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Tag archives for Disaster Relief

In Sierra Leone, Care Kits Deliver Assistance and Hope to Families

USAID and its partners deliver produce to quarantined homes. From left to right: Mandewa Momoh (Lifeline), Samantha Johnson (Medair), Nicholas Bishop (IOM), and Philemon Kamara (Lifeline) / Paloma Clohossey, USAID/OFDA

To help fight Ebola in Sierra Leone, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance is working with its partners to provide care kits to families so that they can safely help loved ones when they’re sick.

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Meet the Next Generation of Disaster Responders

Jamaica is no stranger to extreme weather, having been slammed by some 50 hurricanes and tropical storms since modern-day record keeping began in the late 1880s. / Carol Han, USAID/OFDA

It’s Hurricane Preparedness Week, a national effort to help the public prepare for Atlantic hurricane season starting in June. In Jamaica, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance supports an innovative program that transforms at-risk youth into hurricane fighters.

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U.S. Increases Funding to Nepal Earthquake Relief Effort

On a visit to Nepal, USAID Acting Administrator Alfonso E. Lenhardt announced an additional $11 million for earthquake relief efforts and outlined the U.S. response going forward. The additional funding reflects an enduring U.S. commitment to the Nepali people.

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USAID Arrives in Nepal, Earthquake Response Efforts Begin

A member of USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team -- from Fairfax County’s urban search-and-rescue team -- works with a canine to search for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed building in Bhaktapur, Nepal. / Fairfax County Fire and Rescue

After Nepal’s devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Saturday, USAID sent a Disaster Assistance Response Team to coordinate the U.S. response efforts to deliver life-saving aid to those in need.

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Anatomy of a Logistics Operation: How USAID is Equipping Ebola Fighters on the Frontlines

Inside the cargo hold, thousands of sets of protective equipment (PPE) to protect Ebola health care workers. As of January 2015, the U.S. has transported more than 400 metric tons of medical and disaster supplies to West Africa. / Carol Han, USAID/OFDA

Transporting vital supplies and critical commodities quickly to the epicenter of an international disaster is what USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance does every day. However, the Ebola response has proved especially challenging for USAID’s disaster experts.

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“I remember it like it was yesterday. The entire city just shrunk.”

USAID’s Haiti Earthquake Disaster Assistance Response Team Leader Tim Callaghan and USAID Administrator Raj Shah during the 2010 response. / USAID.

On January 12, 2010—five years ago today—a magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked Port-au-Prince and forever changed Haiti. I was struck by the tragedy and inspired by the Haitian people’s resilience. It is something I will never forget.

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Bill Berger: “There is no book on responding to this Ebola crisis… we’re writing it now.”

General Darryl Williams, Bill Berger, and U.S. Ambasador to Liberia Deborah Malac.

This is the fifth installment in our Profiles in Courage series in which photojournalist Morgana Wingard compiles snapshots and sound bites from our USAID and Disaster Assistance Response Team staff on the front lines of the Ebola response. Here she talks to the leader of USAID’s Ebola Disaster Assistance Response Team, Bill Berger.

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First Look at a New Hospital for Ebola Aid Workers: 10 Photos You’ve Never Seen

Earlier this month, USAID Administrator Raj Shah toured a new 25-bed critical care hospital being built by the U.S. Government in Harbel, Liberia to treat health care and aid workers who fall ill to Ebola. These 10 exclusive photos offer a first look into the new facility.

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An Unprecedented Response to the Ebola Crisis

Today the world is facing the largest and most-protracted Ebola epidemic in history. Yesterday, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, President Obama declared the Ebola epidemic in West Africa a top national security priority and announced a clear, comprehensive, and global strategy to stop the outbreak.

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Crises on Four Fronts: Rising to the Call

From Mount Sinjar in Iraq to vulnerable communities in South Sudan; battling Ebola in West Africa, and in the refugee camps on the Syrian border: This is the first time in our Agency’s history that we have been called on to manage four large-scale humanitarian responses at once—in addition to reaching other vulnerable populations worldwide and preparing communities ahead of natural disasters. We are not working alone. We are grateful to our U.N., NGO, and local partners, who have demonstrated exceptional fortitude and compassion in the face of relentless tragedy.

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