If you haven’t been automatically redirected to the ZAGAT post “Aldea Helps Haiti“, please click here.
Check out how by going to Aldea, one of NY Magazine and GQ’s 10 best new restaurants of 2010, you can directly support HODR’s work in Haiti. Thank you for your interest and support!
If you haven’t been automatically redirected to the NPR article on HODR, “Life Is Still Out Of Place For Haitians“, please click here. Thank you for your interest and support!
If you haven’t been automatically redirected to the Lonely Planet article on HODR, “Volunteering in Haiti, post-earthquake“, please click here. Thank you for your interest and support!
In response to the March 2010 flooding in Rhode Island, HODR launched and has been running the Rhode Island Recovery Coordination Center (RI RCC). On May 6, we officially transitioned the operation of the RI RCC to Serve Rhode Island (SRI), a local organization that will continue with the operation of the RCC for the long-haul. The team, comprised of NCCC members and the local capacity of SRI staff, is a solid group that we are confident will keep the recovery process on track.
We deeply appreciate everyone’s willingness to cooperate and keep interagency communication flowing. It has been a pleasure to work alongside of you and your volunteers here in Rhode Island.
Check back here soon for the complete project Final Report – Coming soon!
Click here for past updates & more info about this project. Photos.
Throughout April 2010, HODR coordinated nearly 40 volunteers helping residents affected by the 2008 floods in Cedar Rapids, IA. This was HODR’s first planned rebuilding project, and we had a productive month back in Iowa working on drywall, framing, and providing families with mini-grants of rebuilding materials.
Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to lend a hand, and to our long-time friend the Cedar Hills Community Church, our home away from home.
Check back here soon for the project Final Report – Coming soon!
Click here for more info about this project. Photos.
April Showers…
Over the past week Tennessee has experienced unprecedented spring storms, saturating the ground and causing rivers to crest at historic levels. Parts of Tennessee have received upwards of 12” of rainfall during the most concentrated periods of the storm. On Tuesday, the flooding in Tennessee was a declared a federal disaster and as of today (5/7/2010) 27 counties fall under that declaration.
HODR is monitoring the situation closely, making contacts on the ground with local Emergency Management as well as being present on daily state VOAD calls. We are current gathering information and trying to ascertain if an on ground HODR assessment is warranted. While we know that the affects of the flooding extend beyond Nashville, quantifiable data on the extent of the damage is unknown at this time.
We will continue to work on gathering as much information as possible to make an informed decision on assessing — if a decision is made to move forward with an assessment we will post additional updates.
Follow us for daily updates on Twitter @HODRopsUSA
If you haven’t been automatically redirected to the Project Management Network piece “Rebuilding Haiti“, please click here. Thank you for your interest and support!
HANDS ON DISASTER RESPONSE
PROJECT SUNGAI GERINGGING, CLOSING REPORT
After a successful five and a half months in West Sumatra, Hands On Disaster Response’s Project Sungai Geringging (PSG) has finished. During our period of intervention HODR welcomed 227 volunteers from 29 different countries along with a strong number of volunteers from all around Indonesia. Together we worked to clear the footprint of destroyed homes, taught earthquake safety in schools, built transitional shelters, taught English, built footpaths to community water systems, and worked to help communities collect rainwater – a variety of programs designed to help our neighbours recover from the earthquakes which struck on 30 September and 1 October, 2009. The following is a recap of the work completed over the last weeks of PSG and a few words of thanks.
Transitional Shelters
The wooden frame for the final shelter was built in record time. It took an all-hands push during the final days to complete the rendering, but shelter number 10 was finished in record time. On April 2nd, when Ibu Suma and her family moved in they turned a HODR t-shelter into their home.
