Bangladesh is a GO !... but why?

We decided yesterday to go forward with an HODR project in Bangladesh, and I thought it might be interesting to see "behind the curtain" at our decision process.
Our first criteria, before we send an assessment team, is to try to measure the extent of damage, normally using destroyed homes as a key parameter, in the context of what is the local/national response capability. So when the California wildfires destroyed about 3,300 homes, and local response was strong, we decided not to deploy. In Bangladesh, with about 600,000 homes destroyed, and an equal number damaged, that criteria was easily met. The response capability is heavily dependent on NGO's ( non-governmental organizations, like CARE, OxFam, Red Crescent, etc), who are present in-country to deal with ongoing humanitarian issues, partly in anticipation that having a base there will allow rapid scale-up in time of disaster. SaveTheChildren, e.g., had 200 staff on the ground in Bangladesh BEFORE the Cyclone, so they have equipment and local knowledge that is invaluable.
Next we seek an area where the damage is concentrated, so that volunteers can be effectively engaged over a 3-4 month period with minimal transportation needs. Travel in these areas is slow, expensive, and exhausting, and to the extent we can do good work in a tighter area we're better off, and so are our volunteers. Our Peru project combined tasks in the immediate vicinity of our Op Center with several remote projects, which helped in several ways: by rebuilding irrigation canals up toward the mountains we helped the farm community, but also took the load of 30 volunteers at a time off our cramped central facility.

Next we look for a physical location that could support an Op Center: water, power, kitchen, and space for 50-100 people at a time normal parameters. We can modify an existing facility with additional showers, tent out in open space, and make do with limited communications(internet access) capability, but all weigh in the decision process. Next is volunteer access; how will they get to us. In BD, with limited English speaking, congested traffic, etc we are looking for a location that may be accessible from the local ferry system. This may mean a 20 hour overnight ferry ride from the Dhaka port area, itself a 2 hour ride from the airport, but all in all reasonable, if you're sensible and patient.
Another key ingredient can be supportive NGO's, particularly if we've had a good prior experience; UNICEF, Salvation Army and others falling in to that camp. We anticipate a working relationship with SaveTheChildren, who have been very open and supportive during our assessment process.
Much of our motivation is volunteer driven: will they want to come here, and can we make it safe, and productive. We're learning that our ability to make the trip a bit less daunting can swing the decision to motivate volunteers to come, so we aspire to make our communication, and logistics, as dependable as possible, and to maintain a safe environment, given the often chaotic situations we drop into.
Perhaps foolishly our last concern is funding - we really do go a bit on the " if we go, they'll support us" approach. In Peru, e.g., we spent about $125K before going out funds seeking, but that allows us to show what we are doing. We're starting now, off the demonstrated success of Peru, to raise the $100K+ that BD will require, so if you have suggestions, thoughts, or donations, please write to me at david@hodr.org or donate on-line at www.hodr.org

Lastly, we need the leadership of the local team will organize and run the operation, in this case Marc Young and Stef Chang. They have been in a dozen different communities, always watching for the combination of needs and characteristics that can form the basis of a successful project. While we've made the decision to deploy, they will pick the location sometime over the next 1-2 weeks,

We know BD will be a challenge, and that mounting two projects simultaneously will stress all our capabilities, but we think we will learn a lot, and be able to pull it off.
Please tag along with us......