Photo taken very early in the morning at base camp with my two team leaders as we worked on our response plan while not quite managing to keep warm. A detail that I hadn’t considered: you can freeze in Chile!
The goal of the training is to recreate as closely as possible the conditions of an emergency response. We had to set up our operations centre in an empty school, set up our tents for sleeping and we just installed an internet connection which enables me to write to you in between two missions (Photo: Sophie Chavanel).
What I like about my job is that I get the chance to work with people from around the world. In this photo, from left: David Kenealy (Ireland), Mathieu Léonard (Canada), Jassen Slivensky (Bulgaria) and Nimio Alavarez Bonilla (Chiei). (Photo: Sophie Chavanel).
Stories from the field
Diary: Sophie Chavanel
Hello from Chile
Curico Chile, March 17, 2011
First of all I would like to apologize for having been silent last week. The reason is that this week I am not writing to you from Haiti but from Chile. I arrived in Chile more than two weeks ago to participate in an intensive Red Cross training for disaster relief operations that require an international response like the one in Haiti after the earthquake.
Over the last few days, we have set up an operation centre in the community of Curico, which had been severely impacted by a strong earthquake a year ago. The training brings together Red Cross disaster management experts from around the world, people with expertise and special knowledge of managing completely chaotic situations. Sort of like firefighters, the Red Cross is parachuted into a disaster-stricken country in the 24 hours following the natural disaster, assesses the needs and coordinates emergency aid operations. I have the honour of joining this team. An honour that comes with great responsibility because this work implies no more no less than saving lives and helping the most vulnerable.
“On January 12, 2010, the earth shook violently Haiti. I sat in the newsroom of Radio-Canada in Montreal when I heard the news. The days and weeks that followed were full of extremely strong emotions when I saw, like you, the images of a country of rubble. I then made a decision. I didn’t just want to report the events, I wanted to be there. I then started a new journey as a delegate of the Red Cross.” – Sophie Chavanel, Canadian Red Cross delegate, Haiti.
Sophie Chavanel is the senior communications coordinator for the Canadian Red Cross in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Sophie is a former journalist and joined the Red Cross team in Haiti in August 2010, where she will remain for 12 months. Follow her activities through her field diary below or on twitter at http://twitter.com/SophieChavanel.
