Medair News 2013

MEDAIR | newsNo. 1 | 2013 | medair.org

Heart of the StormInside an Emergency Response

THE SYRIAN CRISIS SOUTH SUDAN: LIFE IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY

2 Medair December | 2012 | medair.org medair.org | 2012 | Medair December 3

6 T h e i m pac T Heart of the Storm

S Y R I A N C R I S I S

EMERGENCY500,000 Syrians flee for their lives to escape the violence at home.

I’ve worked in a lot of conflict areas

around the world, but the stories we are

hearing from the Syrian families arriving

in Lebanon are absolutely heartbreaking.

Many are escaping unspeakable violence

where neighbourhoods have turned on

neighbourhoods, and aerial bombardment,

shelling, and gunfire have become the

norm. Families arrive seeking safety,

carrying only what is in their hands.

– James, Medair Emergency Response Team

4 c R i S i S B R i e F i N G Inside an Emergency Response

8 T h e i m pac T South Sudan: Life in a State of Emergency

1 0 p R O G R a m m e S Emergency Responses Around the Globe

m e D a i R1024 EcublensSwitzerlandTél: 021 694 35 [email protected]

Funding partners: Syrian Crisis, Swiss Solidarity. South Sudan, E.C. Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, United States Agency for International Development, Common Humanitarian Fund.

Source: ECHO Global Needs Assessment (GNA) 2012-2013

E D I T O R I A LV I S I O N

There’s a great question I’m often asked. You might wonder the same thing: How does Medair decide where to start – or not start – a new emergency response?

That’s one of the toughest questions we face at Medair. When a crisis strikes, the decision to act must be made without delay. Our hearts call us to relieve suffering wherever it exists, but the answers are rarely so simple.

In 2012 we watched as Syria’s conflict escalated and erupted across the country, with millions caught in the crossfire. We followed events closely and kept in touch with our contacts on the ground. We had to decide whether Medair should respond to the emergency and if so, how we would finance our response and bring swift relief to those who need it most.

In these pages, we take you behind the scenes into the decision-making process we follow when we launch an emergency response. We take you to Lebanon, Jordan, and South Sudan, where families face life-threatening situations and are receiving the emergency relief they

need with your support.

Jim Ingram, Medair CEO

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cover: Two young Syrian girls examine a wood-burning stove during a day of distributions in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Medair provided families living in temporary makeshift shelters with materials to help keep them warm for the coming winter. © Medair/Andrew Robinson

RESPONSEMedair delivers life-saving relief to more than 9,400 Syrian refugees to help them survive the coming winter. Photo: A Syrian woman and her young brother take

refuge in a makeshift shelter in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

2 Medair December | 2012 | medair.org medair.org | 2012 | Medair December 3

6 T h e i m pac T Heart of the Storm

S Y R I A N C R I S I S

EMERGENCY500,000 Syrians flee for their lives to escape the violence at home.

I’ve worked in a lot of conflict areas

around the world, but the stories we are

hearing from the Syrian families arriving

in Lebanon are absolutely heartbreaking.

Many are escaping unspeakable violence

where neighbourhoods have turned on

neighbourhoods, and aerial bombardment,

shelling, and gunfire have become the

norm. Families arrive seeking safety,

carrying only what is in their hands.

– James, Medair Emergency Response Team

4 c R i S i S B R i e F i N G Inside an Emergency Response

8 T h e i m pac T South Sudan: Life in a State of Emergency

1 0 p R O G R a m m e S Emergency Responses Around the Globe

m e D a i R1024 EcublensSwitzerlandTél: 021 694 35 [email protected]

Funding partners: Syrian Crisis, Swiss Solidarity. South Sudan, E.C. Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, United States Agency for International Development, Common Humanitarian Fund.

Source: ECHO Global Needs Assessment (GNA) 2012-2013

E D I T O R I A LV I S I O N

There’s a great question I’m often asked. You might wonder the same thing: How does Medair decide where to start – or not start – a new emergency response?

