THE BAHAMAS - K1 DIRECT, K1 Britannia Foundation’s Disaster Relief & Crisis Team, has rounded off their relief efforts in The Bahamas. Earlier this month, the team of 13 volunteer members from St. Maarten & Curacao were deployed to assist with relief, being open to assist where the team was most needed. K1 DIRECT St. Maarten and Curacao have been diligently training in various fields of disaster management and collaborated with various organizations and initiatives on ground to provide aid and assistance.
The team’s relief efforts took place within three main areas of data collection, shelter assessment and distribution management. In Nassau, the team worked with HeadKnowles, a local disaster relief foundation, and other private entities to assist with the registration of evacuees from Abaco and Freeport into Nassau, and to assist with providing information for accommodation, additional supplies, and medical support. Mika Ribeiro of K1 DIRECT Curacao added, “Besides registering evacuees and making sure they had a place to say, we acknowledge that this a crisis, and these persons have lost everything including family members. We provided support for data management, but also provided psychosocial support and a human connection to everyone that we met coming off the planes.”
In Nassau, Co-Manager of K1 DIRECT Iris Hakkens attended various EOC (Emergency Operations Center) partner meetings and lead the process of assessing properties that could be potential short to long term shelters, due to emergency shelters becoming over capacity.
Hakkens elaborated saying, “Through a meeting with key persons of various humanitarian aid organizations, we found a few persons who assisted with providing supplies needed for different shelters such as cots, food, etc - but no one was really addressing the need for additional shelters. Each shelter in Nassau was over capacity and it was imperative that someone needed to work with the international humanitarian aid standards to assess properties and shelters to provide additional accommodation for the influx of evacuees.”
K1 worked closely with IOM United Nations (The International Organization for Migration), UKAID, USAID, Rotary International, American Red Cross, Bahamas Resolve, persons of The Bahamas private sector to investigate suitable properties. Jan Willem Wegdam, Team Leader of IOM in The Bahamas, shared his experience with K1 DIRECT adding, “I associate K1 DIRECT with positive energy, coming with fully open arms and asking where can we help. Together we identified many tasks that had to be done, and in no time K1 DIRECT was proactive, solving challenges, knocking on doors and overall a good partner to have.”
In Freeport, Grand Bahama, the group worked closely with the Hon. Senator Katherine Forbes-Smith, various ESFs and NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) to help manage the distribution process of government supplies to the most affected neighborhoods in Grand Bahama, as well as warehouse set up and management. K1 DIRECT worked alongside volunteers from Public Treasury, Urban Renewal Grand Bahama, Team Rubicon, Royal Bahamas Defence Force, US Coast Guard, and others. Co-Manager of K1 DIRECT, Alan Schet added, “The warehouse management process was slightly unsystematic and we were able to remedy that by providing a bit of structure. That process was well received by the persons involved which allowed us to be more effective. The distribution of goods became more streamlined and targeted which allowed for more effective registering of goods.”
K1 DIRECT management also attended various EOC meetings in Freeport to find ways to collaborate and investigate how K1 DIRECT would be able to play a necessary role in the relief efforts. Senator Forbes-Smith stated, “It was almost like K1 was the first on the ground and I really appreciate that the team just jump right in, no task was too great or too little and I’m so excited that K1 was a part of our recovery. I’ll always remember K1 DIRECT and we really appreciate the take charge attitude to get the job done.”
Throughout the last year, K1 DIRECT Curacao has been going through various trainings in disaster management hosted by UNDAC (United Nations Disaster Assessment & Coordination), CPR, AED & First Aid Training. Each team member’s background varies from law enforcement, teaching, telecommunications and others. This was K1 DIRECT’s first mission since its incorporation. Hakkens mentioned, “Having K1 DIRECT Curacao a part of this Bahamas mission was an important decision for a number of reasons, one of them being that even though we are two branches, we are still one team. This experience has allowed the team to build stronger relationships amongst each other, and learn each other’s strengths whilst understanding what roles each of them can play.”
The foundation would like extend their gratitude to the various persons in the Bahamas, as well as in St. Maarten and Curacao, who supported the team in numerous ways through accommodation, transportation, fees, supplies, networks and donations that helped make this mission possible.
