As the scale of the flood disaster in Pakistan unfolds, colleagues from FIRST Response Pakistan and their partners have put together an action plan for response during the crisis, despite disrupted internet access and downed phone lines. They have been in Kashmir to distribute radios to victims, gather fresh programme material, including an interview with the director of State Disaster Management Authority, talks with people in the area about their plight in the flood as well as receiving SMS messages from listeners expressing their concern and grief for victims of the flooding. Programmes are being broadcast on local FM outlets as well as on shortwave.

If you would like to help with the relief effort by enabling us to distribute radios so people can access critical life-saving information from ourselves and our partners, then you can donate through www.sendaradio.org.

Tonight participants begin gathering for the FIRST Response (FEB Immediate Radio Support Team) workshop in the city of Bangalore which will be followed by a live field trial in the tsunami-ravaged city of Nagapattinam.  This is the second workshop and trial of its kind, the first (pictured) taking place in Legaspi city in the Southern Philippines which is prone to volcanic erruptions and the frightening phenomenon known as ‘lahar’.  

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Feba’s involvement after the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake convinced me that if a radio station could be set up soon after a disaster, it could save countless lives.  With the breakdown of telecommunications infrastructure and the general confusion that follows a disaster, radio becomes a central focus to providing critical information and even coordination of resources.  It also provides a voice of hope, encouragement and comfort for those in desperate need.

To that end on 23rd June 2008, we begin a 5-day workshop in Bangalore, involving participants from local government, NGO’s, Community Organisations and broadcasters which will combine knowledge about radio and the unique environment experienced from disaster relief work.  Participants will then put their new-found knowledge into practice by running a real emergency radio station for 3-days.  Non-stop!  Just like the real thing. Simulating real conditions.  The trial will take place in Nagapattinam, in Tamil Nadu, which was devastated by the 2004 tsunami and which will form the backdrop for the trial.  The Nambikkai orphanage, founded by a remarkable man, Mr. Parameswaran, is kindly hosting the trial.  His amazing story of courage and hope after the tsunami can be read here: TURNING BACK THE TIDE OF GRIEF.

By the end of the trial we hope to have established a fully equiped and capable team which will be ready to respond to the next disaster in the South Asian region.   I’ll be providing daily coverage of the trial on the FEBA UK web site.  More soon…