That’s one of the toughest questions we face at Medair. When a crisis strikes, the decision to act must be made without delay. Our hearts call us to relieve suffering wherever it exists, but the answers are rarely so simple.

In 2012 we watched as Syria’s conflict escalated and erupted across the country, with millions caught in the crossfire. We followed events closely and kept in touch with our contacts on the ground. We had to decide whether Medair should respond to the emergency and if so, how we would finance our response and bring swift relief to those who need it most.

In these pages, we take you behind the scenes into the decision-making process we follow when we launch an emergency response. We take you to Lebanon, Jordan, and South Sudan, where families face life-threatening situations and are receiving the emergency relief they

need with your support.

Jim Ingram, Medair CEO

© M

edai

r/And

rew

Rob

inso

n

cover: Two young Syrian girls examine a wood-burning stove during a day of distributions in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Medair provided families living in temporary makeshift shelters with materials to help keep them warm for the coming winter. © Medair/Andrew Robinson

RESPONSEMedair delivers life-saving relief to more than 9,400 Syrian refugees to help them survive the coming winter. Photo: A Syrian woman and her young brother take

refuge in a makeshift shelter in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Inside an Emergency Response

With so much suffering in the world, how does Medair decide where to send its relief teams?

C R I S I S B R I E F I N G

Where to Respond? We scan the

globe for sudden-onset disasters

and slow-onset, complex crises.

We analyse humanitarian research

to identify the most vulnerable

countries as measured by key

indicators like under-5 mortality

rate, number of affected people,

immunisation coverage, or water

supply. We communicate with

our partners and contacts on the

ground to get a clearer picture.

Will We Respond? We assess the

country’s capacity to handle the

crisis on its own, identify how many

NGOs are responding and whether

we add value, and verify that we

will be able to access the country in

terms of logistics and security. We

make sure we have sufficient cash

on hand and experienced staff to

launch a response, along with the

ability to procure and transport

essential supplies.

Green Light. After weighing all

factors, Medair’s executive leadership

decides whether we will respond.

If so, we send an emergency team to

assess the situation on the ground

within 72 hours, identify unmet

needs, and plan a quick-impact

response that will deliver immediate

life-saving relief. The team is soon

expanded so that we can deliver

more comprehensive projects to

relieve suffering.

IDENTIF Y ThE CRISIS ASk kEY QuESTIONS LAuNCh ThE RESPONSE

FIVE MOST VULNERABLE COUNTRIES ECHO GNA Final Index Rank 2012

SOMALIA

SOUTH SUDAN

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CHAD

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

2.5

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

2

0

0

1

3

3

3

3

0

3

3

3

2

3

2

11.875

11.667

11.663

11.563

11.563

3

2.5

2

2.5

2

2.5

2.5

2.25

2.25

2.25

GNAVulnerability

Index (VI)

GeneralSituation inthe Country

Index

Health ofChildrenunder 5

Index

UprootedPeopleIndex

(VI)

Other Vulnerabilityfactors Index

GNACrisis

Index (CI)

NaturalDisasters

Index

Con�ictIndex

UprootedPeople

Index (CI)

Rank

Somalia (Somaliland)

South Sudan

Central African Republic

Chad

Democratic Republic of Congo

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�

�

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WORLD’S MOST VULNERABLE COUNTRIES (2012) MEDAIR RESPONSE

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EC’S GLOBAL NEEDS ASSESSmENT FINAL INDE x 2012-2013

We use humanitarian research tools like the European Commission’s Global Needs Assessment (GNA) to identify the world’s most vulnerable countries and assess whether we should launch an emergency response. The GNA Final Index (2012-2013) reveals that Medair is active in four of the five most vulnerable countries in the world.

We send in a small emergency team to assess the situation on the ground. We identify unmet needs, and plan a quick-impact response that will deliver immediate life-saving relief.

The other key element in providing a rapid response is a comprehen-sive preparation strategy.

