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Help Haiti, Donate Your Ideas Today
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Watch what the adventists and other teams having to do to prepare : http://www.ihi-projects.com/ http://shhelpshaiti.blogspot.com/
Google spreadsheet of contacts: teammates, receiving NGO, donors
Google doc of preparations so all teammates can edit:
1) ranking participants to recruit to team
2) transport details
3) receiving NGO contacts, helpful backup local contacts
4) back-up plans
5) emergency evacuation plans
6) donors' contributions of goods/services
7) PR/marketing the trip
8) personal preparations e.g. immunizations/supplies
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The idea is to create a civilian emergency response training program that can be implemented in Haiti or in any country that would equip citizens to take care of themselves in the first 3 days of a disaster.
The town I live in, Palo Alto, has such as program and it is called PANDA for Palo Alto Neighborhood Defense Disaster Activities.
The PANDA Program consists of 6 classes. These classes will teach you:
*Introduction to Disasters, structural and non-structural hazards, impacts on infrastructures.
*Utility control, damage assessment, and hazardous materials.
*Disaster medical operations - Part 1
*Disaster medical operations - Part 2
*Disaster Fire Suppression, and operating the PANDA trailer/Den
*Terrorism
*Light Search and Rescue, carrying techniques.
*Disaster Psychology, team organization.
Because we're in California, PANDA volunteers are trained in earthquake search and rescue. I have personally been through the program myself.
The coordinators and participants are all volunteers from the community.
Here's the link to the program:
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/info/news/details.asp?NewsID=193&TargetID=77
NOTE: I would add social media training - the use of Twitter, Facebook and so on to communicate with other volunteers, aid organizations and the world at large.
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Companies such as Meraki make wireless repeaters that cooperate to form mesh networks that can cover large areas. This, in conjunction with broadband access points situated at a much smaller number of sites, can be used to quickly build out wide area broadband networks that are accessible via wifi, and to build a national Internet infrastructure.
The system would be built out as many independent networks that are organized as follows:
* An access point provides broadband connectivity to the Internet, either via a landline (DSL or fiber line), or in many sites, via point to point wireless.
* Each access point is equipped with a router that allocates bandwidth on a per user basis, to prevent one user from hogging the network during peak times (ideally the wireless repeaters should be able to throttle usage as well).
* Wireless repeaters that automatically configure themselves for optimal efficiency. Vendors such as Meraki make low cost repeaters such as this in volume.
The network would be built by local residents with oversight and training from subject matter experts, while access points would be funded initially by US aid agencies and NGOs, and would later be taken over by locally run cooperatives, similar in concept to rural telephone cooperatives in the United States.
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Basic training for NGOs, local civil society organizations, schools, churches and municipalities on the uses of social media for disaster response and relief efforts:
1. Creating social media accounts IN ADVANCE so they're established and have networks of followers for when disaster strikes:
- Facebook Fan page, Twitter account, and YouTube account to communicate to constituents
- Flickr and YouTube to upload images and video
- The importance of geotagging images and twitter messages so people can locate you
- Social media & mobile phones
- Emergency short codes for SMS
- Protocol for establishing Twitter hashtags - #loc, #time, etc. to help people filter Twitter streams
- Strategies for communicating to the outside world in intermittent, low band width and high bandwidth environments
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Haiti’s recovery process is not going to be easy to tackle and will require a lot of effort both from the international community and from local people. Therefore, it is important not to forget lessons learned from the previous disaster responses and to integrate them into work in Haiti early on. The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) has prepared an interesting note on the World Bank Group Response to the Haiti Earthquake: Evaluative Lessons. The note points out that the situation in Haiti is especially overwhelming because of the breakdown of social order and a fragile security situation, the near-complete loss of governance structures, and the failure to impose even minimum quality standards on the construction industry. Some of the main lessons highlighted in IEG’s note are the following:
• Temporary shelters need to preserve existing social relationships. For instance, the layout of temporary shelter structures can reduce crime and violence against women if care is taken during the relocation process to ensure that as many doors as possible face a common and well-lit area.
• Providing survivors with employment and cash transfers early on has had good results. For instance, taking the time to ensure that all usable building materials are recovered and recycled is a way to ensure that the poor will be able to afford to rebuild. The general population can be helped to recover emotionally through this process with paid work.
