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U.S.-Donated Radios Get the Word Out in Haiti
By America.gov
Jan 25, 2010 - 4:33:26 PM

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.

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.