People: An emergency roster of over 50 experienced Medair per-sonnel – including doctors, water engineers, and managers – who are able to travel to crisis or disaster locations within 48 hours.

medair.org | 2012 | Medair December 5

Your Donations Are the Difference

When you give to a good cause, put your money in good hands.87% of Medair’s incoming donations are used in field programmes that serve our beneficiaries.

24 successful audits (internal and external) in 2012 vouch for the integrity of your donation to Medair.

Why are private donations so important for an emergency response?


A single donation of USD 100 to Medair:

Can help unlock access to as much as USD 400 in support from public funds.

Supports our emergency fund so that we can respond quickly.

Becomes a gift that keeps on giving when public funders reimburse us for project expenses incurred during start-up.

But releasing these funds

takes time. When a new crisis

strikes, time is of the essence and

lives are at stake. We need cash

donations to act quickly and save

lives where the need is greatest.

Private donations give us a

foothold in a new crisis, after

which we can apply for public

funding to continue our response.

Most of Medair’s funding (80%)

comes from public institutions

that support aid. They provide

funds to NGOs through a

competitive application process.

80%

“To be able to respond to emergencies, we need donations throughout the year. We don’t know exactly when a disaster will happen, but with funding ready and available, we have a faster response time to save lives when it does.” — Emma Le Beau, Head of Country Programme, Syrian Crisis

Medair April | 2013 | medair.org 54 Medair April | 2013 | medair.org

1 2 3STE

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Inside an Emergency Response

With so much suffering in the world, how does Medair decide where to send its relief teams?


Where to Respond? We scan the

globe for sudden-onset disasters

and slow-onset, complex crises.

We analyse humanitarian research

to identify the most vulnerable

countries as measured by key

indicators like under-5 mortality

rate, number of affected people,

immunisation coverage, or water

supply. We communicate with

our partners and contacts on the

ground to get a clearer picture.

Will We Respond? We assess the

country’s capacity to handle the

crisis on its own, identify how many

NGOs are responding and whether

we add value, and verify that we

will be able to access the country in

terms of logistics and security. We

make sure we have sufficient cash

on hand and experienced staff to

launch a response, along with the

ability to procure and transport

essential supplies.

Green Light. After weighing all

factors, Medair’s executive leadership

decides whether we will respond.

If so, we send an emergency team to

assess the situation on the ground

within 72 hours, identify unmet

needs, and plan a quick-impact

response that will deliver immediate

life-saving relief. The team is soon

expanded so that we can deliver

more comprehensive projects to

relieve suffering.

IDENTIF Y ThE CRISIS ASk kEY QuESTIONS LAuNCh ThE RESPONSE

FIVE MOST VULNERABLE COUNTRIES ECHO GNA Final Index Rank 2012

SOMALIA

SOUTH SUDAN

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CHAD

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

2.5

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

2

0

0

1

3

3

3

3

0

3

3

3

2

3

2

11.875

11.667

11.663

11.563

11.563

3

2.5

2

2.5

2

2.5

2.5

2.25

2.25

2.25

GNAVulnerability

Index (VI)

GeneralSituation inthe Country

Index

Health ofChildrenunder 5

Index

UprootedPeopleIndex

(VI)

Other Vulnerabilityfactors Index

GNACrisis

Index (CI)

NaturalDisasters

Index

Con�ictIndex

UprootedPeople

Index (CI)

Rank

Somalia (Somaliland)

South Sudan

Central African Republic

Chad

Democratic Republic of Congo

�

�

�

�

WORLD’S MOST VULNERABLE COUNTRIES (2012) MEDAIR RESPONSE

abcdef-ghijklm-nopqrstuvwyz1234555678990

EC’S GLOBAL NEEDS ASSESSmENT FINAL INDE x 2012-2013

We use humanitarian research tools like the European Commission’s Global Needs Assessment (GNA) to identify the world’s most vulnerable countries and assess whether we should launch an emergency response. The GNA Final Index (2012-2013) reveals that Medair is active in four of the five most vulnerable countries in the world.

We send in a small emergency team to assess the situation on the ground. We identify unmet needs, and plan a quick-impact response that will deliver immediate life-saving relief.

