Red Cross Phone Home

That Rectangle Under Hurricane Maria Is Puerto Rico

Glen and I deployed with the Red Cross for three weeks to assist with Hurricane Maria.  Friends wonder what it is like when we volunteer to go out on a disaster, at times living in what some consider hardship conditions.  I go because I feel like I can make a contribution, and choose the Red Cross because in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, my family was on the receiving end of people like Glen and me.  I will never forget the generosity and kindness of those Red Cross volunteers. For anyone who ever considered doing something like this, here is a little insight into what a Red Cross hardship disaster deployment is like.  

Finding 'Look Angle'  to the satellite using a theodolite
We named this VSAT 'Jerry' 

We fired up our two generators in the Spanish Colonial type plaza of a small town in the hard hit interior of Puerto Rico. When we first arrived the town looked deserted, but people came out of their houses as word spread that the Red Cross was setting up a communication station for all to use.  Meanwhile, Enrique and I - VSAT Team 1 -were busy assembling the Red Cross satellite terminal and acquiring internet connectivity with the outside world.  People gathered and plugged their phones into the charging stations while our Safe and Well - Reunification personnel explained how to log onto the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) WiFi account.  No pressure here for Enrique and me folks, other than hundreds of people waiting to call their loved ones for the first time since the devastation of Hurricane Maria.  Thankfully we always got our VSAT up and running and soon, crowds of excited people were talking and texting.  Even though cell service and electricity was down on the island, our generators and satellite connection allowed users to call, text, and send email to loved ones.   

   

Elisandro,  Javier, Craig and Me
We welcomed the support of
three Spanish and one Finnish Red Cross Delegate

Our staff shelter - the basement of a church
where we slept with 70 new friends

It was the enormity of Hurricane Maria that made us want to help. We had been watching the intensity and size of Hurricane Maria and knew that Puerto Rico would be slammed in a swath of destruction.  We felt like we should go, but had not signed up because Glen and I had a trip planned to Italy.  Then we heard from David Schindler, a fellow Red Cross IT-Telecom volunteer and friend.   David had just worked Hurricane Harvey for three weeks and was now going to assist with Hurricane Maria.  Glen and I decided that if David could work back-to-back disasters, we could shift the dates of our personal travel.  We deployed to Puerto Rico the  day after hurricane Maria went through.  The airport and harbors were closed to commercial traffic, but a FEMA chartered plane put Red Cross disaster response people among the first on the ground.  It was a  strange feeling to land at an airport where the lights are off and to unload your own cases of satellite communication equipment.    

Eli and Enrique - Spanish Red Cross friends 

Our little army of Red Cross volunteers came from all over the country.  The technology folks we knew from past disaster work, but  others were on first ever deployments with the Red Cross.  Before we arrived someone had arranged for us to sleep on cots in the basement of a church, which became one of three eventual staff lodgings.  We had working toilets, purified water and all the nutrition bars and trail mix you could ever want and eventually even a hot breakfast.  At night we ran a generator to help circulate and cool the room to sleeping temperature.  We were all so busy our cots felt fine and in truth our days so full we fell asleep pretty fast.  The intense, shared mission forged fast friendships - laughing and joking eased the close living. We were all issued headlamps - required equipment for anyone needing to thread their way through 70 cots at night.  There was much joking and no complaining  among us Red Cross workers; the needs and losses of the people you help are so much greater than your own temporary inconvenience.  So even if in a moment of weakness you feel like having a pity party, you get over it fast.     

 Loading and Unloading Equipment

Logistics are a challenge with no communications or electricity .
Headlamps Rock! 

No one sleeps in late on a disaster, but you do get coffee in the morning.  Ours was compliments of the church pastor, who looked a little nervous about the growing number of residents. We left early each morning because our jobs required us to travel some distance across the island every day in a convoy of 3-4 cars equipped with portable radios for safety.  Getting to our destination proved interesting.  I was oh, so happy we had a four wheel drive truck with high clearance to carry all the communication equipment.  A couple of times I held my breath driving through deep standing water in the streets, but we always made it. The first week after the storm we detoured around roads with fallen trees and flooding from near daily rain storms.  Our trusty VSATs were able to power through the rain to reach the satellite, which was a constant concern with so many relying on us. Once our VSAT was up and running we could finally relax and circulate among the residents, showing them how to log onto our Wi-Fi system, make Skype calls, send text and email.   For anyone without a working phone, the Red Cross provided phones with prepaid Skype accounts so that no one was left out. 

Glen - VSAT Whisperer - Fixing Equipment Problems
Glen never met a VSAT he couldn't fix.  Until Buzz...but that's another story. 

The Red Cross was one of the first responders to some areas and at times we combined our WiFi service with food distribution and Health Services visits.  In the hardest hit towns it was impossible to not be moved and I shared some tears from time to time.  Imagine the frustration and fear of being separated from your family after a natural disaster with no way to contact them or to know their fate.  Our communication service turned out to be greater psychological support than I ever anticipated.  Something else happened during those Reunification missions that made me happy.  The town plaza became a base for the community to gather; they now felt connected to the world. As a sidebar, our handsome Spanish and Finnish Red Cross delegates figured in countless photos with appreciative people.  How often does a disaster worker achieve rock star status?  

Crowds Talking, Texting and Emailing 

Enrique and I were Team 1.   Glen, Eli and Javier were Team 2
If we had more VSATs we could have served more people.  Hint Hint to any donors out there!  

Hearing so many stories gave us an emotional connection with the people and many days we worked  into the night, past our scheduled departure time. It meant a lot to the people we served.  However, the rain took some getting used to.  VSATs operate outdoors so we wore rain ponchos and squished around in shoes filled with water.  However, we weren't alone out there; even in heavy rain townspeople huddled under tarps and umbrellas close to our WiFi antenna in order to communicate with loved ones.  As in every disaster, we experienced the generosity of people who have been through trying times together.  At times people in a community prepared rice and beans for us from their limited stores.  Disasters make you realize that it does not matter how much money you have or your social position is in the world.  Catastrophe is a big equalizer and all we really have at times are each other. 

Craig Mitchell - Finnish RC - Network Engineer Extraordinaire

VSATs R Us 

Once people talked and connected with their families they seemed lighter and happier.  I improved my Spanish as people told stories about their visits to the mainland USA and family members living there.   In one small town a twenty-something woman walked up with a smile, wearing a T-shirt that said, “I don’t need help, I need WiFi.”  I’m not sure that woman’s neighbors agreed with her priorities, but our Red Cross VSAT Reunification Team was certainly the answer to her needs. 

The next big disaster, think about joining us out there.
Glen and Julie Bradley (Sky Island Woman) 

Colin Chaperone - International Red Cross Field Officer

Enrique Bossa - Go Team One!!! 

A map recon of our destination for the next morning.
Our two teams deployed to different locations across the island.