How best to be useful on the ground in Samoa after the tsunami?

October 1, 2009 3:30 PM

How best to help out on the ground in Samoa after tsunami?

My husband spent two years in Samoa with the Peace Corps in the 80's, and has maintained close ties with a family there. Their village was among the hardest hit by the tsumani. He is planning to head to Samoa to help out in a few weeks.

My question is to people who have worked in disaster areas - how best can he help out? What to bring? Who to coordinate with? What to watch out for? Assume a budget of $2k outside of airfare.

thanks!
loving wife

posted by metaseeker to society & culture (6 comments total)

As a long time aid worker I would say probably don't go and just donate to an established organization already working on the ground.
posted by tarvuz at 4:14 PM on October 1

It's wonderful that he wants to help, but unless he has a specific, applicable skill-- i.e. he's a watsan expert, or a doctor, or a foresnic anthropologist-- it would honestly probably be best to donate the money. Especially since airfare is so expensive.

The desire to *be there* is strong, but chances are he'd just show up, use scarce resources (such as water) to sustain himself, and not end up doing much.

Another option is to wait until things calm down a bit, and find a way to get the family the money (2K plus whatever the airfare would have cost). They'll have rebuilding to do themselves, personally, and you would both get to really see the impact. Johnny went back to school! We rebuilt the outbuilding that washed away! We all got immunizations that we needed! etc.
posted by charmcityblues at 5:07 PM on October 1

Unless he's already attached to one of the disaster relief organisations, sending a donation is a better idea. Unfortunately, volunteers eat into resources which could be better spent on other things by the relief organisations which is why most ads you see by these organisations are directed to people with whatever specific skills are required.

There's going to be a massive military and civilian relief effort by our government and disaster relief organisations, and their general advice is to keep out of disaster areas unless additional civilian volunteers are specifically called for.

For what it's worth, there was another earthquake just off Tonga early this afternoon, so the need for donations is going to be critical over the coming weeks. Reports here are that lack of working machinery is hampering rescue efforts, so I expect there'll be a whole lot of specialist engineers, geologists, and a shitload of equipment heading out of here tonight.

There are a ton of disaster relief organisations in this region. One with which you will probably be familiar is Habitat for Humanity. Habitat Australia will inevitable launch a specific campaign for rebuilding in the earthquake affected zones - they won't have a timeline yet for starting rebuilding, but if your husband would be interested in joining them when that project gets underway, it's likely to be co-ordinated by Habitat Australia. The details will be published on the Global Village section of their website when rebuilding gets under way.

There's also a link on the website for donations to the 2009 Asia Pacific Disaster - funds donated to that can only be spent on that particular campaign under our local laws governing non-profit organisations.
posted by Lolie at 9:00 PM on October 1

Another aid worker chiming in to n'th the donation idea. Your funds will go much further in terms of on-the-ground impact via an organization that is already on the ground (mine is, although we're focused on Indonesia and Philippines primarily right now, Samoa is gearing up).

Better to save up for a trip at a time when things are stable, and he can enjoy his time with them and explore opportunities for helping support longer-term sustainable development.
posted by allkindsoftime at 11:08 PM on October 1

Please ask your husband to stay at home and donate the money instead. I'm sure the idea of helping in person makes him feel all warm inside, but what the relief effort requires is the large-scale, co-ordinated delivery of essential supplies, and the skills and expertise of specialists like doctors, sanitation experts, logisticians and engineers . Aid agencies exist because they're good at making those things happen.

The fact that your husband isn't sure how he can help suggests that he's considering going to Samoa to offer, essentially, his unskilled labour. There is no labour shortage in Samoa right now. Everybody who survived the quake and tsunami has had their usual working life disrupted - they'll be ready and willing to help out with the cleanup and rebuilding of their own communities. Your husband means well, but if he's not bringing specialised skills, he'll just be one more person using scarce water, food, shelter and sanitation systems which are barely able to support the local population.
posted by embrangled at 5:48 AM on October 2

Thanks everyone. He's going to wait until it's time to rebuild, then head over and help out with construction at the village. I asked the hive mind; he asked his Peace Corps friends, and the advice was the same. Go Mefites!
posted by metaseeker at 11:10 PM on October 4