The other key element in providing a rapid response is a comprehen-sive preparation strategy.

People: An emergency roster of over 50 experienced Medair per-sonnel – including doctors, water engineers, and managers – who are able to travel to crisis or disaster locations within 48 hours.


Your Donations Are the Difference

When you give to a good cause, put your money in good hands.87% of Medair’s incoming donations are used in field programmes that serve our beneficiaries.

24 successful audits (internal and external) in 2012 vouch for the integrity of your donation to Medair.

Why are private donations so important for an emergency response?


A single donation of USD 100 to Medair:

Can help unlock access to as much as USD 400 in support from public funds.

Supports our emergency fund so that we can respond quickly.

Becomes a gift that keeps on giving when public funders reimburse us for project expenses incurred during start-up.

But releasing these funds

takes time. When a new crisis

strikes, time is of the essence and

lives are at stake. We need cash

donations to act quickly and save

lives where the need is greatest.

Private donations give us a

foothold in a new crisis, after

which we can apply for public

funding to continue our response.

Most of Medair’s funding (80%)

comes from public institutions

that support aid. They provide

funds to NGOs through a

competitive application process.

80%

“To be able to respond to emergencies, we need donations throughout the year. We don’t know exactly when a disaster will happen, but with funding ready and available, we have a faster response time to save lives when it does.” — Emma Le Beau, Head of Country Programme, Syrian Crisis

Medair April | 2013 | medair.org 54 Medair April | 2013 | medair.org

1 2 3STE

P

STE

P

STE

P

6 Medair April | 2013 | medair.org

S y R i a N c R i S i S :Q u i c k- i m pac T e m e R G e N c y R e S p O N S e

Nov. 2012 – Jan. 2013

L e B a N O N ’ S B e k a a Va L L e y

• 7,603 refugees received materials to improve the water resistance and insulation of their shelters.

• 1,568 refugees received wood-burning stoves, blankets, and mattresses.

• 120 families (more than 800 people) received water filters and hygiene kits.

J O R D a N

• 1,200 children were screened for acute malnutrition and mothers were counselled in improved nutrition practices.

25 September 2012 “Hi Andrew. How quickly can you get to Lebanon ?”I stop drinking my breakfast coffee mid-sip and re-read the email. I’m in my brother’s kitchen in New Zealand. After two years with Medair in Afghanistan, I’m glad to be home with friends and family. But Medair has launched an emergency response for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. They need people on the ground ASAP. Am I willing to go? After a quick phone call to my parents and a few deep breaths, I send my reply: “I can be there next week!”

16 October 2012 Winter is on everyone’s mind. With freezing cold weather soon to arrive, relief agencies are concerned about how refugees will survive. Many families fled to Lebanon with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

We speak to Syrians living in crudely built shelters constructed out of tattered plastic sheets and discarded signs. People speak longingly about the homes they’ve left behind. Many are deeply traumatised and disoriented, not knowing whom they can trust. They worry about their children with so few blankets to protect them during the cold nights and no way to heat their shelters. It has become clear that if Medair cannot help these families, there is no one else who will.

F E A T u R E S T O R Y

Baby Lilith, the daughter of Syrian refugee Wessam, sleeps soundly on the floor of the half-built house where she and her family are sheltering in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Heart of the Storm

Behind the Scenes of an Emergency Response by Andrew Robinson, Syrian Crisis Field Communication Officer

T h E I m P A C T

© M

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r/A. R

obin

son

F E A T u R E S T O R YT h E I m P A C T

© M

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Rob

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8 November 2012 Today I met Wessam, his wife, and their three children. They arrived from Syria 15 days ago and with nowhere to go, spent their first two nights living on the streets. A kindly Lebanese man invited them to stay in the house he was building. It’s barely a roof over their heads, but they are grateful to have somewhere to stay.

As I talked with Wessam, his baby daughter, Lilith, lay sleeping on a thin mattress on the cold floor. Wessam’s eyes were red, as if he hadn’t been sleeping well, and as we talked, his eyes grew moist. With no money and no job, he worried about how he would provide for his family in the coming months. He thanked me for visiting, and I left feeling terrible that there was nothing, for the time being, we could do to help him.