• Donor coordination has always proved to be vital. Ways must be found for involved donors to work together or in parallel – in the short term – on a clearly defined set of activities with the same eligibility requirements and benefits.
• Design of disaster projects should be simple, based on local participation and taking into account local capacity.
• Streamlined decision-making and procedures for contracting civil works will help avoid delays. For instance, either a high-powered unit developed for the purpose or existing institutions can provide continuity in planning, coordination, and monitoring.
• Damage assessments need to be simple and tailored to local construction types, with damage awards closely tied to actual costs.
• Post-disaster operations need to include measures to reduce long term vulnerability and deal with land ownership issues. Reaching agreement on mitigation measures with the government within the first three months is important, because it becomes harder to get politicians to focus on disaster once the memory of the emergency recedes.
• Owner-driven housing construction can be more effective than the use of contractors.
• Leveraging existing private sector capacity is critical for effective emergency response. The private sector can play a key role in infrastructure and logistics, local banking, and provision of physical capacity.
To read the full version of the note, please click on the following link: http://www.worldbank.org/ieg/haiti.html
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Blessings and Peace:
Our vision is to embrace a small collective of artists, by providing them shelter and workspace in converted cargo containers. The units will be off-grid powered, with cutting edge hydrogen driven energy.
One source of funding is that in certain cities, consumers/households choosing service with CLEAR WiMAX-3G/4G (home phone, home and mobile broadband) will trigger a $100 donation to the Container to Cottage Fund.
The small artist collective will be supported with robust online marketing, so that their crafts can create a quid pro quo exchange; and help to offer one model of Haitian creativity active in value production.
Needs:
a) design, architecture and engineer students (especially those already familiar with the Container Conversion movement)
b) entrepreneurs and marketers in Chicago and Houston
c) WP-commerce plugin gurus, Chrome/Firefox extension gurus, Posterous custom theme gurus
In Service of THE ONENESS,
Rafiki "The Digital Doctor" Cai
TEL/SMS: 801-618-0824
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There should be some interface to allow people to submit ideas to address problems posted by those in Haiti.
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Based on feedback from a field hospital in Haiti, there needs to be a patient record system that can be easily deployed where records are entered, updated and reviewed on a mobile app.
The database needs to reside locally and be accessible via a local intranet, not in the cloud to guarantee access.
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Contact PDT Haiti
haiti@pdtglobal.org
http://haiti.buildingmarkets.org/
“Haiti First” Policy
Spending the Development Dollar Twice
Problem Statement
1. Billions of USD in aid will soon be spent on Haiti.
2. Experience and evidence demonstrates that only a small percentage of this aid
money will likely enter the local economy, as most will be spent on imported goods
and services.
3. This will result in a massive lost opportunity to support economic recovery and
stability in Haiti through local procurement.
Recommendation: Adopting the “Haiti First” Approach
1. In Afghanistan donors have endorsed an “Afghan First” policy which requests that
aid agencies procure goods and services locally wherever possible. This policy helps
ensure that aid money spent on Afghanistan is spent in Afghanistan by using
capable local suppliers wherever possible to carry out project work. This precedent
can be adopted by donors in Haiti.
2. A Haiti First approach can help turn a tragedy into an opportunity by driving millions
if not billions of new investment into the Haitian economy.
Local Procurement is Key
1. It contributes to peace and stability by sustaining and inducing jobs, building
marketplaces and generating tax revenue;
2. It presents an opportunity to spend the development dollar twice. For example, a
donor can spend $1m to build a hospital with imported goods and services and leave
a hospital behind. Or they can use local suppliers to build a hospital and
simultaneously restore livelihoods, generate tax revenue and build the local
marketplace;
3. It is often faster, more efficient, and has greater value than other aid mechanisms for
private sector development;
4. Research shows that there is a direct link between increased local spending and
increased GDP in post-conflict/crisis economies;
Peace Dividend Trust 200 Catherine Street, Suite 510, Ottawa, ON, K2P 2K9
phone: +1 613 233-6711, fax: +1 613 233-0093, email: info@pdtglobal.org
5. Research has also shown that increased local spending only distorts the local
economy in isolated ways, and that the economic benefits far outweigh the pitfalls.
6. It is an important and valuable “hearts and minds” approach;
7. It increases the capacity of national actors and businesses while contributing to the
diversification of supply chains.
