Wednesday 26 June 2013
Blog moved to website
Please note this blog is no longer maintained, but left here as I regularly get asked for stories on my travels.... for current info, do visit the Osman Consulting website: www.osmanconsulting.co.uk : very exciting: since January 2013 focusing on this full time and fortunate to have lots of work and expanding quickly... do get in touch if you/ your organisation has any disaster management needs... this can be from advice/ training around disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness, disaster response, to practical hands on support....
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Some catching up from Pakistan
I'm quite busy here in Pakistan, so somewhat delay in publishing my thoughts:
Lahore (Pakistan), 17 August 2010
Being an aid worker is very interesting, dangerous, rewarding, self-fulfilling and most importantly crazy, very crazy. One day, while sitting with my family in peace, I can receive a telephone call or watch a piece in the news then all of a sudden your life completely changed, starting calling and receiving calls from all over the world, handling media, fundraising.
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Islamabad (Pakistan) 15 August 2010
One of the issues that struck me most is the phenomena of the well wishers, individuals or small groups of amateurs moved by the images on the TV, then collect some donations from friends, families or maybe mosque or churches, book a ticket then land in an unknown land, buy some relief items (usually food), and start distributing. Without any assessment, planning, discussion or interaction with the country or any other coordination body in the country. As if they are working in a vacuum. Unfortunately, such behaviour or method of work disturbs the existing humanitarian mechanism set by the Government, UN agencies and professional humanitarian agencies. These well wishers with good intention rarely reach the poor or the vulnerable groups, who are away from the main scene, in the remote areas. They tend to throw what they have to the first group of people camping on the main road, who may be professional beggars collecting assistance and sell this in the market. The true needy have no access to any of this assistance because they are not reachable by those well wishers coming for a very limited time. I have a short video recording (which I'll put up later) of such undignified distribution: amateurs throwing food, water or any other aid items from the top of the truck while driving on the main road, reaching only those who can run fast enough and putting people at risk (several people injured through being hit by oncoming traffic).
See you later with new update on the progress of Lunda village
Lahore (Pakistan), 17 August 2010
Being an aid worker is very interesting, dangerous, rewarding, self-fulfilling and most importantly crazy, very crazy. One day, while sitting with my family in peace, I can receive a telephone call or watch a piece in the news then all of a sudden your life completely changed, starting calling and receiving calls from all over the world, handling media, fundraising.
___________________________________________________________________
Islamabad (Pakistan) 15 August 2010
One of the issues that struck me most is the phenomena of the well wishers, individuals or small groups of amateurs moved by the images on the TV, then collect some donations from friends, families or maybe mosque or churches, book a ticket then land in an unknown land, buy some relief items (usually food), and start distributing. Without any assessment, planning, discussion or interaction with the country or any other coordination body in the country. As if they are working in a vacuum. Unfortunately, such behaviour or method of work disturbs the existing humanitarian mechanism set by the Government, UN agencies and professional humanitarian agencies. These well wishers with good intention rarely reach the poor or the vulnerable groups, who are away from the main scene, in the remote areas. They tend to throw what they have to the first group of people camping on the main road, who may be professional beggars collecting assistance and sell this in the market. The true needy have no access to any of this assistance because they are not reachable by those well wishers coming for a very limited time. I have a short video recording (which I'll put up later) of such undignified distribution: amateurs throwing food, water or any other aid items from the top of the truck while driving on the main road, reaching only those who can run fast enough and putting people at risk (several people injured through being hit by oncoming traffic).
See you later with new update on the progress of Lunda village
Tuesday 17 August 2010
News from flood-hit Pakistan
It is quite difficult to land in a country where the whole nation is grieving because of the flood that has affected the life and livelihood of over 20 million people in 2 weeks. It is bit grim and bleak while we head to the most affected area in Nowshara district of Kyber Pakhtoun Khwa (KPK) province. Immediately, we head towards Bir Sabaq village along the Kabul River to distribute some relief supplies. But when we get close to distribution location, we notice a large group of people heading towards us. They are trying to flee from the latest wave of rains and the flooding that follows. Due to torrential rains, the region was declared an emergency zone. The village was again experiencing flash floods and access to the camp by vehicle was not possible. The village consisted of 225 houses of which 200 were destroyed by the flood on 29 July 2010.
The average household size in the village is 8 persons. The residents of the destroyed houses live in spontaneous IDP (internally displaced people) camps, seeking refuge in homes that have survived or continuing to live in their destroyed homes.
See Islamic Relief Pakistan for more photos.
One of the main challenges of working in an emergency is that you plan for one thing but then you have to have the flexibility to change it when the situation on the ground changes. We realised that our original plan would not be possible because the people that we were going to distribute to were no longer there as they had fled their homes and villages. There was thus a discussion whether to go back and postpone the distribution or to redirect the trucks to a different destination, which was not an easy task either. Watching the people flee the area, we realised that there weren’t many women in the group. We realised that there may be women and elderly that may need evacuating from the area. The decision was to cancel the distribution and walk through the water to the other end of the village trying to rescue some vulnerable people to the other end.