19 November 2012When our truck comes into view, children break into spontaneous cheers and applause. What a moment! The truck is full of mattresses tightly roped down and stacked high.

,

Parents hold back their excited children as the truck carefully reverses onto the muddy ground, while my teammates and I look on with big smiles on our faces.

We hand out blankets and mattresses as part of the relief package we’ve assembled to help families survive the winter. I am hugely privileged to shake the hands of many of the men — husbands, fathers, and grandfathers — who throughout the morning have come up to me and wordlessly expressed their thanks for what Medair has done. It’s a great day, which leaves me both exhilarated and exhausted.

7 December 2012The rain is pouring down and I’m soaked to the bone, but I’m leaping happily over puddles as I run towards a tall, half-built concrete house, clutching four mattresses close to my chest.

A month has passed since I met Wessam, and I am anxious to find out how he is doing. When I see him, he smiles broadly and slaps my back before taking the mattresses from my hands. His wife is boiling water on a small gas cooker and Wessam gestures for me to join them for tea. I really want to stay and talk but there are more distributions to be done. For now, I’m just glad to see that Wessam and his family are well. Our hired truck driver steps into the room carrying a stack of blankets, and Wessam’s smile grows wider.

When Mohammed appears with a stove in his hands, Wessam laughs with happiness. It makes my day.

Medair April | 2013 | medair.org 7

“Compassion is what motivates me to respond to emergencies. Compassion and love. I’ve been doing this work a long time, so I’ve seen the life-saving difference we can make. But I also know that just the fact that you are beside your sisters and brothers when they are going through terrible events means so much to them. They really do appreciate our presence. It’s where I’m convinced we can make a difference.” – Manuel Jagourd, Medair Head of Emergency Response


Give hope in the heart of the storm. Give today. Your gift enables us to save lives without delay, wherever the need is greatest. That’s the life-saving difference you make when you give a gift to Medair.

D O N A T E N O W


T h E I m P A C T

87% of Medair’s

incoming funds

are used in field

programmes

that serve our

beneficiaries.

“What many people don’t know is how critically important private donations are for emergency response. Much of our work as an organisation is supported by public funders. But those first responses — the quick-impact actions that deliver actual help when people need it most — those responses rely on having cash on hand. Private donations are the spark that ignites an emergency response.

That’s not all: every donation you make can help unlock access to as much as four times its value in public funding. That’s an immense and life-saving impact you can make with a single contribution.”

– Manuel Jagourd, Head of Emergency Response

South Sudan: Life in a State of Emergency

© M

edai

r/And

rew

Rob

inso

n

Medair has trained refugees Bajita (left) and Alawiya to promote safe health and hygiene practices in Maban County, South Sudan.

Emergencies strike often in South Sudan, keeping Medair’s full-time Emergency Response Team (ERT) busy all year. Floods, disease outbreaks, malnutrition, mass displacement— we respond to life-threatening crises all across the country.

Bachir, a relief worker with Medair’s local partner, Heart for Lebanon, plays with a Syrian child during a Medair distribution to refugees in Lebanon.

© M

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r/St

ella

Che

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Bajita: The war started during Ramadan. A plane started bombing the area. After four weeks, ground troops reached our village. We couldn’t even collect our belongings, just our children and some clothing.

Alawiya: I escaped with my husband and child and the rest of the village. We walked at night, as it was too hot during the day. We gave food only to the small children because there was not enough.

Bajita: It was horrible to hear the sound of a gunship coming. You had to run and hide. Often, we hid in the riverbed. They came at any time, night or day. I kept my daughter close by, telling her to keep quiet because she was crying.

Even though people had to leave their things behind, it doesn’t matter. Possessions are not important – we can get those again. But the important thing is I am still alive and have escaped war.

Alawiya: I now work for Medair as a health and hygiene promoter and I tell people to wash their hands with soap and use latrines to protect themselves from diseases. Before, we did not know these things, so I am learning.