HODR is proud to have provided a dignified t-shelter for its beneficiaries throughout Project Sungai Geringging. Targeting the most vulnerable, a total of ten transitional shelters were built in our host community of Tanjung Alai. Utilizing locally milled lumber and complimenting the frame with earthquake-resistant construction techniques, the shelters provide dry safe space for families as they begin the next step to recovery and rebuilding. Throughout the community people can be found building additions, finishing their floors, moving furniture and hanging pictures in these shelters. In more than one family home a proud place was set up to display photos of the volunteers who worked on their new home.
100+ Sites
During the course of PSG we completed salvage/cleanup on 102 houses and deconstruction work on 89 houses. We celebrated the milestone 100th house, the deconstruction and salvage of Ibu Elfida’s home, in the last week of March. At the start of PSG it was clear we would need specific skills to safely and effectively deconstruct partially and totally damaged buildings by hand. The mantra for the volunteer crews was ‘safety and salvage,’ safety being paramount for the volunteers and salvage (of reusable materials) for the beneficiaries. The deconstruction phase (“safe-ing”) of a house was followed by teams of volunteers separating salvageable material from rubble. The materials we helped salvage amounted to the equivalent of thousands of dollars per house.
Back to School
The Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) earthquake-safety training program in schools started in January in response to the behaviour of children witnessed during a strong aftershock. It has now been delivered to more than 25 schools across the district. HODR volunteers also added a first aid component to the DRR training and ten schools benefited from this educational process as well.
The Cultural Experience
A major part of volunteering with HODR is the unique way in which you’re able to connect with the community. Certainly in Indonesia this has been no different, and we have been taken under the wing of many local people and officials. The Minangkabau culture on this part of the island, pre-dating but heavily influenced by Islam, provided a prominent and engaging cultural backdrop.
HODR worked closely with local and regional leaders over the course of our project. It was with their ongoing support that we were able to help the people of Padang Pariaman. With this backdrop, it was a privilege to be invited into the home of the Bupati (Regent) of Padang Pariaman district for a celebration held in our honour. We were provided with a festival of traditional food and dancing, a short moving play interpreting the moment of the earthquake, and certificates of appreciation. Everyone was also presented with a traditional horsehair hat and invited to take part in the more modern Indonesian tradition- Karaoke!
Terima Kasih!
At the end of every HODR project we host a special event for our local community, to thank the many people whom we have helped and have helped us along the way. Over one hundred people came to celebrate the completion of Project Sungai Geringging on our final Saturday, with local food and music and of course lots of children to entertain!
One of the last events to take place is the distribution of our remaining household equipment and numerous tools we collect during the project. Our focus was to contribute to the families who we had not been able to help with other programs during PSG.
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I would like to thank the 227 volunteers who have given their time and energy throughout the project. Your efforts along with the generous donations from the HODR Family allowed us to help the people of Padang Pariaman recover from the earthquakes.
In part, the transitional shelter project success came from individual volunteers who stepped up to the many challenges and roles, dedicating their energy to perfecting each task and passing on their skills to incoming volunteers. The pride and energy that went into making each shelter a home has been a touching part of the project for many of the volunteers involved.
Vital to every project is the knowledge and experience provided by our local staff. With that in mind, everyone at Project Sungai Geringging would like to say ‘terima kasih banyak’ to staff members Rina, Hamdan, Rosnani and Iwan for working so hard with us throughout the project.
Rina our translator was extremely energetic, she always brought fun to our day. Hamdan, our lively driver and local sourcer-extraordinaire, played an important role in the field. Our housekeeper Rosnani rose to the challenge of feeding and fueling an ever increasing amount of volunteers and worked tirelessly with her son Iwan (Andy, to his closest friends!) to keep at least some of the dust and mud out of our clothes.
I’d like to say a particular thank you to Marc Young and Stefanie Chang, who launched PSG, but were called to Haiti in January to initiate Project Leogane. Project Sungai Geringging has been an unparalleled experience thanks to the efforts of these two people. Following their departure, the support and encouragement of volunteers Nate Harrold, TC Kida and Jess Van Ness, along with my other personal heroes, helped guide this project to a successful and dynamic close.
