Background and explanation
Things have been crazy the last several days as an unexpected opportunity arose and everything quickly came together - I am on my way to Sri Lanka to assist in the disaster response to the earthquake and tsunami.
I had previously spent six weeks in Sri Lanka during summer 2003 as part of a Tulane University study abroad, which is when I first experienced the island and fell in love with it. In May 2004 I finished a Masters at Tulane University with a concentration in Disaster Management, and I felt that these tragic circumstances were an opportunity to help those in need, do some good and put my education to use at the same time.
Tuesday, December 28th, was when I first heard about the Tsunami in Asia. I immediately sent e-mails to my friends in the area to make sure that they and their families, friends and colleagues were all unharmed. At that point I began to think about offering my assistance in some way but it was not until Friday, Dec. 31st that I seriously began to consider the idea of coming over to assist in the response and recovery effort.
On Friday I contacted everyone I could think of to see if there was anything I could do to help. Sunday morning when I went to church I started letting people know that I might be leaving, but it was not until I got home and checked my e-mail that afternoon that I knew there were opportunities to help and what until then had only looked like a remote possibility began to look like reality. By Sunday evening, I had accepted an offer to come on out and help and had a plane ticket purchased for the next reasonable flight out - Tuesday afternoon, less than 48 hours later!
Having made my decision to come to Sri Lanka, I began to let my family and friends know and I also submitted a letter of resignation from my work effective immediately. I then spent a frantic 48 hours trying to wrap up loose ends in preparation for my trip out.
On Monday morning I had a lucky break and was able to reschedule my six month dental cleaning. From there, I went to the local AAA for passport photos and then went into the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington to apply for a visa.
The staff at the Embassy were extremely helpful and courteous and were able to process my visa request while I waited. When I had my passport returned, I was humbled to hear the sincere words of thanks offered by the Embassy employee for the work that I would be doing.
After getting the visa, I spent the rest of the day frantically running around on other errands, particularly to buy everything I thought I would need. As an Eagle Scout and Scoutmaster, I always try to live by the motto of "Be Prepared." In a disaster setting like Sri Lanka, it is vital for humanitarian workers to be prepared so that they can focus on assisting in the relief efforts and not become a part of the disaster themselves.
Tuesday morning I finished organizing and cleaning out my room in the apartment I shared with my brother. I then went in to my former work to brief my supervisor on projects I had been working on, which was the least I could do but the most I could do on such short notice. I then rushed to a 12:30 appointment to update my vaccines, less than 6 hours before I was suppose to catch my flight!
Having finished my errands, I went to my parents' house where I am leaving my car and other stuff while I am gone. They had offered to drive me to the airport and I am not one to refuse an offer like that. The only problem is I had bought so much stuff it took forever to pack! I may actually be over prepared, if there is such a thing.
We rushed to the airport and arrived with only 50 minutes before departure only to be told that there was not enough time for me and my bags to get through security! This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The very courteous staff at United were able to book me on the exact flight leaving the next day, which gave me an additional 24 hours.
The project I will be involved with will be based in Trincomalee, in the North East of Sri Lanka, where I spent several weeks in 2003 doing independent research. The goal is to conduct a needs assessment of the affected area to determine what assistance is needed and where. The project is based on using GPS equipment and special software to create an electronic map of the afflicted area along with specific areas of need included in the map.
When I had told my family of my decision to leave, my uncle, Richard Smith, who is a specialist in GPS and the associated software for doing this exact type of work, had offered his assistance acquiring some equipment for the project I was volunteering for. However, because of the long weekend from the New Year, nothing had been available by the time I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday. With the delay in my travel plans, ESRI, the corporation which develops the special software for this kind of project, had enough time to find a GPS unit and software and let me pick it up Wednesday morning on long term loan.
I made my flight Wednesday afternoon and on layover in Paris managed to contact my extended friends and family and let them know what was going on, as well as let them know I would be starting this blog. As soon as I have a chance, I will post my first few days in Sri Lanka, which have been a real whirl wind.
As a special note, a couple of people have been really helpful in getting me over here. Tom Bruning, a friend of mine who is a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Colombo and was assisting in the initial disaster response, told me to come over and he would find a use for me. Dr. Stanley Samarasinghe (Dr. Sam), a former professor of mine at Tulane University's Payson Center, who was in Sri Lanka at the time and began organizing some local efforts to assist those affected by the disaster, also offered his assistance in finding an organization with which I could volunteer. Both Tod and Dr. Sam were part of the Tulane group I traveled with in 2003.