Bajita: I had a cough for two weeks and so did most of my family. We have all been treated at Medair’s clinic. Thank you for what you are doing. It is good to have the clinic near us. I don’t know what the future holds, but my dream is for good health.

Emergency in Maban. When conflict in Sudan forced more than 110,000 people to flee to Maban County, South Sudan in 2012, Medair’s ERT opened an emergency health clinic that gave exhausted families free health care. Today that clinic continues to be busy, and we are building latrines, improving water supply, and training refugees in life-saving health and hygiene practices.

Bajita.I am proud to be a health

and hygiene promoter because I can tell people to drink clean water and

use latrines.

Alawiya.Medair provided our latrines. We didn’t have a latrine before. We like it and take care of it.

© M

edai

r/St

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S y R i a N c R i S i S :Q u i c k- i m pac T e m e R G e N c y R e S p O N S e

Nov. 2012 – Jan. 2013

L e B a N O N ’ S B e k a a Va L L e y

• 7,603 refugees received materials to improve the water resistance and insulation of their shelters.

• 1,568 refugees received wood-burning stoves, blankets, and mattresses.

• 120 families (more than 800 people) received water filters and hygiene kits.

J O R D a N

• 1,200 children were screened for acute malnutrition and mothers were counselled in improved nutrition practices.

25 September 2012 “Hi Andrew. How quickly can you get to Lebanon ?”I stop drinking my breakfast coffee mid-sip and re-read the email. I’m in my brother’s kitchen in New Zealand. After two years with Medair in Afghanistan, I’m glad to be home with friends and family. But Medair has launched an emergency response for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. They need people on the ground ASAP. Am I willing to go? After a quick phone call to my parents and a few deep breaths, I send my reply: “I can be there next week!”

16 October 2012 Winter is on everyone’s mind. With freezing cold weather soon to arrive, relief agencies are concerned about how refugees will survive. Many families fled to Lebanon with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

We speak to Syrians living in crudely built shelters constructed out of tattered plastic sheets and discarded signs. People speak longingly about the homes they’ve left behind. Many are deeply traumatised and disoriented, not knowing whom they can trust. They worry about their children with so few blankets to protect them during the cold nights and no way to heat their shelters. It has become clear that if Medair cannot help these families, there is no one else who will.

F E A T u R E S T O R Y

Baby Lilith, the daughter of Syrian refugee Wessam, sleeps soundly on the floor of the half-built house where she and her family are sheltering in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Heart of the Storm

Behind the Scenes of an Emergency Response by Andrew Robinson, Syrian Crisis Field Communication Officer

T h E I m P A C T

© M

edai

r/A. R

obin

son

F E A T u R E S T O R YT h E I m P A C T

© M

edai

r/And

rew

Rob

inso

n

8 November 2012 Today I met Wessam, his wife, and their three children. They arrived from Syria 15 days ago and with nowhere to go, spent their first two nights living on the streets. A kindly Lebanese man invited them to stay in the house he was building. It’s barely a roof over their heads, but they are grateful to have somewhere to stay.

As I talked with Wessam, his baby daughter, Lilith, lay sleeping on a thin mattress on the cold floor. Wessam’s eyes were red, as if he hadn’t been sleeping well, and as we talked, his eyes grew moist. With no money and no job, he worried about how he would provide for his family in the coming months. He thanked me for visiting, and I left feeling terrible that there was nothing, for the time being, we could do to help him.

19 November 2012When our truck comes into view, children break into spontaneous cheers and applause. What a moment! The truck is full of mattresses tightly roped down and stacked high.

,

Parents hold back their excited children as the truck carefully reverses onto the muddy ground, while my teammates and I look on with big smiles on our faces.

We hand out blankets and mattresses as part of the relief package we’ve assembled to help families survive the winter. I am hugely privileged to shake the hands of many of the men — husbands, fathers, and grandfathers — who throughout the morning have come up to me and wordlessly expressed their thanks for what Medair has done. It’s a great day, which leaves me both exhilarated and exhausted.

