Update #5 on Vanuatu (second deployment)

The situation at 1500 UTC April 11 2015

What a weekend.

On the one hand loads of volunteers are taking part in our “polygon-a-thon” (that’s what Joyce calls it) to help the government of Vanuatu and the World Bank get a handle on housing damage across the islands.

You can see the results of all your efforts on this map http://maps.micromappers.org/2015/pam/aerial/#close

And at the same time loads more volunteers (and in some cases the same volunteers) are helping CODE with election monitoring in Nigeria. Not an official activation but so many of you have responded to the request for volunteers.

There is still more to do

The MicroMappers are making good progress but they still need plenty of help. Don’t forget this is a really simple deployment, you don’t need lots of experience or training and any time you can give, even just five minutes, will make a real difference.

There is more information (for SBTF members only I’m afraid) on the Ning.

Vanuatu a month after Cyclone Pam

It is nearly a month since Cyclone Pam, a category five storm swept across the islands of Vanuatu.

We know, because we built the initial resource collecting data about which agencies were responding, that a huge range of organisations have responded to the situation in Vanuatu.

Many of those organisations have been reporting on their efforts on their blogs and news sites. Unicef and the Red Cross have been working to get assistance to remote and small communities.

• http://blogs.unicef.org.uk/2015/03/30/school-supplies-reach-smallest-islands-vanuatu/
• https://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/asia-pacific/vanuatu/moving-from-relief-to-recovery-one-month-after-cyclone-pam-68382/

While the Disaster Arborist Response Team sent tree surgeons

http://www.dartinternational.co.uk/deployment-news/

Over on the Humans of Vanuatu Facebook page there is a more personal view of how the situation is progressing.

Like this update from a couple of days ago

“Forgive the nostalgia, but I can’t help feeling sadness when I think about how green my islands used to be. I know it’s coming back, but I confess that I still feel actual distress when I see the landscape today.”

https://www.facebook.com/HumansOfVanuatu