Exercise under way in mountains of West Java

Posting from Gregg Swanson, near Pancuk Pass, 100 km south of Jakarta, over the BGAN satellite terminal:

The rainy season began today (Monday) in the mountains south of Jakarta, and so did the simulation being conducted through this week by ADRA Asia. The downpour was intense, and so is this exercise.

Relief managers from eleven countries converged over the weekend at a mountain village in Java in response to realistic "Sitreps" (situation reports) generated by the exercise observer team. When they arrived over winding roads on Sunday, they did not know what to expect - but they do now. Today's Sitrep #6 communicated the imminent eruption of nearby Mt. Gede, an actual volcano just 12 km to the west of us.

In the photo above, Robert Patton, exercise director, goes over the upcoming simulation plan with village leaders.

Although the ADRA Asia relief team has never held a simulation, they have had plenty of practice at helping thousands of people in distress. In a two-month period in May - July earlier this year, ADRA teams responded to the Mt. Merapai eruption, a major earthquake in central Java, and the "second tsunami" on Java's south coast. The team leader, Wendy Brightman, has managed ADRA's extensive tsunami relief and rebuilding projects in Aceh province since April 2005.

Check back daily for more reports and photos, all sent over the BGAN satellite terminal provided by Telenor Satellite Systems. Although none of the team members had ever seen a BGAN before today, by midday all were using it (over a fast wireless connection) in their simulation email and other communications. The BGAN performed flawlessly - a handheld "Internet cafe" that multiple users are using simultaneously.

The Monday morning agenda included training in Iridium and BGAN satellite communications, different types of mobile radios, and GPS. Team members got to practice "hands on" with the comm equipment and will depend upon this equipment through the week, as teams are given assignments and challenges according to the planned scenario.

As a member of the observer team, I am thoroughly impressed with the professionalism and "can do" approach of this team. Some are managers in aid and capacity building programs and are new to relief work. But given the unrelenting series of disasters in Asia, this organization recognizes that they must keep planning and preparing for future emergencies.

Over the next few days, you will meet some of these dedicated people, from India to Nepal to Thailand to Australia, and how ICT is working for them.

My colleage on the observer team, Yuriya Teragaki of the NGO Japan Platform, said it well: "This team is fortunate to be able to receive this simulation training. And they are approaching this challenge as a team, which is very important."