China region starts from scratch after devastating quake

On the morning of 3 June a violent earthquake struck the Pu'er region of southwestern China. The quake measured 6.4 on the Richter scale and over 90 percent of all homes and buildings in the region were badly damaged or destroyed in an instant.
To date, 44,000 families have lost their homes and a further 58,000 will need to carry out major repairs before returning home. Amazingly with an earthquake of this magnitude, only three people were killed and a further 28 seriously injured.
The low casualty count is very fortunate and attributed to the quake striking in daylight hours. But the region is bracing for difficult times ahead. For a population whose annual average income is $80 dollars the economic loss will be devastating.
Since that first quake there have been over 30,000 recorded aftershocks, 30 of those scoring above 3 on the Richter scale. With so much seismic activity no one is taking any chances and most of the 190,000 local residents are choosing to sleep in tents despite heavy rainfall.
Our organisation was invited to assist in the relief operation by the Chinese government's development agency, The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA). After taking an assessment walk around Ning'er city with a team from the CFPA, I could understand why so many people are taking the tent option.
Most of the buildings that "survived" the first quake look ominously unstable with huge cracks running through walls and windows smashed. The streets are strewn with rubble like a scene form a war zone and everyone is nervously waiting for the next strike.
Having heard very little in the international press on the earthquake I didn't really know what to expect on arriving in Ning'er and I had no idea that the level of destruction would be as high as it is. But I also didn't expect the government response to be as comprehensive as it is.
Of the 44,000 displaced families I haven't seen one without a tent. There are medical facilities offering free treatment and sufficient water and sanitation services have been provided. Construction teams have already moved in to start repairing the 5,685 km (3,530 miles) of roads that were damaged and the 109 schools that were destroyed. It's quite impressive.
I was told by a local volunteer that up until only last year the annual disaster death toll was a closely kept state secret. In the past any details concerning disasters and disaster relief were seen in an almost shameful light. Now the government is encouraging community teamwork and more international assistance.
Operation Blessing is working with the CFPA to distribute essential non-food items, clothing and high-nutrition, vitamin-rich feeding supplement for children. For families that lost everything this service is vital.
The government estimates that the damage totals around 2.9 billion yuan ($380 million), a mind boggling amount in an extremely poor region that is famous for its tea production. The CFPA is worried because after years of slow but steady economic growth, the earthquake has effectively reset the counter and one of China's poorest regions will need to start from scratch.
It's agonising to walk amongst the villages that surround Ning'er and see mud brick houses razed to the ground. Some villagers are still picking through the mud, looking for lost possessions.
This is a place where insurance doesn't exist and many people are still coming to terms with the fact that years of hard work and investment were wiped out in a matter of seconds.
Once the earth finally stops shaking, people will start rebuilding their homes. But where the bulk of the revenue for rebuilding will come from still isn't known and there is a long road ahead for the victims.

Mozambique dispatch: A White Flag as Waters Rise

This was a "dirty" blog written quickly from the flood zone. For 30 minutes I was alone with the villagers as I waited for the chopper to return with more supplies, it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

David Darg is an aid worker with U.S. humanitarian organisation Operation Blessing International, which is working with charity partners Humedica and Mercy Air to reach communities stranded by rising waters in the Zambezi flood basin in Mozambique.
So far we have located and served three communities, each one containing over 1,000 Mozambicans seeking refuge from the floods. As the water approached, the people ran to higher ground and became trapped on all sides. Consequently they have no food, adequate shelter or access to clean water.
Since identifying them we have been ferrying a constant supply of food and relief items to these communities by helicopter. With their homes destroyed, the people are living in grass huts, which are great for keeping the sun out but not the rain. Yesterday and today we have been dropping plastic sheeting as fast as we can in anticipation of Cyclone Favio. It's frightening to think that the people we are now serving could be wiped out if the cyclone brings too much rain.
We are flying a EuroCopter with a 450-kg payload and a Bell Jet-Ranger is on the way so as soon as the storm passes we can get right in to the hardest hit areas with two choppers. The International Red Cross and World Food Programme are supplying us with all the relief goods we can shift as we are one of only three helicopters on the ground.
These "islands" can only be accessed by small choppers like ours and presently evacuation isn't an option for the people. On almost every flight we take we are discovering new pockets of people trapped by the floods. As we fly over mile after mile of swollen rivers and swamps where crops were growing just weeks ago it is chilling to think of how many more people are stranded in this vast area.
Many of the inhabitants of the flood region made it to safety and are being cared for in camps by NGOs. But for thousands more this crisis is getting worse. We are targeting these emergency cases at maximum capacity and there is no doubt that we are saving many lives. Our prayer is that the lives we are saving today are not destroyed over the coming days by more rain.
We discovered the community Canga by accident during an assessment flight on Sunday. We had been searching for homes underwater and trapped individuals and never expected to find 1,200 people surrounded and desperate. Our pilot spotted a white flag flying from a tall wooden pole. We hovered to take a closer look and saw a red cross on the flag. The people were pointing frantically as if to say they needed medical attention.
When we returned in the afternoon we were told that because of lack of food three children had died the previous day. We immediately returned to deliver food provided by the World Food Programme and yesterday dropped a team of three doctors to tend to the urgent health needs of the community.
Landing on the first food drop was an amazing experience. The people were singing and cheering, knowing that someone had finally come to rescue them. Yesterday we took the head of the International Red Cross emergency response team, Alexandre Claudon de Vernisy, on an assessment to Canga. Alexander was amazed to learn that a local Red Cross representative was amongst those stranded on the "island" and it was he who had erected the flag.
The representative told us: "I knew that if I put up a flag you would come to save us". It's an amazing story and we hope it will have a happy ending. We are prepared for the worst.

