Disaster Aid USA
Dr Knos, a fellow Rotarian, spoke to us about Disaster Aid USA, a world-wide disaster relief group, administered by Rotarians, which originated with the Bladensburg, MD Rotary Club. Their mission is to bring the four basics of survival, water, shelter, food and warmth, to help displaced families and persons rebuild their shattered lives with dignity and hope.
At present they are concentrating on South Sudan, a country which declared its independence from Sudan only a year ago. South Sudan is in the middle of a civil war, between Muslims in the north and Christians and animists in the south. South Sudan is a prize which North Sudan wants to take back, because rich oil deposits have been discovered there. As a result the battles are massacres of entire villages.
The only way in to South Sudan is by air to an unimproved airstrip, where Air Kenya flies daily with supplies.
Dr Knos showed us slides which showed him working in the field in South Sudan, helping to build tent cities and working on water filtration systems, with Disaster Aid USA. They are also trying to build schools and health centers as first priorities. All that is left of previous buildings is the framing. Doors have been ripped out, wiring, window frames, all either burned or taken back to North Sudan.
A Disaster Aid USA Family Survival box includes a family dome tent, two water containers, two mosquito nets, multi-fuel stove, pots, tools and other survival items, children’s school supplies, and thermal blankets.
There are other survival kits, also a Sky Hydrant, and a SkyJuice for water purification, a $5,000 system which can provide 10,000 liters of clean water per day. There is also a $2,500 School Campus Tent, partitioned into four rooms under a canopy seven meters by seven meters square, with supplies for eighty student and blackboards.
A first-aid station costs $1,000 with a tent, folding table, and chairs and two medical supply kits. A complete Disaster Aid USA pack costs $750 and it was suggested that that would be a good-sized club donation. More can be learned at bob.grill20@gmail.com, or call 1-240-487-6359 or web site www.disasteraidusa.org.
Dr Knos emphasized that this humanitarian aid is for building temporary camps, as the South Sudanese want to make permanent homes and cities as soon as possible. The aim is to provide dignity and hope to enable displaced refuges to rebuild their lives.