Our trucks immediately returned back to the warehouse to unload the hygiene kits and return back empty, ready to evacuate the most vulnerable from the flooded area. We rescued 200 people women, children and elderly. I was up to my waist in water, I was wet and cold, but I felt great and it was more rewarding than distributing some hygiene kit or even a food pack. The following verse from the Quran came to mind: "whoever saves the life of one, it would be as though he had saved mankind" (Quran 5:32).
It is quite common for the death toll from a flood to be much less than from an earthquake. However, the impact on the livelihood on the people in immense, as people lose their house, livestock, food stock, savings thus their sources of incomes. Also, in cases of floods, the risk of the spread of water-borse diseases is significant if no immediate measures are taken This explains why the response of the world in this disaster is quite disappointing compared to Haiti or tsunami or even the Pakistan earthquake 2005.
The average household size in the village is 8 persons. The residents of the destroyed houses live in spontaneous IDP (internally displaced people) camps, seeking refuge in homes that have survived or continuing to live in their destroyed homes.
See Islamic Relief Pakistan for more photos.
One of the main challenges of working in an emergency is that you plan for one thing but then you have to have the flexibility to change it when the situation on the ground changes. We realised that our original plan would not be possible because the people that we were going to distribute to were no longer there as they had fled their homes and villages. There was thus a discussion whether to go back and postpone the distribution or to redirect the trucks to a different destination, which was not an easy task either. Watching the people flee the area, we realised that there weren’t many women in the group. We realised that there may be women and elderly that may need evacuating from the area. The decision was to cancel the distribution and walk through the water to the other end of the village trying to rescue some vulnerable people to the other end.
Our trucks immediately returned back to the warehouse to unload the hygiene kits and return back empty, ready to evacuate the most vulnerable from the flooded area. We rescued 200 people women, children and elderly. I was up to my waist in water, I was wet and cold, but I felt great and it was more rewarding than distributing some hygiene kit or even a food pack. The following verse from the Quran came to mind: "whoever saves the life of one, it would be as though he had saved mankind" (Quran 5:32).
It is quite common for the death toll from a flood to be much less than from an earthquake. However, the impact on the livelihood on the people in immense, as people lose their house, livestock, food stock, savings thus their sources of incomes. Also, in cases of floods, the risk of the spread of water-borse diseases is significant if no immediate measures are taken This explains why the response of the world in this disaster is quite disappointing compared to Haiti or tsunami or even the Pakistan earthquake 2005.
Sunday 4 July 2010
Update
Have neglected this blog for a bit - though have updated my website. In summary: have been traveling quite a bit: Haiti, Yemen, Abu Dhabi (UAE), Geneva... Have now also updated other aspects of my online presence (e.g. YouTube). If you have any suggestions and/ or queries, do get in touch. I enjoy sharing/ exchanging experiences.
Monday 5 April 2010
Attending IHL training by ICRC in Beirut
Also, I am now (29 March - 9 April) in Beirut, Lebanon, at the invitation of the ICRC for an intensive course on international humanitarian law. The course covers the following topics: Introduction to International Humanitarian Law (IHL), IHL and Human Rights Law, Persons Protected under IHL, Places Protected under IHL, Environmental Protection in the Event of Armed Conflict, IHL and Muslim Law (Shari'a), Means and Methods of Warfare in IHL, Peace Support Operations and IHL, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, The Role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Armed Conflicts, Mechanisms of Respect for IHL and its Implementation at the National Level, Development of International Criminal Justice, IHL and Contemporary Challenges, Case Studies from the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Teaching IHL (Materials and Research Methods).... so plenty of reading and new insight!
International humanitarian law is a set of rules which seek, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. It protects persons who are not or are no longer participating in the hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare.
My stay in Lebanon is also a good opportunity to meet up with the Sphere Lebanon team too, which I did on 5 April.
International humanitarian law is a set of rules which seek, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. It protects persons who are not or are no longer participating in the hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare.
My stay in Lebanon is also a good opportunity to meet up with the Sphere Lebanon team too, which I did on 5 April.
Disaster Management training at Birmingham University
From end of January to end February I taught Introduction to Disaster Management at Birmingham University again. Besides work in the classroom it also enabled the students to 'get their hands dirty' and do some practicing of some aspects of disaster management.
This module introduces participants to the main principles of disaster management. with a focus on disaster response in the developing world. The course will promote the sharing of relevant technical skills and knowledge and will equip participants with adequate analytical skills through developing key understanding of disaster management procedures, needs assessment methods, principles and values, SPHERE standards, working with refugees and IDPs, and adhering to agreed international standards.
Saturday 6 February 2010
Some thoughts looking back on Haiti trip
I was in Abu Dhabi teaching Disaster Management to government officials and national NGOs when the news hit about the Haiti Earthquake. I made an immediate call to my family to prepare my deployment kit and another call to my main employer Islamic Relief Worldwide to book my ticket and prepare for my travel, and I arranged candidates of the DRT (disaster response team) to join the mission. After some struggles considering different options and airlines, we finally managed to get to Santo Domingo in neighbouring Dominican Republic, then on to Port-au-Prince within 72 hours.
