Cristina
Hammond, a 20-year volunteer from the Upper Valley, is currently on a 5 week
Red Cross deployment in Vietnam. This is her 9th overseas
deployment to 7 different countries. Cristina is in Vietnam to assist
relief and recovery activities in the wake two other recent typhoons.
After striking the Philippines, Typhoon Haiyan was steaming toward
Vietnam. Cristina set her assignment aside and headed into the region of
Vietnam expected to be most affected, preparing to assist in an anticipated
recovery process. Here is Cristina’s journal entry as the typhoon
approach, as well as a brief postscript. It exemplifies the dedication
and compassion shown by our volunteer corps.
November 8, 2013 -- The Night Train to Hue
As I boarded the train last night to Hue, an old slogan
flashed through my mind: Do something
every day that scares you. Well, I
did. I am one who is so terrified of
things like roller coasters, that I can’t even watch others (especially my own
children) stand in line for them. And I
always duck out of line before getting to the front. Yet, when a disaster strikes, I am the first
on the ride to go help assist. In this
case, it was a night train from Ha Tinh, Vietnam to Hue, Vietnam. Now, that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel
fear. I just didn’t step out of line.
As word came in of the approaching Typhoon, my Vietnamese
co-worker Linh and I spoke to our boss in Hanoi. With the typhoon approaching, planned
activities for our cash grant program had been cancelled so Michael gave us
options: 1) return to Hanoi until we can
restart our activities, or 2) move south into the path of the storm and help
the Viet Nam Red Cross (VNRC) in these Provinces prepare and respond. One thing
disaster response teaches you is to be flexible. Another is to put humanity first. Of course, always we are to put our own safety
as a priority, but after that, do I want to be safe outside the affected area
if I believe I can not only be safe but also be useful within?
Arriving in Hue, Linh and I soon saw the first visible signs
of storm preparation: A few young men
climbing a tree to cut it down so that it won’t be blown over. Throughout the day, we see many more trees
being trimmed and people taking down street ornaments, removing loose sheet
metal, and closing up shops. For our
afternoon, I did my laundry in the tub and checked my supplies while watching
CNN report on the destruction just starting to be assessed in the Philippines. The hotel staff came in to tape the windows.
Later in the afternoon, we had a meeting with the Vice Chair
of the Provincial Chapter of the Viet Nam Red Cross (VNRC). He explained the evacuations and other
preparedness activities underway. Over
100,000 evacuated in this province with a total of 600,000 in evacuation
centers along the Central coast. We had an excellent conversation about the
good work being done and a review of past typhoons and floods. Lessons have been learned; new procedures to
release water and who and when to evacuate are in place. It feels a little surreal to be at the hotel
now and waiting for the storm. But that
is part of preparedness. Expect (and
prepare for) the worst, hope for the best, and flexibly deal with whatever the
day’s reality throws at you.
So here I am. Not in
line – nor on the train – just in the path of the eye of the hurricane.
Postlude:
Thankfully, Haiyan veered sharply north and skittered along
up the coast of the Central Provinces. The
intensity reduced to a weaker category 1 tropical typhoon as landfall occurred
in the Northeast. As the path changed,
the alerts went out and another 200,000 people evacuated in the northeastern
province coastal areas. The total of
over 800,000 evacuees was the greatest Viet Nam had ever done before. We experienced heavy rains and seas with high
winds but, luckily, not the kind of devastation many feared. It was still a
significant storm event with 10 dead and more than 50 injured along with
millions of dollars of damage to homes, agriculture and aquaculture.
With that storm past, the 5th in the last 7
weeks, I went back to the work I came here to do: assist the IFRC and VNRC with relief and
recovery activities associated with Typhoons Wutip and Nari. These typhoons caused significant damages
(over $700 million US in economic loss) to many coastal communities in 9
Central Provinces (nine
provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua
Thien-Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai) destroying homes and
wiping out livelihoods. The American Red
Cross deployed me here as a technical advisor to support the distribution of
household items and cash grants to assist some of the most vulnerable (elderly,
disabled, single-headed households, etc.) who had been severely affected by the
typhoons and did not have sufficient resources or coping capacity to recover on
their own.
Becoming a Red Cross volunteer does not require any specialized experience. Any training a volunteer will need is provided at no cost. Red Cross volunteers come from all walks of life and all ages. The work of a Red Cross volunteer may not always be easy, but it is rewarding. “I hear it from our volunteers that the reward for their efforts is knowing that they have helped take care of a person in need during what may be the most trying experience in their life,” said Deputy Chief Response Officer Brent Garrow.
