Wings Like Eagles’ people spent much of 2020 absorbed in COVID crisis and with international responses to it. As we all felt, we have a responsibility to protect our volunteers and workers, especially our skilled older volunteers.
To us that’s just the right thing to do.
thinking about how best to respond to disasters!
When not absorbed in the COVID crisis – what do we do?
However, when Wings Like Eagles isn’t reacting, it is preparing. So in 2020 before we were all absorbed in the COVID crisis, we were preparing for disaster response. This took three parts:
a. Nurturing our network. We are dependent upon those who provide our alert system to give us the time to gear up to a response. So we spend time staying in touch with our friends and allies. They are particularly in Mozambique and South Africa. They can advise us of the current conditions. We have also observed the continuing reports of the UN’s International Office for Migration and its regional offices. They have been checking on the migrants from the large 2019 crisis and their return home.
b. Deeper development of the DROP Logger. Clive Langmead did some more excellent work with the aviation based US charity, the ISTAT Foundation. The Foundation made us a grant of development money for us to build some of the 2019 disaster lessons into the Disaster Relief Operational Plot Logger. Thank you very much ISTAT Foundation!
So we worked with our friends at Mercy Air in Switzerland and in South Africa to improve the kit. Led by trustee Keith Whale, there was training of the pilots, and further software development by HELYX.
c. Lessons Learned. Working with our friend Jeremy Boddington, another veteran of the 2019 disaster response, the trustees captured the lessons that helping 1.8 million people and saving 400 lives showed us. Each disaster is different. But it is helpful to look at what each one teaches you. That was the third activity of 2019.
How can you help?
All this is made possible by our regular donors and supporters like the ISTAT Foundation. If you want to be come a regular donor, why not look here?
Or just contact us, we’d love to help you get involved. Little regular or individual sums make a huge difference! Thank you!
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