Disaster Response

When Glen and I finished our voyage we felt a strong desire to perform some type of humanitarian service. In Crossing Pirate Waters, you read about how Hurricane Katrina cut short our post-circumnavigation cruising, and we helped my family whose homes near the eye of the storm were destroyed by 21 feet of flood surge. We were so impressed by the work of the Red Cross we decided to volunteer our skills to assist in National and International Disaster Response. Here are accounts of what it is like to travel to world disaster sites with the Red Cross and the challenging, nitty gritty work of making a difference. This may be something you want to consider yourself.

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Questionable Karma in Myanmar

Caged birds need to be free more than they need the karma

Uncertainty Guaranteed

A Little Effort Can Increase Your Odds

Communications from Chaos

We discovered that disaster response work is messy, chaotic, and difficult—but we were hooked. It felt great to be vital and useful in a meaningful way. Watch this video about traveling into the hardship areas of Nepal to install communications and internet for Red Cross field hospitals, surgical units and clinics.

Red Cross Phone Home

Friends wonder what it’s like when my husband, Glen, and I deploy to disaster zones—at times living in what some consider to be hardship conditions. Here’s a little insight:

After the Aftermath

The past few days Glen and I had our heads in our work; installing communications for the Red Cross disaster response in Saipan after Super Typhoon Soudelor devastated the island.

On Shaky Ground In Nepal

Red Cross deploys an Emergency Response Unit (ERU) to install emergency disaster communications to support earthquake relief efforts in Nepal

Blown Away In Nepal

Dhunche, a remote village high in the northern mountains where we were going to support a 35 person Canadian Red Cross medical unit perched on a narrow strip of rare, flat land.

After The Shock In Nepal

The past few days our job in the American Red Cross IT/Telecoms ERU has been to support field units in the hardest hit areas of Nepal.

Shaken In Nepal

The aftershocks, which have been rolling across Kathmandu sporadically since April 25, shake the region almost as much as the initial 7.8 quake.