7 December 2012The rain is pouring down and I’m soaked to the bone, but I’m leaping happily over puddles as I run towards a tall, half-built concrete house, clutching four mattresses close to my chest.

A month has passed since I met Wessam, and I am anxious to find out how he is doing. When I see him, he smiles broadly and slaps my back before taking the mattresses from my hands. His wife is boiling water on a small gas cooker and Wessam gestures for me to join them for tea. I really want to stay and talk but there are more distributions to be done. For now, I’m just glad to see that Wessam and his family are well. Our hired truck driver steps into the room carrying a stack of blankets, and Wessam’s smile grows wider.

When Mohammed appears with a stove in his hands, Wessam laughs with happiness. It makes my day.

Medair April | 2013 | medair.org 7

“Compassion is what motivates me to respond to emergencies. Compassion and love. I’ve been doing this work a long time, so I’ve seen the life-saving difference we can make. But I also know that just the fact that you are beside your sisters and brothers when they are going through terrible events means so much to them. They really do appreciate our presence. It’s where I’m convinced we can make a difference.” – Manuel Jagourd, Medair Head of Emergency Response


Give hope in the heart of the storm. Give today. Your gift enables us to save lives without delay, wherever the need is greatest. That’s the life-saving difference you make when you give a gift to Medair.

D O N A T E N O W


T h E I m P A C T

87% of Medair’s

incoming funds

are used in field

programmes

that serve our

beneficiaries.

“What many people don’t know is how critically important private donations are for emergency response. Much of our work as an organisation is supported by public funders. But those first responses — the quick-impact actions that deliver actual help when people need it most — those responses rely on having cash on hand. Private donations are the spark that ignites an emergency response.

That’s not all: every donation you make can help unlock access to as much as four times its value in public funding. That’s an immense and life-saving impact you can make with a single contribution.”

– Manuel Jagourd, Head of Emergency Response

South Sudan: Life in a State of Emergency

© M

edai

r/And

rew

Rob

inso

n

Medair has trained refugees Bajita (left) and Alawiya to promote safe health and hygiene practices in Maban County, South Sudan.

Emergencies strike often in South Sudan, keeping Medair’s full-time Emergency Response Team (ERT) busy all year. Floods, disease outbreaks, malnutrition, mass displacement— we respond to life-threatening crises all across the country.

Bachir, a relief worker with Medair’s local partner, Heart for Lebanon, plays with a Syrian child during a Medair distribution to refugees in Lebanon.

© M

edai

r/St

ella

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Bajita: The war started during Ramadan. A plane started bombing the area. After four weeks, ground troops reached our village. We couldn’t even collect our belongings, just our children and some clothing.

Alawiya: I escaped with my husband and child and the rest of the village. We walked at night, as it was too hot during the day. We gave food only to the small children because there was not enough.

Bajita: It was horrible to hear the sound of a gunship coming. You had to run and hide. Often, we hid in the riverbed. They came at any time, night or day. I kept my daughter close by, telling her to keep quiet because she was crying.

Even though people had to leave their things behind, it doesn’t matter. Possessions are not important – we can get those again. But the important thing is I am still alive and have escaped war.

Alawiya: I now work for Medair as a health and hygiene promoter and I tell people to wash their hands with soap and use latrines to protect themselves from diseases. Before, we did not know these things, so I am learning.

Bajita: I had a cough for two weeks and so did most of my family. We have all been treated at Medair’s clinic. Thank you for what you are doing. It is good to have the clinic near us. I don’t know what the future holds, but my dream is for good health.

Emergency in Maban. When conflict in Sudan forced more than 110,000 people to flee to Maban County, South Sudan in 2012, Medair’s ERT opened an emergency health clinic that gave exhausted families free health care. Today that clinic continues to be busy, and we are building latrines, improving water supply, and training refugees in life-saving health and hygiene practices.

Bajita.I am proud to be a health

and hygiene promoter because I can tell people to drink clean water and

use latrines.

