Hurricane Felix Disaster Relief Update – September 19, 2007
Delays Result in Adjusted Plan – Carlos Coffin, local relief coordinator, reports that the pumps have still not arrived in Pto Cabezas from Managua. If the pumps do not come in today, he will take the time to travel to Managua personally in order to oversee the order and expedite the shipment of them. The well-cleaning is a critical part of the relief plan. However, the food has been packaged and the communities are in need of the supplies, so they have decided not to wait for the pumps. They have sent a team into the thirteen communities targeted for the initial project and are distributing the food already. Meanwhile they are putting the “second round” of food packages together for the remaining communities that are in need. Carlos reports that in addition to providing the necessary relief for the affected area, many of the volunteers find their effort helps them in dealing with the grief resulting from the "shock" of the effects of the hurricane (loss of friends, family members and material goods, etc).
Community Effort – As soon as the pumps arrive, the plan is to start going through the communities in the cleaning of the wells. The “well-cleaning team” plans to function as coordinators in the cleaning of each well and in the digging of new ones (should we eventually move into that phase). They plan to solicit volunteers in each community to help them with the task. They believe that each community that receives aid should be involved personally as much as possible so that they will have a sense of pride in the completed project. They believe that these projects can help to build community spirit as a side-benefit to clean water and food distribution.