Early Action Is Key
1. Systems, policies and general approach vis-à-vis reconstruction in Haiti will be set in
the first six months, which will establish the ways and means that the international
community will operate in Haiti for many years to come.
2. Consequently, “Haiti First” is necessary now, not later, so as to seize this opportunity
to support economic recovery at the earliest stages of the development process.
Washington Post 14 Jan 2010 Op-Ed by Bill Clinton: “As we clear the rubble, we will
create better tomorrows by building Haiti back better: with stronger buildings, better
schools and health care; with more manufacturing and less deforestation; with more
sustainable agriculture and clean energy.”
Who has endorsed this approach?
1. Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness
2. United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNMIT & UNAMA)
3. UK Dept for International Development and Ministry of Defence
4. AusAID
5. Pentagon and State Department
6. NATO
7. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and President of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta
Conclusion
1. Donors should endorse a “Haiti First” policy which will help spend the development
dollar twice;
2. It is MORE than private sector development – it is a new way of supporting peace
building;
3. It is measurable;
4. It is a positive cost / benefit ratio;
5. It is highly popular with the host Nation.
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Per Sutter Health's account, it appears that when all else fails, medical teams can successfully be deployed in affiliation with a local church on the ground.
The task then is to have churches broadcast their coordinates so medical teams outside of Haiti can identify where they can set up hospitals.
Perhaps a Twitter/Google Map mashup such as Ushahidi has done where churches geotag their tweets?
The churches could also tweet the best route in - from the Dominican Republic side and so on.
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Come up with a map of disaster relief and recovery so we know what are immediate, short-term, and long term challenges and can continuously improve our responses.
First: create a forum where we can do this as a co-created document.
Here are my initial thoughts -- note I don't have actual experience, I'm just guessing!
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I have noted that is has taken many days to get medical facilities up and running in Haiti. There have been some similar issues , but on a smaller scale in Afghanistan in remote villages. The idea would be to design an relocatable prefabricated medical clinic that could be easily shipped or delivered by helicopter to a war zone or disaster area on short notice. It would be a self-contained box that opened up , had water tanks, medical supplies, and a small solar or wind generator. Think of an Airstream Trailer converted into a hospital clinic on wheels. It would need to be big, but mobile, easy to relocate, and self-contained so that medical supplies are always stored on board so it can be deployed on a moments notice . I have attached some information on prefabricated structures, and something on a relocatable kiosk designed by Sid Lee in Montreal as another visual clue.
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I propose using a simple SMS system to collect and disseminate field data from and to aid workers, emergency workers, and medical personnel, working in Haiti.
Using a cheap and simple system consisting of a netbook, a mobile phone, a USB data cable, and a piece of open source software, a data collection too could be set up within 24 hours that would not require any specialized equipment to be used in the field by workers.
Such a system could be created for under $600 USD.
I have some experience setting up such a system and would be more than happy to help in any way I can.
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Problem: How to provide security for medical teams in surrounding communities of Port au Prince?
source :http://shhelpshaiti.blogspot.com/2010/01/january-24-2010-its-massive-logistics.html
From Toni Brayer, M.D., Chief Medical Officer Sutter Health West Bay Region, Leader for Sutter Health's Help for Haiti
I also heard from Dr. Barry Rose, a Sutter-affiliated California Pacific Medical Center anesthesiologist and Haiti volunteer with Operation Rainbow. After a week on the ground, he is discouraged with the lack of coordination and lack of security for the teams that need to go away from the medical area to help patients in the surrounding communities.
Dr. Rose reports, “It’s a massive logistics, infrastructure and security problem. The scope of the damage is big, so we need to get out into the field, but the teams cannot be sent out without very serious security. Instead, projects spring up for surgical and continuing care of the patients that have some power and safety. Our efforts are hugely centered around the church structures—like after Hurricane Katrina. This is why I went where I did (on the Dominican Republic border), to be able to do as much actual surgical and work as possible, which we have done. We’re also helping to build an ongoing avenue for care—a difficult process and something that will take time.”
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Just came across ShelterBox... 10 person tents, fully stocked with suplies including childrens activities...
What do people think about them?
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thru Rebuilding Educational and Technologies Forums and Consortium or the like. Not one big huge complex, but many small, easily maintained hubs.