Every person who has connected with Project Sungai Geringging, whether as a volunteer, a staff member, a donor, or a supporter back at home deserves a huge thank you from myself and everyone at Hands On Disaster Response.
Henri Fawcett
HODR Project Coordinator
Project Sungai Geringging
Check out Photos & Video from Project Sungai Geringging!
For all updates from the project, please visit our Project Page.
On Saturday, April 24, 2010 a tornado system swept through several states in the Southern U.S. According to Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour in an article by the Washington Post, “about 100 homes in Yazoo County [Mississippi] and 38 in Choctaw County are not livable.”
HODR is monitoring the situation. We are in dialogue with local contacts and partner organizations, and will be on calls with Mississippi VOAD. We will post more information here if a HODR assessment develops.
Update: On May 6, HODR officially transitioned the RI RCC to Serve Rhode Island, a local organization that will continue with the operation of the RCC for the long-haul. For more info, click here.
Project Update April 22:
For the past 3 weeks our small team on the ground in Rhode Island has been continuing to make a big impact during this Coordinative Services Project. HODR is not engaged in a full-scale volunteer project, rather we are lending our expertise and ability to manage requests from the community and match them with volunteers teams from other responding organizations and local volunteers that are working in the field.
We continue to work closely with United Way 2-1-1 and other members of Rhode Island Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (RI VOAD). HODR has taken the lead role in facilitating requests for volunteer assistance that come into United Way 2-1-1. United Way 2-1-1 in Rhode Island is a telephone service that works similarly to 9-1-1 and 4-1-1. By dialing 2-1-1, Rhode Islanders receive a 24/7/365 health and human services help/hot line staffed by information referral and state-health and insurance counseling specialists. In this case 2-1-1 has become the primary needs intake point for those in need of direct volunteer assistance, usually in the form of clean up assistance.
Rhode Island Recovery Coordination Center (RI RCC)
HODR launched the RI RCC in partnership with the RI VOAD to facilitate collaboration between both national and local agencies to identify and effectively meet the needs of the community. The RI RCC provides resources and referrals to residents in need of assistance as well as coordinates with voluntary agencies to deliver services directly to those in need. Another main role is that we have been hosting coordination meetings for agencies and organizations participating in the response and recovery efforts in order to encourage communication and collaboration between groups, avoid duplication of efforts, and ultimately maximize impact on the community in its time of need.
Collaboration
The Jewish Community Center (JCC) and NECHAMA Jewish Response to Disaster have welcomed the HODR team into their volunteer base and continue to be our home away from home during this Coordinative Services Project.
Based on the many volunteers already in the area, we do not anticipate launching a full-scale HODR volunteer project. Over the next couple of weeks, however, we are continuing to power the RI RCC in cooperation with RI VOAD, 2-1-1, Serve Rhode Island (SRI) and Rhode Island Emergency Management (RIEMA). Other organizations involved with the recovery efforts in RI include: Christian Aid Ministries, Christian Disaster Relief, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Mennonite Disaster Service, NECHAMA, Samaritan’s Purse, Serve Rhode Island, Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief, and the Jonnycake Center of Westerly, RI.
Special Needs
HODR alum Bill Sr. and friend/new HODR volunteer Mark S answered the call to build a displaced family a handicap ramp for their new mobile home. The family was forced to vacate their flood damaged rental and purchase a mobile home nearby. One of the family members suffers from limited mobility issues and can not climb stairs. In order to even enter their new home a ramp needed to be built. Two days after receiving the call HODR volunteers had solved the problem and the family moved in. Click here for photos of HODR in Rhode Island.
Transition
Will conclude our efforts here by May 7, and are working to identify a local agency to transition the database and work request coordination.
This project has allowed us to utilize HODR’s expertise in workflow and volunteer management on a small scale, and we want to thank all of the supporters of this project & HODR, as well as the many organizations and agencies that are actively participating and working together toward an effective response all around and strengthening the state coordination system under RI VOAD.