Approaching Port-au-Prince on the fourth day after the earthquake was quite an experience in itself. The first thing that struck us was the overwhelming smell, the smell of death, and the scene of dead bodies lying by the side of the road, something I did not like to see and I do not want to see, despite having seen this on several occasions before (e.g. Iraq, Aceh/ Indonesia and Mozambique).
The capital was in a very chaotic state. Everybody was living in the street. This was no wonder as there was no place to go or no roof to hide under, especially with the risk of aftershocks. A huge number of young men and women queuing by the UN Peace Keeper offices looking for a job. I stopped over and recruited Michael, an English teacher, so that he could take us around and help with translation. In the heat we drove over to the heart of the city, Port–au-prince downtown. No single building had been left standing. The smell of death was killing us; everyone was using something to cover his nose and mouth. Looting was ongoing. Some call it surviving, people fighting to survive, which I can accept in many cases. However, what I have seen in this downtown with aggressive fighting and anarchy for surviving, we felt in extreme danger as people started to fight with each other using machetes, steel bars and all other possible means.
Public parks, car parks and even the main roads are occupied by makeshift shelters made from bed sheets and people sleep under it. I have seen so many cases where people made their makeshift accommodation in the middle of the road either to attract attention for help or as a sign of protest against the government and everybody else.
In the base log, based in the airport, from where the UN Peace Keepers and the international humanitarian community are operating, we set up our small camp (2 small tents). The camp was overcrowded and facilities poor due to the overcrowding, as the UN Peace Keepers who used to live outside the camp in houses or flats had moved inside the camp after their houses were destroyed (and it's safer inside).
Humanitarian agencies face a significant dilemma in trying to get the balance right between looking after their own safety and fulfilling their duty, in particular the principle of the humanitarian imperative. As the street in not safe enough and very challenging to deliver aid to the most needy. During the first week, aid workers were in a survival mood, trying to make sense of it all and settling themselves in, finding out where to sleep, where to wash.
Although I've been an aid worker for almost twenty years, each disaster has unique aspects, for example the media scrutiny is now much more intense and immediate (where journalists sometimes have limited understanding that for them to arrive is easy - just take a plane -, getting significant quantities of appropriate response items cannot be achieved so instantly), and each context is different, for example Haiti already had a most weak infrastructure and significant lack of law and order before the quake hit it. Due to the humanitarian situation, many players were already there, but also suffered significant losses themselves, including the head of the UN.
Haiti Aid Efforts: Agencies must Strike the Right Balance
http://www.newscentre.bham.ac.uk/press/2010/02/Haiti_Aid_Agencies.shtml
Approaching Port-au-Prince on the fourth day after the earthquake was quite an experience in itself. The first thing that struck us was the overwhelming smell, the smell of death, and the scene of dead bodies lying by the side of the road, something I did not like to see and I do not want to see, despite having seen this on several occasions before (e.g. Iraq, Aceh/ Indonesia and Mozambique).
The capital was in a very chaotic state. Everybody was living in the street. This was no wonder as there was no place to go or no roof to hide under, especially with the risk of aftershocks. A huge number of young men and women queuing by the UN Peace Keeper offices looking for a job. I stopped over and recruited Michael, an English teacher, so that he could take us around and help with translation. In the heat we drove over to the heart of the city, Port–au-prince downtown. No single building had been left standing. The smell of death was killing us; everyone was using something to cover his nose and mouth. Looting was ongoing. Some call it surviving, people fighting to survive, which I can accept in many cases. However, what I have seen in this downtown with aggressive fighting and anarchy for surviving, we felt in extreme danger as people started to fight with each other using machetes, steel bars and all other possible means.
Public parks, car parks and even the main roads are occupied by makeshift shelters made from bed sheets and people sleep under it. I have seen so many cases where people made their makeshift accommodation in the middle of the road either to attract attention for help or as a sign of protest against the government and everybody else.
In the base log, based in the airport, from where the UN Peace Keepers and the international humanitarian community are operating, we set up our small camp (2 small tents). The camp was overcrowded and facilities poor due to the overcrowding, as the UN Peace Keepers who used to live outside the camp in houses or flats had moved inside the camp after their houses were destroyed (and it's safer inside).
Humanitarian agencies face a significant dilemma in trying to get the balance right between looking after their own safety and fulfilling their duty, in particular the principle of the humanitarian imperative. As the street in not safe enough and very challenging to deliver aid to the most needy. During the first week, aid workers were in a survival mood, trying to make sense of it all and settling themselves in, finding out where to sleep, where to wash.
Although I've been an aid worker for almost twenty years, each disaster has unique aspects, for example the media scrutiny is now much more intense and immediate (where journalists sometimes have limited understanding that for them to arrive is easy - just take a plane -, getting significant quantities of appropriate response items cannot be achieved so instantly), and each context is different, for example Haiti already had a most weak infrastructure and significant lack of law and order before the quake hit it. Due to the humanitarian situation, many players were already there, but also suffered significant losses themselves, including the head of the UN.
Haiti Aid Efforts: Agencies must Strike the Right Balance
http://www.newscentre.bham.ac.uk/press/2010/02/Haiti_Aid_Agencies.shtml
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