, they’re still fantastic.  Change.org never disappoints. My favorite quote?

…I’ve lost interest in what motivates climate deniers. Religion? Politics? Money? I don’t know and I don’t care. The battle between those who accept global warming and those who don’t is like a really bad marriage where the two sides bicker endlessly over who’s right. This marriage cannot be saved. It’s time for a divorce.

Journalists and others need to turn our attention to solutions. Debating solutions to global warming is a sign of a healthy relationship. All sides have a common baseline and can help each other figure out where we need to go from here.

Politically, massive resources should be used to defeat everyone in Congress who still wants to debate the modern equivalent of “Is the earth really round?” We need to divorce pols who are divorced from reality, and the proper venue for that is the ballot box (or in some cases the recall petition).

And then, we need to get on with our lives, with creating solutions to the largest problem facing us: global warming.

In addition, a great BBC article summarising the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s findings in it’s forth report, as well as explaining what the IPCC does.

Happy reading!

The importance of public benifit…

We’ve just finished our application process. Our papers will go in on the 25th of this month. And this is exactly what we’re trying to avoid…

Three out of the 12 charities selected for an initial round of tests by the Charity Commission are not providing sufficient public benefit to justify their charitable status, the commission announced today…

St Anselm’s School Trust, Highfield Priory School and Penylan House Jewish Retirement and Nursing Home were all judged by the commission to be spending too small a proportion of their incomes and reserves on ensuring that people who could not afford their fees had an opportunity to benefit.

Makes all those months of legal research seem worth while.

Read the rest here.

Good morning

After a long few days putting the finishing touches on the logo and working on our Executive Director’s World of Difference application, a big complex post seems a bit too much to ask. Some interesting online resources and pictures that arrived in my inbox this morning seem a much more appropriate route.

Giving World Online got in touch with us yesterday.

Giving World Online, an organisation dedicated to linking businesses with unwanted surplus to charities and the people they help – waste to want.

A quick look through their website showed plenty of toys, medical supplies, and even teaching materials up for grabs. Pretty good stuff.

Another good one – Media Trust’s Volunteer Films is looking for 25 charities small charities to support by offering low cost films about the charities. The application deadline is the 31st of July. Media Trust also has a great newswire.

And last but not least, a photo.

Complex Aid

Most of us are aware of the reports out of Sri Lanka in the wake of the recent war.  The conflict forced 250,000 civilians to leave their homes, and many of them are now housed in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. These tent cities house tens of thousands in heat exceeding 35 degrees Celsius. The monsoons will come soon, and the camps will be transformed into mud pits. The camps are reported to be overcrowded, with very high malnutrition rates among children, and poor sanitation.

Worse still, no one knows how long these internally displaced people will be asked to stay in the camps.  Some aid agencies worry that the government has no real plans to resettle the displaced population.

Recently a row has erupted regarding the camps’ bathrooms. In his Alertnet blog Amjad Mohamed-Saleem, the Muslim Aid Sri Lanka Country Director, writes:

The government says it is the United Nations and its humanitarian agency partners who are responsible for building the toilets. It may come as no surprise to some that the government is not happy with the quality and design of the toilets, which can best be described as open pit latrines with some wooden supports to cover the area. Once the pit is filled, you dig a new one somewhere else.

In the intense heat and crowded condtions, these kinds of toilets can become breeding grounds for disease. Amjad Mohamed-Saleem continues:

In displacements such as this, which involve huge numbers of people, sanitation is often the weakest link and a vicious cycle of poor sanitation, hygiene and health is perpetuated. Whatever the nature or the duration of the emergency, one issue of utmost importance is the need to ensure basic human dignity with regards to sanitation.

One would be hard pressed to argue with Amjad Mohamed-Saleem here. So the million dollar question is, why aren’t the humanitarian groups building better toilets? Aid organisations say that building permanent, or even semi-permanent, bathrooms would be sending a message that the camps are permanent. And that is a message that no aid organisation wants to send.

Most agencies are quietly saying that there should not be anything done of a semi-permanent nature because this would be feeding into the government’s agenda of not resettling the people and keeping them in these camps.