Imagine modern eco-tech villages. Maybe these are townships, began at satellite camp locations.
Imagining that if region is unstable, use recycled heavy materials as foundations, berming the walls near the ground, but leave light tops on that would not crush inhabitants. (please see links to Wells and Biotecture)
While spending monies on cleanup, save materials that are reusable, such as toilets, window, galvanized roofing, cinder blocks, etc. Sort during clean up to conserve. (Insert hazardous waste & housing materials hub...feed education here, too)
If there are invasive species that need removal, can these be put to use? (Such as bamboo..there are many species) Can be sawed lengthwise to create gutters, roofs that are gutters, or simple piping. Also useful for furnishing. Also edible; caution, invasive. (Insert Home Ec. & Ag. classes) My apologies, have not studied up on botany of Haiti.
Pre-quake, had just drawn up plans for a local business organization here in Virginia, focused on a certification program of agriculture and livestock renewal systems that in turn educate and certify future endeavors to other locales. The plan works in concert with both student interns and prison rehabilitation systems. Those that are certified, obtain partnerships in the new endeavors. (They also get privileges that come with the cert, thru the Alumni Association and Board Members Org. etc)
The idea on the personal level that i am sharing started as a conglomeration of
our
Local Food Hub
http://chofoodhub.blogspot.com/2009/02/fasten-your-seat-belts-here-we-go.html)
[insert cafe/restaurant/kitchen and store to move over production by local farmers; for Haiti, insert educational programs on site],
Planet Earth Diversified
(http://www.planetearthdiversified.com/index.htm)
[our local farming and greenhouse system at home],
Polyface (http://www.polyfacefarms.com/)
[for animal husbandry and poultry circuits, insert food/farm/ag/education]
See also T & E Meats in Harrisonburg, VA.
Earthship Biotecture (http://www.earthship.net/home.htm)see H2O
Malcolm Wells (http://www.malcolmwells.com/definitions.html)
Frank Lloyd Wright ideas(http://www.franklloydwright.org/fllwf_web_091104/Home.html)
The Pacific Trash Vortex (i have not studied up on topic here) (http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex) (have fantasy here to turn it all into building materials)
Quick link to all types of recycling centers(http://earth911.com/)
Disaster preparation materials(http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Water-in-the-Desert)
With a tier system of needs and goals, there would be plenty of workers and much training at first, but at end point, culture is revitalized and equipt to assist inhabitants. Reminding me in this moment of Crisis Camp, quite honestly. There will be energy to harness and focus, and this may be a conduit. Utilize the situation to empower self education.
Will get onto typing up those notes, and get those out first. Drawings will post after that.
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We Have We Need is a place where relief organizations can quickly post their most urgent needs and have them matched by generous donors during a time of crisis. This site was built by a group of geeky do-gooders who saw this as an opportunity to use technology to help bring people and donations together in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in Haiti. If you'd like to participate in the program, email help@wehaveweneed.org
Link: http://www.wehaveweneed.org
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Building on Leslie's idea, how can we put everyone in Haiti to work rebuilding their homes and communities? There is an abundance of labor in Haiti right now - it may be more strategic to throw labor at the problem rather than heavy equipment and other time saving/labor saving techniques.
The reasons for this are as follows:
* It keeps people engaged. Young men especially, have something to do everyday.
* It provides income and circumvents aid/handout dependency.
* It may avoid distortions in the local economy where foreign contractors are paid a 1st world salary that then results in local inflation as those monies circulate in the economy.
* It builds community and team work. People who have worked together as a team can then take on new challenges.
* It builds self-efficacy. This is key for the Haitian people to drive their own destiny.
So how is this accomplished?
We can look at models like Global Giving and http://www.lambifund.org where people propose projects and then donors crowdfund the financing of those projects.
We can structure challenge competitions around green, sustainable housing and neighborhoods where local teams can join with engineers and architects from the Haitian diaspora. Cash prizes can be given to the best implementations and the funds can then be used to create a community bank of some sort.
We can work with people on the ground in Haiti along with students from Stanford's d.school to create design briefs around housing, neighborhoods and community gardens; the students can then work on these projects through the Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability and Designing for Sustainable Abundance classes.
Links:
http://www.globalgiving.org/
http://www.stanford.edu/group/dschool/index.html
http://www.stanford.edu/group/dschool/participate/classes.html
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