Gifts
Jenny Bussey Vaughan
Program Officer, Conflict Management
Share:
I’m exhausted tonight – but triumphant! After running around all day between the general hospital and the UN compound, we’ve succeeded in organizing a distribution of food to the hospital’s patients and their families Wednesday morning.
Our role was to connect supply to demand, and under ordinary circumstances, arranging this would be relatively straightforward. Under conditions of limited transportation and unreliable cell phones, however, this was a daylong process. While my colleague staked out the UN compound to identify sources of food, I shadowed an employee of our partner organization Partners in Health, asking her about the needs of their clinics as she drove to their warehouse to pick up medical supplies and rushed into the hospital with boxes of alcohol and bandages.
We met with a doctor at the hospital to discuss logistics. How could we ensure that each patient received some food? How could we make sure some people didn’t collect rations twice, taking food meant for other people? Where could we distribute the food securely, without being mobbed or having it stolen by hungry people who have become aggressive with desperation? Late in the afternoon, we finally received confirmation that the UN’s World Food Program would be able to transport 2.5 metric tons of high energy biscuits to the general hospital tomorrow afternoon. We were ecstatic. Tomorrow we’ll distribute food to 5,000 people.
I found out that someone who went to my graduate school was killed in the earthquake. She graduated some 10 years before me, and I never knew her, but I knew of her. And I feel a kinship with her. She shared my love of travel, my intellectual interests, my desire to leave a mark of goodness on the world, my job. Knowing that she was killed breaks the illusion of “It can’t happen to me.”
Last night, I lay on the floor in my tent and thought about her, wondering what it would have been like to be her. I think about that every time I drive past a building that has collapsed like a house of cards, the walls blown out, the floors stacked right on top of each other like a layer cake. What would it have been like to be the person inside that house? What would it have been like to see my house crumble around me? I think about that when I drive past buildings that look like they have been cut in half, leaving half of the building still standing, pictures on the wall and chairs arranged around a table, while the other half lies crumbled on the ground. What would it have been like to watch half of the building falling away, people and furniture disappearing in a cloud of dust, the interior suddenly open to the sky?
What would it have been like? I can’t imagine it, but I can’t stop trying.
Share:
Filed under
- Countries: Haiti
- Topics: Emergency response
Comments
Jean Bouvet
January 20, 2010 2:11PM
Gentlemen,
Please help me spread the following concepts which might help the poor people of Haiti cheaply and effectively
1. Distribute food and water, safely and impartially, in inaccessible and difficult areas (such as Haiti), without the need for troops and/or relief workers by Free-dropping, from a fairly high altitude, loads consisting of:-
• An assortment of nuts, loose or packaged in small flattish plastic bags.
• Water packaged in small flattish plastic bags.
• Leaflets explaining what to look for. The leaflets should be in the local language, and should have pictures of the nuts and sachets,
Notes.
a) Since there is no need for troops and/or relief workers, any area can be targeted at any time. Troops and relief workers can be put to better use in urban areas.
b) The nutritional value of nuts is extremely high. Nuts do not require cooking. Vitamins and minerals can be added to the water.
c) The flattish shape of the sachets will prevent damage to the goods by reducing their vertical fall-velocities. It will force them into a to-and-fro motion (somewhat like a skier slaloming down a steep slope or of a leaf falling from a tree). The light weight of the sachet, coupled with the low impact velocity, will prevent it from bursting at the seams upon impact.
d) The higher the drop-height, the wider the spreading of the load on the ground. A wide distribution discourages criminals or bullies from taking over the goods. It evens out the chance for every one, including the children, to get at the food and water.
e) The drop should occur preferably during daylight hours when the population can see where the load is dropping.
2. Using solar cookers to sterilize water
Water can be sterilized within minutes using solar heaters which can be made within a hour, using cardboard lined with aluminium foil. //www.scribd.com/doc/2389985/The-BYU-Solar-CookerCooler-by-Jones-Steven-E-1949
Gina
January 20, 2010 7:06PM
Thank you Jenny, for your kind heart! My brother is very lucky to have you. I have read your blogs every night and tonight was especially hard for me. I felt what you wrote and can only imagine what you are seeing! My heart goes out to the Haitians.
Gayle
January 20, 2010 8:44PM
It is hard to imagine what the people of Haiti are going through and all you wonderful people there trying to help get food, water, and medical supplies to all the needed areas. It is heartbreaking. Thank you Jenny for being there. As much as I'd like to help, I know I could not do what you are doing on the ground. My dollars and others will, I hope, help you to continue doing what is needed in the coming days, weeks, months.
Michelle Salinas
January 21, 2010 8:09AM
I pray each day for God to give you and your team unlimited strength and willpower to endure the crisis you are in each day. I am grateful to hear supplies are finally getting to those in need. So many people I encounter on facebook are trying to help and spread the message of need. Thank you for your sacrifice and hard work! You are a channel for God's grace and mercy in this world...
Alena
January 21, 2010 9:32AM
You are indeed doing the hard work of goodness and grace. Thank you for sharing your journey. Keeping you (and your team, and all the workers, and all the people of Haiti) in my thoughts.
christy strahan
January 21, 2010 2:37PM
Jenny, I echo Jennifer's sentiment! Thank you for all that you are doing. I am thinking of you constantly and wish you great success in this seemingly endless and difficult endeavor. Your work has/is and will continue to make a huge difference. We here at home love you and words can't adequately express how PROUD we are!!
Nanette R.
January 22, 2010 6:56PM
Thank you for what you are doing there on the ground in Haiti. You are in our thoughts and prayers. --nr
Jennifer Schmidt
January 20, 2010 10:00AM
Thank you Jenny for all that you're doing, and for sharing some of your personal experiences. I admit I got pretty choked up reading your post. We're thousands of miles away, but our hearts are with you and the people of Haiti.