Donors and implementers who assisted Chileans in the aftermath of the 2010, 8.8-magnitude earthquake recently stood on stage at an event in Santiago organized by the Telecentre.org [18] Foundation in front of representatives from 50 telecentre networks of 100 countries, to share ways information and communication technologies (ICT) helped ease the pain of the disaster. As is typical in crisis situations, utilities and communications were down, government offices were closed, if not destroyed, and media outlets were not broadcasting, leaving a field of misinformation open and alarming an already distraught population. Nearly everyone realized how poorly prepared they were for the crisis, and some unlikely heroes rose through it, including the town librarian or Telecentre (a publicly accessible internet and training center) operator. ICT centers’ representatives linked people in desperation to information about loved ones outside their towns and how to apply for government assistance. I attended as the Regional Focal Point for the Eurasian Telecentre Network [19], and the panelists reminded me how access to ICT and a prepared person serving as an intermediary or supporter can make a big difference in someone’s life during a crisis.
Paola Gallegos Munoz represented BiblioRedes, which was started under the same Global Libraries [20] program IREX cooperates with in Romania [21] and Ukraine [22]. Libraries are in 95% of Chilean townships, and even when libraries were destroyed, librarians set up tents with salvaged books and a few computers. Libraries and Telecentres posted daily announcements from government sources with reports about the living, injured, and dead and advice about obtaining government and foreign assistance. Beth Patin from the University of Washington, shared her research focus on libraries, comparing the response post-Katrina with the Chile response. Patin was working as a librarian in New Orleans when the hurricane struck and later helped set up temporary resource center libraries in Houston for injured and displaced persons. In such situations, people needed help finding food and shelter through the internet—not books on shelves—and as a librarian, she understood a bridge was needed between the people and the information. Her study will identify people’s critical information needs, and the aim is to develop a manual for librarians facing crises.
The concept of using ICT in disaster relief reminded me of some of IREX’s work in Georgia [23] after the conflict with Russia in August 2008. IREX responded to the hardest-hit city, Gori, by establishing a USAID-funded Internet Access and Training Program [24]. This center and centers in Tbilisi and Khashuri, where internally displaced persons were living in makeshift camps, benefitted from access to ICT. I can recall from focus groups IREX conducted with Georgian internal displaced persons who had first become internet users at the IATP centers, including 19-year-old Sophiko Kopadze. Sophiko had seen her village destroyed and shared how the internet provided more sides of the story. “Factual information about events could be placed on websites so that people from outside know what has been really happening here.” One woman wished more people living in the autonomous regions, which were at the root of the conflict, would get online and connect with real people in Georgia and hear the other side, while others shared how much freedom the internet brings to people trapped by circumstances, making life more tolerable.
IREX is building its capacity in conflict resolution [25] and administers programs that use creative methods for facilitating dialogue. Especially where situations are dire, the lessons from IATP and Chilean ICT Center disaster relief and crisis response open further opportunities for IREX to use its capacity in technology for development [26]. A marriage of the two IREX focus areas draws appropriate technology-based interventions to alleviate stresses from deficient information and communication as a part of a broader strategy to assist communities devastated by crisis and conflict.
Photo provided by CDI Europe [27]