If it’s true that the government is not planning to resettle the IDPs, then the aid organisations who are not willing to improve sanitation in the camps could justify their choice. By solving the short term problem of sanitation, they could find themselves feeding into a larger policy that would be distructive in the long term. But not everyone agrees that the government is planning to keep these civilians in camps indefinitely.

Poor sanitation means disease and more suffering for the inhabitants of the camps, so if the aid organisations have it wrong and the government is planning to resettle, they could be needlessly causing suffering. It is a complex and highly politicized situation, and it should be pointed out that one could argue either side coherently.

This kind of dilemma points to larger issues within the world of emergency and disaster response. Amjad Mohamed-Saleem elaborates, saying:

…most standard post-emergency operating procedures follow a process in which the initial response to a disaster is to provide ‘temporary shelters and toilets’…The argument is that by building ‘temporary’ structures, people’s right to return to their homes – in itself a political issue – is reinforced. In the eyes of the agencies, anything that is built of a semi-permanent nature is tantamount to encouraging people not to return.

Critics say the problem is that agencies then end up spending almost double – by buying materials and paying labour costs to build a shelter, then paying to pull it down so that a permanent shelter can be built on the same piece of land. In the case of post-tsunami reconstruction, the cost of transitional shelters sometimes exceeded the repairs to people’s damaged houses.

The fundamental question is simple: Should aid organisations take political issues, such as the right of return for IDPs, under consideration when planning a recovery strategy, or should they disregard politics completely and simply try to improve quality of life? As the current situation in Sri Lanka illustrates, it’s not a simple question; the division between political issues and quality of life is not always black and white.

Different types of aid organisations take different views ranging from completely divorcing themselves from any political considerations to refusing to work in certain countries specifically because of political concerns. The results of these choices are very much dependent on the circumstances of a particular emergency. What is clear is that neither choice is perfect, an there are no easy answers.

You can read the rest of Amjad Mohamed-Saleem’s excellent blog here.

Fundraising good news…

We’ve hit a point at EDV’s development where, with the exception of our website redesign, there’s just not all that much more to do at home. It’s time to start fundraising and get out on deployment.

Now, if only we could afford a professional fundraiser or grant writer.

But whenever I start to get really worried about our fundraising ability, something like this arrives in my inbox.

Funding Central provides information about 4,000 grants, contracts and loans offered by local, regional, national and European funders.

4,000? By the law of averages, we ought to be able to get one. And that’s just the first website. Read the rest here.

Landing in Miami…

Yes, it’s true I am back in the good old U.S.A. It’s been a while since I’ve been home, but my dwindling savings account demands that I take advantage of my mom’s offer of rent free living.

After six months in the UK, and many flights, I forgot how truly awful flying in the US can be. If you’re a UK citizen who has never flown to the US you’re probably thinking ‘it gets worse than Ryan Air?’ Yes, it does.

The next time you complain about Heathrow, think of the obese woman who screamed at me in Spanish when I landed in Miami. My crime? Not knowing that I had placed my luggage in the wrong unmarked corner. She wanted it in the other unmarked corner.

Another bit of advice: When flying into the US always remember to turn your telepathy on.

Before living in the UK I didn’t realize how poor baseline manners in the US are. I got used to the UK’s generally better manners all around. Landing in Miami, it wasn’t just shouting, obese bag handlers reinforcing the cliche that Americans, in general, are rude, loud, and fat that surprised me. It was the general lack of “pleases” and “thank yous”. A pushing match to get through a revolving door is not a nice adventure when stepping off a red eye.

This is not to say UK citizens are without fault in terms of their manners. I have been hurried across many a London cross walk. But, while UK citizens are not perfect, I just can’t see a British Airline worker shouting at, well, anyone.

But I suppose now that I’m back in New York my thick skin will soon re-grow and I too will stop using “please” and “thank you”.

Many of my American friends who have not been abroad can’t understand why Europeans see us as uncivilized. To those friends I say, fly into Stansted and them compare the experience to flying into LaGuardia or Miami. You will understand immediately.

“Please don’t witter on Twitter”

Interesting comments on using Twitter and Facebook from the mouth of a professional.

Setting up a Facebook profile or Twitter account is very easy, but what you say on them must be part of a wider strategy, otherwise they just create noise. At conferences last year, I often heard charities talking about their fantastic new ‘widgets’ without clearly communicating why or how they had helped them deliver their objectives.