SPARC & SSP respond - The Gujarat Earthquake
Rapid Earthquake Assessment By Citizen's Initiatives
Kutch Navnirman Abhiyan - how you can contribute Earthquake Relief

Some Reports/Stories from Gujarat

Lessons Shared from the Turkey Earthquake

---- Original Message -----
From: Kadýn Emeðini Deðer.Vakfý <kedv@turk.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2001 8:04 AM
Subject: 1st days experiences
Dear Prema,
Here are some of our experiences during the first week of earthquke. I tried to pull together what I remember, and some notes... I hope it helps.
What I see on TV about earthquake in India is very familiar to me.
A group is organizing an aid campaign here too. Next week we are planning to visit the mayor (metropoliten) to organize a larger one. I think the connection will be made through INndian Embassy.
LOve,
Sengul

Here are some of our experiences during the first ten days or early weeks ;

1) Thousand of volunteers will want to outpour to the earthqauke area and they will be so keen to help people. Be carefull with the volunteers; Other than those who are professional in medical, technical areas, being experienced in rescuing operations or managing/organizing in crisis situations, and do real work in medical care, sanitation , fixing the infrastructural services, etc. discourage the others who just want to be there and support the people to go to the area, and willing to do ?something?. They might create real problem, and put extra stress and contribute to the chaos. In our case thousand of volunteers who are running in to each other in the area in most cases had to deal with their own health, safety, food and other sanitary needs. After two weeks of time they might go to the region to do some real work around organized programs fitting to their any kind of expertise (even cooking), as very well oriented before. Otherwise, of course there is no doubt about their good intentions, but especially for some young volunteers this could happen to be an adventure like mountain climbing, survival exercise etc. This is not the place nor the time for this kind of experiences.

2) Coordination is a must and it is very very very difficult to built in these cases....Coordination needs leadership...In this type of devastating and large disasters, usually the local officials undergo the same shock and trauma, you should?nt expect too much from them. This is true for the central ones too. Once the hiearchy collapses it is very difficult (more than NGOs or people themselves) to re-establish it where all the decision making process based on, and this might take such a time.enough to make people crazy.. In the disaster area authority demolishes and a process can be hardly established for decision making.... Groups or even individuals (some Heros) suddenly emerge and claim leadership ..Sometimes nobody knows even who are these groups /individulas and where they come from...Each one describing the situation, the needs differently (from their individual perspective) and directing the emergency aids and operations. These fake (false, fraud) leaders or you can call them as Heros come on to the scene from nowhere and play that role for a considerable time amount in a situation where hours and days are very important , and could be very misleading. So, help the officials to create a decision making and information collection/dissemination center for coordination and try to organize /bring together here all the people/groups/NGOs/internationals etc.. who are involved in emergency /relief efforts . If the officials do not function at all, do it with the others. Though the govmt. Tends to bring in (assign) officials from the not affected regions, try to support the resident offcials, keep them stay in the process who knows the area better than new comers.

3) These situations (crisis) creates gaps for any type of groups with agendas different then humanitarian purposes from where they might get in, and they might see this as an opportunity. They might join the whole process and claim space for their own agendas using the chaos and the frustration of the people and also clash also with each other. Even if their reasons are right, there is no need to put some extras on the tension, chaos and the frustration of the victims, where violence already suspends in the air.

4) I just looked at our old papers, files kept during the early months of the earthquake. The list of the needs change day by day; First days the focus was on rescue equipment and excavators/machines, then food, together with medical equipments/medicine, then body (corps plastics, lime, dezenfacten, burying/funeral materails) , clothing and then sheltering... So you have to be ready in estimating the needs before really needed. In these days (early days) both helpers and victims can be hardly realistic in terms of identification of real needs. There is a possibility that main part of the of the resources/money (this is personal observation) mobilized during the first phase (emergency aid, humaniratian aids etc.) might be spent in the first two weeks, in a wasted way becauase of panic and lack of coordination. Realistic needs assessment is very very important. Besides the people who can do real work and support, send one people in each settlement for realistic needs assessment; what is needed in terms of emergency and humanitarian needs. Usually people (officials, NGOs,etc involved in this process ) tend to describe the situation in the small area where they are located as if it is something general and valid for the whole area This tendency might have crucial results especially in terms of assessing humanitarian and emergency needs. This type of sensational and unrealistic needs announcement results in whether repetition in some goods (waste of huge amounts) or unmet needs. This type of misleading information might be created by different type of psychologies; misperception etc...Sometimes for the savers /Heros (?) (mostly volunteers), the small area adopted by themselves is in fact the whole world, it is most important than any other parts, and they have to be very responsible and sensitive, and they have to get it...They ask this so strongly that no one resists, and believes that if this not fullfilled people might die. The victims too nurture this feeling, and sometimes they ask for some materials (goods) that they not use in their normal life. They usually tend to be spoilt and savers(?) spoil them. I know an old women s crying and asking for a TV to watch news about disaster , someone else asking for vitamin added milk for his children when he was offered plain milk. Limited transportation and communication might increase these type of misleading info about needs. So, in a coordinated way, assign one to each settlement/neighbourhood for realistic needs assessment and inform before what is crucial, urgent and indispensible for health etc. Ensure them to work with local women, who are most knowlegeble about survival things, and what is really needed. In our case, women were later saying that they were not involved in this process and lots of resources were just wasted and spoilt. Food has special place; and especially in these situations, people (both the helpers and victims) think that (since they do not think about any other things) food is very important, and they will never find it and they will die because of hunger.. WE saw in most places huge piles of bread and milk boxes just thrown away on the edge of roads, and same as for the clothes...

