Team spirit: a post by an exercise participant from Bangladesh

This post is by Ratan Podder, Program Officer in Disaster Management and Development at Caritas Chittagong, Bangladesh. Ratan was one of the most experienced NGO managers at Exercise Khichadi on November 1-8.

"Team spirit among the participants and multisectoral need assessment approach were valuable learnings from Exercise Khichadi, which will help remarkably for any emergency response. Thus suffering of disaster affected people will reduce quickly."

Editor's note: for updates on the response to Cyclone Sidr, which has struck Bangladesh, see ReliefWeb. We wish Ratan and his colleagues support and success in the relief effort just beginning. See also an ADRA press release, 16 Nov. (GS)

Tech Day a success - training begins

Kathmandu Nepal: Tech Day on October 31 was an energetic kickoff to the long-planned Exercise Khichadi: 10 days of training, cross-pollination, and familiarization with new technologies by regional relief teams in South Asia. Over 90 participants from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangla Desh, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States took part in a day-long series of demos and discussions during Tech Day.

The "classroom training" for Exercise Khichadi participants took place on November 1-2, and the simulation exercise will begin on November 4.

Over the next week, watch this Team Blog and our Flickr photos to meet the participants and read their comments as the simulation unfolds. Over 30 team members from ADRA, Caritas, and Nepalese relief agencies will take part, and they have been invited to post some words on the blog - check back every day!

Gregg Swanson, HumaniNet

Jenny Wells, Caritas Australia

Jenny is Group Leader for Humanitarian Response with Caritas Australia and will be a team monitor and facilitator for training during Exercise Khichadi, beginning November 1. She wrote this post before departing for Kathmandu:

I’m really looking forward to actually getting on the plane for Nepal. I love getting out of my Canberra office to work with my colleagues and friends in the field – it brings me back to why I do the work I do and why I love it. While I accept that managing programs from a head office is an important part of the aid and development work that agencies like Caritas are involved in, it is very easy to lose the passion and drive when all day is taken up with administrative and policy work that seems so far removed from the reality of the people we are working with and for.

Many of the Caritas partners I will meet in Nepal I have only ever worked with via email and teleconferences, this will be the first time we actually get to know each other. Additionally, catching up with other friends that I have worked with in different contexts in the past is also wonderful. The fact that we will be working together on a training and simulation instead of meeting in an actual disaster response is an added bonus as for once we will all have time to sit back, relax and enjoy some down time which seldom happens when we are all in the field due to a crisis.

I know there will be lots of hard work and long days, but working together to learn and improve the way we all do business will be a great reward and I think build a stronger foundation for better and more effective collaboration and partnership in the future between us all. It is really humbling and inspiring to work with and alongside such committed and passionate people that are partners, colleagues, and friends - how many other jobs offer this?

Optimism and persistence - from a Design Team Leader

This week's post is by Melville Fernandez, South Asia Regional Coordinator of Caritas Australia. Melville has been closely involved in the planning for the Nepal training and simulation, to be held in Kathmandu and vicinity on August 23-30.

"It is heartening to know that this event, which was almost called off, is now going to happen. Thanks to the great optimism and persistence of a few and the overall interest from most individuals, NGOs and communities contacted during the scoping visit which increased the enthusiasm and confidence of the members of the Design Team. The Exercise will be a great platform for different minds to come together to respond, share, reflect and learn for the future. I am personally looking forward to it since it will be a four day real-time event in a region which is already aware and getting prepared for responding to disasters. There has been an ongoing need over the years for developing appropriate disaster preparedness plans and this will be a reality check for us all to see how prepared we are/need to be and allow us to learn from our mistakes and build on our strengths in order to develop a disaster resiliant society, thus minimizing the loss of life, injuries, and human suffering in the future."

Comments always welcome to all blog postings!

Robert Patton on the upcoming Nepal simulation

Robert leads the planning team for the Nepal training (August 23-24) and field simulation (August 26-29). Robert is Regional Coordinator of Emergency Management for ADRA Asia.

The details on the Nepal simulation and the August 22 Tech Day can be found at www.humaninet.org

Although this is Robert's "first blog ever," his passion for teamwork and collaborative action show through:

He writes: "Two weeks ago the Nepal simulation exercise was a concept. Now it is fast becoming a reality! I have been encouraged by the tremendous support and interest shown by the Nepal government, UN agencies, International NGOs, local NGOs and organizations and the community leaders where the simulation will be run. Now comes the hard work of pulling this all together to ensure a great simulation experience that allows the people participating to practice how they would respond to a real disaster event, using their written plans for guidance. The exciting thing for me is working with a dedicated and experienced team of people, each contributing their own special talents, skills and experience to make the simulation a resounding success. I encourage other team members to share their thoughts in this blog."

Please check back frequently for more posts by the Nepal simulation planning team and participants!