A Message from Chairman BISWA on response to Cyclone Phailin and its Aftermath
Resilience, resourcefulness, and service. These are the words that come immediately to mind as I monitor the response of my co-workers and colleagues to the horrific devastation caused by Cyclone Phailin and its aftermath. Certainly, our hearts go out to the people that have suffered damage to their places of work, their homes, their livelihood and their communities. Full assessment of that destruction is as yet incomplete, but through news reports and direct outreach to our relief team leaders, we are getting a clearer picture of the impact of this latest disaster. With strong leadership and a commitment to community – “hallmark of the BISWA” – we are serving even under these dire circumstances in all the disaster affected areas of the state of Odisha. While we work to restore normalcy in the day to day life of the sufferers, our 9730 volunteers are supporting the administrative controls of the state government and fully cooperating in effective implementation of the relief strategies. At many places we are also serving as safe havens for those displaced by the cyclone’s destruction and concomitant flooding. The many first responders that were so superbly prepared at our organization are rushing in to save, protect, and heal. At the state level, the Government’s proactive efforts are praise worthy and is really helping the people under the aftermath of the turbulent natural disaster. We at BISWA have always stood by the Government and will always be with the Government to render whatever the service that can be provided by us in appropriate ways. In this connection,
- We are contacting state administration, district administration and local leaders to assess damage and need, so we can share that status report with donors, contributors and benefactors across the country. That information will be part of an ongoing update on the BISWA home page starting this week.
- We will include strategies for disaster recovery gleaned from BISWA’s own experience and from leaders across the Globe.
- We have assembled current crisis planning and recovery information in a centralized section of the BISWA website, and we are enlisting our relief experts to provide timely information at future BISWA meetings.
- We are contacting Industries, Corporate houses, Donors and Benefactors for their support, which will be directly routed to the disaster affected regions for their relief.
I am experiencing the seemingly insurmountable challenges that confront our leaders in times of natural disaster like Cyclone Phailin. BISWA has always supported the disaster hit regions during the most trying ordeals. With the engagement of the BISWA Board and other leaders around the state of Odisha, we will be working to “pay it forward” for our people in the state, affected by Cyclone Phailin and its aftermath.