Assessment trip to the Haiti border area
[i-Jimani border]
Two weeks ago, we got news of two small camps forming just across the border, in Haiti. These were mostly people treated at a hospital, and their relatives, both of which were in dire need of aid.
Food aid is not just a question of "dropping food rations", but also ensuring the rations are adequate, appropriate, and can be distributed so those who are in need are actually served. A minimum provision of basic security has to be in place to ensure safety of the beneficiaries, and of those handing out the food aid.
So before we could move food aid in, we needed to see for ourselves and make the arrangements how we could store the food near the camps, who would distribute it, and what rations were needed, for how long and with what frequency they needed to be replenished.
We got the call for help on a Wednesday evening. On the Thursday we flew with a helicopter to Jimani, and drove over the border to discuss the plan of action with the people managing the camps.
Luckily, the type of rations they needed were available in our warehouse in Jimani, and on the Friday, the first food distribution was done.
Here is a short video showing the helicopter take off from a grass field behind the local military outpost.
[Loband: Object Removed -]
Since then, we have regular food distributions in those camps. We transport the aid to Jimani, and the distribution is done by Worldvision, one of our implementing partners.
During most of the trips, I twitter pictures live via Shot from the Hip.
Earth Hour, Earth Day, Earth Year, Earth For Ever.
[i-I am switching off my lights this evening. Will you?]
Don't forget: today, we're all standing up for the cause of the Earth. The world’s first global election, choosing between Earth and global warming.
Earth Hour invites all of us to switch off our lights today March 28 between 8:30-9:30pm (local time) in a sign of support. I set my alarm clock. Don't want to miss it. I want to be one of the 1,000,000,000 people who will vote for Earth.
Bloggers Unite for Earth Hour[i-Bloggers Unite for Earth Hour]Not that it will save much energy, or will have the Earth live one hour longer. But as a call to have people think about the global warming. About the environment.
Earth Hour. A simple gesture. An important cause. I should have gone into advertising. Join us. On Earth Hour that is. Not in advertising.
Check out:
- The Earth Hour's photo stream on Flickr as they are being posted.
- Their Twitter updates
- The YouTube Earth Hour channel
- Plenty of Twitter posts about Earth Hour. (at the time US East Coast went into Earth Hour's time zone, tweets came in at 30 per second!)
Update: 20:30 - and off went the lights at The Road.
[i-and off went the lights at The Road]
This post is published as part of the Bloggers Unite, a viral movement of bloggers for a cause.
News: Google went dark on Earth Hour
google dark[i-google dark]
Not only Dubai switched off its lights (well some of them) during Earth Hour, also the US version of the Google search page made an environmental gesture. They switched to a black background for an hour.
Picture courtesy News.com
News: Earth Hour switches Dubai's lights off.
Earth Hour in Dubai: Burj Al Arab in darkness[i-Earth Hour in Dubai: Burj Al Arab in darkness]
Dubai was the first Arab city to declare its public support for Earth Hour, a worldwide environmental movement backed by the World Wildlife Fund.
Millions of people around the world participated yesterday by switching off non-essential lights as a signal they care about global warming.
In Dubai, the Burj Al Arab, said to be the world's only six-star hotel, switched off its external lighting, as residents held a walkathon on Jumeirah Road. (Full)
Picture courtesy Atiq-Ur-Rehman (Gulf News)