5) Monitor the international Emergency relief agencies...Though they might be experienced and work in different counties, this context has its own pecularities and they might easily fail to determine the needs realistically in a context that they work through translators who have no experience with these situations, and community work. Usually they have lots of monies and they want to spend it immediately. Direct them to use their money in an efficient way determined by the locals. In Turkey, very recently I got an invitation from an international Emergency Agency inviting us to a opening ceremony of a laundry with a number of washing machines in one of the prefabricated settlement. Can you imagine, they are still spending money on washing machines while from the tents period hundreds of machines left here and there as unused ? On the other hand, there is a fact that in individual contacts disaster victims too tend to mislead foreigners, exagurating their immediate needs or get some extras. So please ensure the foreign NGOs to work though local NGOs or organized groups not directly work with victims. In our case that time people did not notice, and in a way join the play, now they say that all those resources of the foreigners were wasted and could have been saved or directed for their longer term needs. Remember, all the foreign aids, local aids, volunteers come at the first months and very quickly they loose their motivation. I remember, when we turned to the volunteers list a month later , we could hardly get one tenth of them who were very keen to be usefull in some ways.

6) The distribution of aids is another important one. Officialls are not good at this. NGOs and volunteers , especially charity people too... they tend to pour the aid unconsciousnessly like a rain and to do it by themselves. Especially when do they not trust the officials they want it to do it by themselves. And people (victims) hanging around to find out and jump whatever is distributed even if they do not need. This is something psychological and they want to store some really odd materials too. Sometimes they were fighting with each other in a violent way over a single good distributed by the charities or individuals. At each settlement set up an aid distribution center managed by the officials and monitored by the NGOs and local peoples representatives. Distribution (window) should be in an centralized way. No democracy here (!) and ensure those charity people and organizations to leave their goods at these centers where they could be distributed in an organized way, and don?t let them distribute here and there as they like. Plus ensure the NGOs not to do this at their own spaces (tents etc.). Another thing is that, NGOs here were heavily involved in emergency /humanitarian aids activities and they just forgot about their monitoring role, i.e. in terms of governmental works and policies. So, we missed a lot of thing and were so busy with aid that we were not able not able to intervene to ensure justly humanitarian aid distribution and temporary housing /construction etc. which were much more important. NGOs must remember that whatever they do, the amount of humanitarian aids they find/create will never reach any substantial amount needed. The most important thing is to ensure justly distribution and efficient use of governmental or officially created humanitarian aids (though foreign countries, governments etc) .
Women would be best in monitoring distribution of aids. Unfortunately in fewer areas we were able to push women to do this function. Still women say that aids were not distributed justly and many people (sick, disabled, wounded, shy etc.) were left .

7) And common places for women and children....Right on the first day, to create safe, homely places for women and children. It is very is very very important. As soon as you go there just erect something. Tent etc. Children is very important. The first thing we did when we went to the area (on the fourth day) we erect a tent for children. Arrange women or very well oriented volunteers to work with them. Rules for volunteers (from outside) very important. Ensure them to learn the rules. Treat them as if they do not know nothing. Whatever their professional or life experience when they go there and come to face to face with the disaster and shock, they will forget at least half of what they already know .. To create a rutin for children is important. Regular food etc., and full day of play. Especially children and youth enjoy a kind of liberation!...if they are not severely traumatized...

8) And a women?s tent. What we did was a tent for women and tea. Tea created a miracle. They cook together, cry together, heal each other. They own the tent and create an address for themselves. Each neighbourhood/settlement encourage the others (NGOs etc.) to do the same in a coordinated way.

9) During the first days, children who lost their parents was another issue. Here only the government has the right to deal with orphans...I don?t know your case but, you can help them to identify and take under protection . There had been rumors about lost children or those who were found later with some of their organs were taken out by operations.

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