Washington — Some Haitians, isolated by the ravages of a 7.0-magnitude
earthquake, were able to hook up their radios to a car battery or a generator to
learn what happened to their country and communities on January 12 and in the
days that followed.
But many more were not so lucky. They didn’t have radios, batteries or
generators. And the earthquake silenced telephone landlines and mobile services,
leaving Haitians in the dark in more ways than one.
It is getting better though. Now U.S. Marines are handing out small radios so
Haitians can hear important public service and safety announcements. They can
learn when and where precious commodities like food and water will be
distributed.
A U.S. Air Force C-130 has been flying in pallets of hand-held emergency
radios from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida for earthquake survivors. The
radios have the advantage of not needing batteries: they are powered by the sun
or can generate power by hand cranking.
The first shipment of radios was distributed in Port-au-Prince nine days
after the earthquake hit.
U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Mark Leuis showed some of the first recipients how
easy they are to use.
A Haitian woman receives a new radio to hear public serve and
safety announcements about relief efforts.
The U.S. military’s Joint Task Force Haiti coordinated with the Préval
government to use a special communications aircraft, known as Commando Solo, to
broadcast on certain FM and AM frequencies. Messages about the international
relief efforts and health information are aired on three frequencies: 92.4 FM,
104.1 FM and 1030 AM.
In addition to the radios, the military is distributing 60,000 stickers
advertising the AM/FM frequencies. Sixty thousand fliers that provide operating
instructions in Creole and French have been produced.
The specially equipped radios have another advantage: they can be used to
charge cell phones and as modest flashlights.
So far, 43,800 radios are in Haiti and another 6,200 are due in country
January 25.
The radios are being distributed as part of “Operation Unified Response.” The
U.S. Southern Command provided the money to buy them.
There are around 6,400 U.S. military personnel supporting the mission by
tending to the wounded, providing security at food distribution points, carrying
out evacuations or ferrying in humanitarian supplies. That number is expected to
grow to as high as 10,000 in the coming weeks.
The military efforts are part of a broad U.S. governmentwide response to
Haiti’s request for assistance that includes assistance from the U.S. Agency for
International Development and the departments of Health and Human Services and
State.
President Obama said he wanted to be sure that when the United States
projects power abroad it is not only to fight a war, but also to “be able to
help people in desperate need” because that will aid U.S. national security in
the long run.
Help save lives in Haiti: Visit the White House Web
site for options. The International Committee of the Red Cross provides a service
to help people find loved ones, and the State Department has a Person Finder
where people can post information about persons missing in Haiti.