I also want to thank everyone at ESRI for their assistance, especially David Gadsden, Brenda Martinez, and Angela Hylton.
I had previously spent six weeks in Sri Lanka during summer 2003 as part of a Tulane University study abroad, which is when I first experienced the island and fell in love with it. In May 2004 I finished a Masters at Tulane University with a concentration in Disaster Management, and I felt that these tragic circumstances were an opportunity to help those in need, do some good and put my education to use at the same time.
Tuesday, December 28th, was when I first heard about the Tsunami in Asia. I immediately sent e-mails to my friends in the area to make sure that they and their families, friends and colleagues were all unharmed. At that point I began to think about offering my assistance in some way but it was not until Friday, Dec. 31st that I seriously began to consider the idea of coming over to assist in the response and recovery effort.
On Friday I contacted everyone I could think of to see if there was anything I could do to help. Sunday morning when I went to church I started letting people know that I might be leaving, but it was not until I got home and checked my e-mail that afternoon that I knew there were opportunities to help and what until then had only looked like a remote possibility began to look like reality. By Sunday evening, I had accepted an offer to come on out and help and had a plane ticket purchased for the next reasonable flight out - Tuesday afternoon, less than 48 hours later!
Having made my decision to come to Sri Lanka, I began to let my family and friends know and I also submitted a letter of resignation from my work effective immediately. I then spent a frantic 48 hours trying to wrap up loose ends in preparation for my trip out.
On Monday morning I had a lucky break and was able to reschedule my six month dental cleaning. From there, I went to the local AAA for passport photos and then went into the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington to apply for a visa.
The staff at the Embassy were extremely helpful and courteous and were able to process my visa request while I waited. When I had my passport returned, I was humbled to hear the sincere words of thanks offered by the Embassy employee for the work that I would be doing.
After getting the visa, I spent the rest of the day frantically running around on other errands, particularly to buy everything I thought I would need. As an Eagle Scout and Scoutmaster, I always try to live by the motto of "Be Prepared." In a disaster setting like Sri Lanka, it is vital for humanitarian workers to be prepared so that they can focus on assisting in the relief efforts and not become a part of the disaster themselves.
Tuesday morning I finished organizing and cleaning out my room in the apartment I shared with my brother. I then went in to my former work to brief my supervisor on projects I had been working on, which was the least I could do but the most I could do on such short notice. I then rushed to a 12:30 appointment to update my vaccines, less than 6 hours before I was suppose to catch my flight!
Having finished my errands, I went to my parents' house where I am leaving my car and other stuff while I am gone. They had offered to drive me to the airport and I am not one to refuse an offer like that. The only problem is I had bought so much stuff it took forever to pack! I may actually be over prepared, if there is such a thing.
We rushed to the airport and arrived with only 50 minutes before departure only to be told that there was not enough time for me and my bags to get through security! This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The very courteous staff at United were able to book me on the exact flight leaving the next day, which gave me an additional 24 hours.
The project I will be involved with will be based in Trincomalee, in the North East of Sri Lanka, where I spent several weeks in 2003 doing independent research. The goal is to conduct a needs assessment of the affected area to determine what assistance is needed and where. The project is based on using GPS equipment and special software to create an electronic map of the afflicted area along with specific areas of need included in the map.
When I had told my family of my decision to leave, my uncle, Richard Smith, who is a specialist in GPS and the associated software for doing this exact type of work, had offered his assistance acquiring some equipment for the project I was volunteering for. However, because of the long weekend from the New Year, nothing had been available by the time I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday. With the delay in my travel plans, ESRI, the corporation which develops the special software for this kind of project, had enough time to find a GPS unit and software and let me pick it up Wednesday morning on long term loan.
I made my flight Wednesday afternoon and on layover in Paris managed to contact my extended friends and family and let them know what was going on, as well as let them know I would be starting this blog. As soon as I have a chance, I will post my first few days in Sri Lanka, which have been a real whirl wind.
As a special note, a couple of people have been really helpful in getting me over here. Tom Bruning, a friend of mine who is a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Colombo and was assisting in the initial disaster response, told me to come over and he would find a use for me. Dr. Stanley Samarasinghe (Dr. Sam), a former professor of mine at Tulane University's Payson Center, who was in Sri Lanka at the time and began organizing some local efforts to assist those affected by the disaster, also offered his assistance in finding an organization with which I could volunteer. Both Tod and Dr. Sam were part of the Tulane group I traveled with in 2003.
I also want to thank everyone at ESRI for their assistance, especially David Gadsden, Brenda Martinez, and Angela Hylton.
posted by Jason A. Smith at 5:03 AM
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