Update Against Hunger - October 12, 2005
Field Notes:
A Snapshot of Life in the Field
Dear Action Against Hunger Team Member,
As they say, a picture is worth a truckload of words. The picture below tells you all you need to know about life in the field.
Cathy Skoula
Executive Director,
Action Against Hunger (ACF) USA
New from US Headquarter:
ACF's Bi-Weekly Volunteer Nights a Growing Success
Earlier this year, Erica Sackin, our Development and Communications Coordinator, began hosting Volunteer Nights on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Held in our offices at 247 West 37th Street between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., the evenings are open-houses that allow current and prospective volunteers to socialize, get to know us better, and help with chores such as mailing acknowledgements of donations, assembling press kits, and filing. Snacks are served. Once we screened the documentary film about our field work, Heart of the Congo.
An increasing number of volunteers has shown up on Volunteer Nights, growing from half a dozen to nearly three times that many. The crowd ranges from students curious about who we are and what we do to serious professionals eager to contribute their skills to major projects. As you can imagine, we welcome everyone.
If you're in town and interested in stopping by, one more volunteer will make the evenings even more festive. No reservations are necessary, just drop in. If you have questions, please send them to volunteer@actionagainsthunger.org. And if you have friends who are interested in getting to know us and helping out, bring them along too or give them our address. As an icebreaker, you'll have an interest in common with everyone you meet.
News from the field:
ACF Responds to Earthquake-Affected Pakistan
One month ago, we explained why we're not contributing to the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. In part, Cathy Skoula explained, "the difference we could make would be negligible compared with the impact our resources can have in impoverished countries with few routes to assistance." Following that reasoning, we've launched a Mission in Pakistan (while our partner-headquarters in Spain is similarly aiding Guatemala in the wake of Hurricane Stan).
Responding to the devastating earthquake in South Asia on October 8, we're scheduled to fly in 30 tons of food and water supplies today, and we've organized a response team of water, sanitation, and food security experts. Says Cathy: "In many of the places affected by the earthquake, 80%-90% of the houses have been destroyed, forcing people to sleep outside in winter temperatures, with no food, water, or electricity." According to logistics coordinator Franck Gressard: "There's nothing left." Water and power systems have been demolished, as have markets and roads. Hospitals, too, have been leveled, and doctors have been killed.
In all, the 7.6 magnitude quake, centered outside of Muzaffarabad, 50 miles from Islamabad, killed at least 30,000 people and devastated villages across Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. The UN estimates that 4 million people have been affected, 1 million seriously. The needs of the population are immense, including winterized tents, blankets, food, and potable water.
Our assessment team is already in Islamabad to help measure the damage and the most pressing needs of the affected population. Our response will focus first on ensuring that survivors of the earthquake have adequate supplies of food, shelter, and potable water. Once the immediate and most serious effects of the earthquake have passed, we'll assess survivors' needs and plan our assistance accordingly.
Person Profile:
Profile- ONESMUS MUINDE
Born in Kenya, Onesmus Muinde taught at two colleges before pursuing an M.S. in nutrition at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. As a graduate student, he also taught, made five presentations at nutrition conferences, and published three articles. His topics included nutrition and information technology; nutrition education; nutrition and the elderly; the safety of street food; food security in Africa; and the nutritional implications of Kenyan eating habits.
In 2003, we hired Onesmus as a nutritionist in southern Sudan, where malnutrition wasand still isat emergency levels. One year later, he was appointed team leader, and last year he was named Nutrition Surveillance Programs Manager for our southern Sudan mission. In addition, his duties have expanded as our geographical coverage in the country has widened. His wife, Lucy Kinanu, is also a nutritionist, and she works for the Ministry of Health in Kenya. They have a seven-year-old daughter.
A book, Africa in Crisis, which Onesmus read as a grad student, inspired his commitment to humanitarian work. "This book revealed to me another world I was not familiar with," he says. "It talked about a famine in Ethiopia and Sudan; the author described malnourished people there as 'walking bones.' On the media too I saw how different regions of Africa including my own country were suffering from hunger and disease due to malnutrition."
Praising his warmth, skills, collegiality, and dedication to Action Against Hunger's objectives, Onesmus was nominated as Staff Member of the Year from the South Sudan Mission.