Alawiya.Medair provided our latrines. We didn’t have a latrine before. We like it and take care of it.

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P R O G R A m m E S

Emergency Responses Around the Globe

Team member says: “Typi non habent claritatem insitam; est usus legentis in iis qui facit eorum claritatem. Investigationes demonstraverunt lectores legere me lius quod ii legunt saepius. Claritas est etiam processus dynamicus, qui sequitur mutationem consuetudium lectorum. Mirum est notare quam littera gothica, quam nunc putamus parum claram, anteposuerit litterarum formas humanitatis per seacula quarta decima et quinta decima. Eodem modo typi, qui nunc nobis videntur parum clari, fiant sollemnes in futurum.”

Loreum Ipsum dolori. Cantor immi dono ipsum dolori canton vi nomi. Loreum Ipsum dolori. Cantor immi dono ipsum dolori canton vi nomi. Loreum Ipsum dolori. Cantor immi dono ipsum dolori.

A F F I L I A T E S

Help Medair where you are. Are you interested in keeping your church or group up to date with what’s happening in some of the neediest, most forgotten places on earth? If so, you could be the person we’re looking for!

We’ll provide you with all you need to promote Medair in your local area. For more details, please contact Andy Prescott. [email protected], 020 8772 0100.

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Getting into relief work. Throughout the summer, we’ve held 10 successful “Getting Into Relief Work” events around the UK. Many folks have discovered more about our work, while others have applied to work in our programmes overseas.

For details of upcoming events, take a look at our website, www.medair.org/uk, or on our Facebook and Twitter pages. If you’d like to hold a “Getting into Relief Work” event where you live, please contact Anna Hartridge for more details. [email protected] , 020 8772 0100.

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maDaGaScaR Frequent cyclones and tropical storms devastate the island and impede development. We provide emergency relief when cyclones strike and conduct activities year-round to reduce the risk of future disasters.

aFGhaNiSTaN Natural disasters strike hundreds of thousands of Afghans every year. With four other NGOs, Medair is implementing a project that provides rapid humanitarian access to emergencies across northern Afghanistan.

SOmaLia/SOmaLiLaND Severe drought and high rates of child malnutrition require an ongoing response to save lives in times of crisis. We treat malnourished children and improve water access to parched villages.

D.R. cONGO Ongoing militia violence has forced people to leave their homes and live in makeshift camps. Medair provides free health care and medicine to help them survive the crisis.

HAITI

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HAITI

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SOMALIA/SOMALILAND

MADAGASCARZIMBABWE

SYRIAN CRISISAFGHANISTAN

LEBANONJORDAN

EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Haiti. Hurricane Sandy caused massive flooding and landslides that buried homes and farmland and washed away roads, isolating remote communities from the outside world.

Using cash reserves from private donations, Medair launched a short-term emergency project that repaired the main access roads and paid community members much-needed cash to repair their homes and buy food. Now, thanks to support from institutional donors Swiss Solidarity and USAID, Medair has started a larger emergency response—rebuilding homes, feeding families, and repairing roads in a sustainable way to withstand future floods.

Where we work can quickly change due to sudden emergencies around the world. Visit medair.org for updates.

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SOUTH SUDAN

Thank You from South Sudan. The last issue of Medair News highlighted our efforts to treat thousands of children with acute malnutrition in South Sudan. We are sincerely grateful for your generous donations that give young children the nourishment they need to grow up healthy and strong. You have given them a life-saving and long-lasting gift.

As hungry refugees flood across the border from Sudan into South Sudan, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of malnourished children who need urgent care. Your gift has made it possible for our teams to give them the treatment they need to survive. THANK YOU!

“I am the grandmother of everyone here! Everything has arrived now and we are very happy. The blankets, mattresses, and the stove – it is all so good for us. Already it is much warmer. We would like to thank everyone who has helped us continue our lives. You have helped us to stand again.” — Marella, one of thousands of Syrian refugees taking shelter in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Your gift gives us the power to help the people who need it most. Join our worldwide team of supporters today at medair.org.

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Documents

Medair News 2013