January 19, 2016
Tegani (TJ) Osama is a global supply chain coordinator for the International Rescue Committee (IRC). His friend, Rashid Mudall, specializes in environmental health. Both are from Sudan. Both were students at MASHLM. And both are part of IRC's emergency response effort, whose goal is to:
Deploy to a crisis within 72 hours, whether they are launching new relief efforts or lending support to IRC teams already on the ground.*
TJ and Rashid have recently been deployed in Aden, Yemen; some of the only international staff working in the country.
The two have been helping to relieve suffering under dangerous and chaotic conditions. They have provided clean water, distributed NFI's, organized mobile health clinics, and worked with the local population to manage sanitation issues. Before they could distribute any kind of aid, they had to obtain permissions from different actors, secure fuel to deliver goods, and find and train local staff. Under Tegani and Rashid's guidance, paid and volunteer workers have learned how to dispense supplies, collect information, and register internally displaced people (idp's).
Tegani and Rashid cite their MASHLM classes in disaster risk reduction, humanitarian action, system dynamics, and strategic planning with helping them deal with this complex disaster:
Tegani: "It's not just only logistics. There are other things related to logistics that makes logistics work better."
Rashid: "Shortage of fuel, scarcity of supplies, high prices, blocked roads, no vendors, no transportation - and that is what MASHLM is about!"
Rashid is particularly proud of the gender sensitive hygiene kits, developed through consultations with national staff and the idp's in need. He points out that this never would have happened if he had not studied stakeholder analysis. Rashid is thrilled to be sharing what he has learned with the national staff in Aden, "who are doing an amazing job." In a country where over 80% of the population is in need of help, the work of Tegani and Rashid has been pretty amazing as well.