Somali Dispatch - Delivering Relief in a Lawless Land

"The hyenas in Kenya are quite shy actually," said Cheik our driver as he negotiated around a crater in the red dirt road. "Hyenas across the border are different though." He changed his tone. "They kill people."
Cheik went on to explain how hyenas across the border had developed a taste for human flesh after feasting on an abundance of dead bodies left lying around during years of conflict. It was a simple yet chilling insight into the drastic difference between the relative calm of Kenya and the part of the world towards which we were now heading, the Gedo region of Somalia.
It was to be my first visit to Somalia and while no stranger to East African disorder having spent time working in Darfur last year, I was surprisingly nervous knowing Somalia's reputation for turmoil.
For several months we have been operating a medical clinic in the El Waak district in cooperation with our partner agency, Humedica. My mission on this particular trip was to assist in the coordination of the next phase of our project: the distribution of relief goods to the inhabitants and ever-increasing number of internally displaced people arriving in El Waak.
Like others in nearby Sudan, many of the internally displaced people of Somalia have fled for their lives from violence. They have experienced the same terrors, loss, fear and despair and have migrated in search of security and food. However, unlike Sudan, there are no foreign-run camps where Somali IDPs can seek refuge.
The insecurity of Somalia is so bad that it even makes working in Darfur, where aid agencies can barely function due to security threats, seem like a breeze. The refugees in Darfur are, on the most part, provided for by foreign aid and have access to food, water, shelter and shaky but nevertheless apparent security. Somali refugees are at the mercy of warlords, militia and clansmen as desperate as themselves.
The recent Ethiopian invasion of Somalia and subsequent movement across the border of Islamic militia forced the Kenyan government to close the frontier and in doing so they inadvertently cut off humanitarian access to the most severely affected area, Southern Somalia. If life for Somalis was not hard enough already, severe flooding over the last few months has caused a wave of mosquitoes, bringing with them deadly malaria. To add to the suffering, a recent outbreak of Rift Valley Fever, an incurable disease that causes victims to bleed to death, is ravaging the region.
With the border closed and insect borne disease spreading quickly it took some hard negotiating to get access to El Waak. We were eventually granted "special permission" and headed towards the Kenyan-Somali frontier with a payload of thousands of mosquito nets.
There was no border crossing, no fence, not even a line in the sand. Only our GPS unit could tell us when we had entered the land without rule. It didn't take long for us to come across our first sign of civilisation - and what a shock it was. Out of a crumbling, roofless building men toting machine guns poured out to block our path.
Having grown up in the Middle East and worked in war zones for several years now, I was used to seeing men with guns. This time it was different. As they surrounded our vehicle I noticed that our driver was whispering nervously to our Kenyan coordinator and out the window I caught a glimpse of a hand grenade hanging from the belt of a teenaged gunmen.
As the adrenaline surged I was gripped by the thought that these men could easily kill us for our valuables and never be hunted for, let alone caught. I grew even more nervous when the men began to climb on board the vehicle but as we began to drive on again, gunmen in tow, it was explained to us that they were our security detail and were there for our protection. I was very slightly relieved.
Through a cloud of dust the outlines of our clinic became visible and as we pulled into the compound we passed lines of Somali women and children who had been eagerly waiting our arrival. Our "security" team jumped off the truck and took up position around the perimeter wall, each one fulfilling the stereotype required - from the sunglasses and cigarettes to the AK47s held Rambo-style across their chests. In fact, even the landscape and people could have been seen as a cliched image of African suffering.
In amongst the initial chaos of our arrival I was able to get a better view of the women and children. Immensely different from their Kenyan neighbors, their colorful clothing couldn't hide the desolate stares they gave. One elderly woman in particular caught my eye. From behind her headscarf peered two bloodshot, sorrowful eyes. One could only imagine the horrors and anguish that those eyes have seen.
As I circled the clinic, sweating in the intense heat, I saw El Waak in all its pain. A place that once had life was now barren and hostile; schools lay in ruins and the wells only held dust. Like many towns in the old American Wild West, which were ruled by guns and later became ghost towns, El Waak is a ghost town but the gunmen have remained.
There are very few places on Earth that have no system of governance and no written law. Although Somalia is one of these places it was interesting to learn of the alternative they had in place. As in ancient times, the people here exist in clans and inter-clan disputes are often settled through battle. Despite the hardships, within each clan exists a system of welfare whereby the people look after each other the best they can.
Two major clans live side-by-side in El Waak and many of the IDPs are distant relatives who have come to their families in search of shelter and protection. There is often friction between the clans and each has a keen interest in keeping the other "in check". This, as it turned out, was very helpful when identifying recipients for humanitarian aid. Clan leaders regulated the other clan's decisions as to who had access to aid, giving priority to the IDPs, identified as the most desperate faction of the village.
And so in the shadow of machineguns, through the shouts of the clan leaders straining to keep control and under the intense sun, we began distributing mosquito nets to the people. A team of educators was on hand to explain the importance and method of using the nets. Every once in a while one of the women would smile as she received one.
Something as simple as a mosquito net can save a life. As we drove back towards Kenya I hoped we had saved thousands of lives that day. Later assessments will tell. We dropped off our gunmen guards, who by that time had become friendly with us, and crossed back into a land of laws.
The border remains closed and we have stockpiled a huge amount of relief goods in Kenya that we are trying to get to El Waak as soon as possible. If the recent war does bring stability then it can only be a good thing because whatever happens, it would be hard for things to get any worse.