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Letter to a District Governor
It was good being part of the phone call
between you and Ron yesterday. Ron asked that I respond to your
questions as he has his hands full with so many projects dealing with
the global disasters we are currently addressing and because my area of
responsibility has been dealing with the flow of good and services
through the Network to the ultimate recipients.
I have attached a reprint of the
Disaster Matrix which is currently being programmed into the Network
under its own Network Channel. A you can imagine, we have been a little
slower in posting the necessary information under its own Network
Channel because we have been hit with Burkino Faso, Indonesia, Samoa,
Philippines, and a huge Hurricane Preparedness Program with a number of
Rotary Districts in Hurricane Alley...each needing individual attention.
As you may or may not be aware of, recent
decisions of the Board have slowed down the response mechanism of the
Actions Groups. So, at everybody's request, the Humanitarian
Network went into action immediately and built numerous partnership to
respond to the hundreds of "call-to-action". We have tried to keep all
entities in the "loop" as all the different groups, Rotarian and others,
have wanted to respond as quickly as possible without duplicating
efforts
As an example on how the Network was
implemented for the South Pacific disasters: D-9920 opted to work
with D-3200 to deploy Shelter Boxes from Australia;
 Project Hope
deployed medical aid from the East Coast (several other Nagy's added to
the cargo containers); Hawaii opted to work with the SOUTH COM and
NGBIA-SPP (military liaisons) to stage and then transport donated
goods to the South Pacific; D-5100, 5110, 5020, and 5030, partnered
with D-5000 to set-up the Seattle to Hawaii transportation route; Old
Dominion Freight (D-7690) has offered to assist where possible to
act as our back-haul agency to get goods to either coast for shipment;
and various, Rotary Clubs, Districts, Interact, Kiwanis Clubs, and
Sertoma Clubs went about the task of raising money for WaterBoxes. Most
all were members of the Humanitarian Network so activation was pretty
easy.
The Matrix shows how we would
traditionally work with the different factions in response to a
disaster. Each Disaster would inevitably have its own Disaster Channel
"Front Page" where everyone can see what's needed and what is being
done. The Front Page of the the Disaster Channel would show:
1. Where bank accounts have been
established
2. Where goods and supplies are being
consolidated
3. What mechanisms are in place to
back-haul goods to the consolidation center(s)
4. Relocation procedures for moving goods
to debarkation points
5. NGO's offering partnership services
6. DRRAG's assessment from on site
personnel
7. Military partnership potential
8. Establishment of blog sites and social
networks for play-by-play reports
9. Who's handling the PR aspect so the
public knows what's going on
10. Available shipping and taking
advantage of our Network Shipping Partners
11. Results and effectiveness of action
 The South Pacific has been a "learning
curve" and much of the coordination was done by Network personnel
because we were not totally automated when the disaster stuck. When
completed, the Disaster
Channel should pretty much function by itself from input by
Network Members. It really should be much smoother for future events.
This type of communication will hopefully motive Network members and
others to develop
"Preparedness Programs" as we are
currently working on for Hurricane Alley rather than response programs
Currently your District Clubs can go to
The Humanitarian Network Website to register their club and see what is
going into the program for response.
http://www.projectsupportcenter.com/SOUTHPACIFICRESPONSE.html
Now to answer your specific questions:
The WaterBoxes utilize Proctor and Gamble
PUR Water technology which is well established. They are assembled
in Canada by Reliance Products-Canada, and then shipped to Minnesota for
purchase and shipment. WaterBoxes have a list price of $250, but working
with Cleanwater International and Reliance Products-Canada, we were able
to negotiate a special $150 price for this year's disaster season. As an
aside, once in Minnesota, the boxes can be labeled in Native Languages
if necessary or shipped with instructions in English. (SPANISH)
From Minnesota, depending on where the
WaterBoxes will be shipped, they are transported to the debarkation
port or airfield by Old Dominion Freight, for little if any cost.
Since Old Dominion partners with Hanjin, there is the possibly to
ship directly from Minnesota all the way to the Philippines for your
WaterBoxes, otherwise the Philippines shipments will go to Seattle
for shipment to Hawaii and from Hawaii to the Philippines by Military
transport. It is impossible to know until we have exact numbers and
know the day of shipment.
PDG 5000 George Fontaine in Hawaii,
is working closely with all the District Governors in D-3770 to D-3870.
We have Network Members registered from numerous clubs all over
the Philippines. Because we are here in the Midwest and George is
dealing with the disaster response from Hawaii, he is much
better position to set up distribution and with day-to-day events.
WE ANTICIPATE NO DISTRIBUTION COSTS as the WaterBoxes will be
distributed to Rotary Clubs.
Rotary Clubs all over the Philippines are
subjected to the disaster. The Hawaii National Guard is on the scene
as Hawaii is the "partner state" of the Philippines under the National
Guard Bureau of International Affairs-State Partnership Program.
The NGBIA-SPP program works closely with The Humanitarian Network.
We are currently developing a special Network Channel for them.
The
Guard is also involved in the new (The Hurricane
Preparedness Program) that The Humanitarian Network is developing
with D-6200 (Louisiana).
Specifications and
technical details of the WaterBox can be found at:
The South Pacific Program:
http://www.projectsupportcenter.org/SOPACIFICRESCUE.htm
The WATERBOX™
http://www.thewaterbox.org/waterboxrelief1.htm
(Waterbox products and movie)
http://www.projectsupportcenter.org/waterboxrelief5.htm (How
the system works)
http://www.thewaterbox.org/waterboxrelief7.htm
(Technical/Specification details)
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The problem isn’t that there’s no water,
its that there’s too much water and it isn’t drinkable. If we can’t help our brothers
and sisters to get clean water, there will soon be an outbreak of waterborne
illness and disease. People will die needlessly from preventable causes. Instead of trying to
ship water, we have the opportunity to get water filtering kits delivered where they're
needed at a much more realistic cost. Please check out the relief effort and solutions
described on these websites:
We've been on the needy end of exactly
this kind of disaster and others from across the globe contributed to our aid and
recovery. This time, I’m appealing to the Rotarians of our District to step up and
save others from
disease and death. Their future is in your hands. The easy thing to do is put this letter
aside and do nothing, or say it is too much trouble, or “l'll get to that later”. I’m asking you to
put Service Above Self and do something, anything, within your means. I've attached a very
brief flyer you can distribute to raise awareness.