During the tsunami that hit Thailand in December 2004 I was just an observer. My son was merely a newborn and it was impossible for me to do any volunteer work with him on my back. Now, living abroad, I can only observe the ongoing deluge on the television.
GONTHONG LOURDESAMYOne of the hottest issues, which happens to be the subject I believe needs to be addressed should another disaster of this magnitude strike again, is the management of donated clothes. It's a pity to see these garments, donated out of good will, disposed of like trash without ever reaching those who need them most.
A friend recalled an incident during the tsunami when disaster victims were queuing up for donated clothes, which they did not receive because ''there were too many to handle''. The image of clothes floating in water at Don Muang Airport painfully recalled the tsunami scenario, and reminded us that there certainly needs to be a better way to manage the donation.
Firstly, a list of what is needed during the emergency must be identified. This is because not all donors know what should be given _ what is necessary and what is not, the latter becoming a burden at times. When it comes to clothes, the list should include T-shirts, shorts and trousers, fishermen's trousers and sarongs (the last two are the best due to their versatility in terms of size) as well as new underwear and towels. This list should be distributed to all volunteer groups and relief units whether government or private agencies.
Secondly, people should separate their donated clothes into categories: womenswear, menswear, infants' clothes (below 2 years old), toddlers' clothes (3 to 6 years old) and big kids' clothes (7 to 12 years old), and clearly labelled on the bag/box so that they are easier for relief staff to sort out.
Finally, donors need to bear in mind that giving clothes to disaster victims isn't the same as trashing your unwanted wardrobe. The clothes should be in wearable condition. The easiest way is that, if you have, say, 15 T-shirts, just spare a few you don't often wear. However, worn, torn and old items can still be used as rags but you should put them together in a bag and label it. These rags will be useful when the water has gone and it's time for the big clean up.
As for those in charge of managing donated items, the initial task is to sort the donated clothes. Since donations will come every day, if you simply throw daily donations together in a corner, they will pile up quickly. The easiest way is to sort them into womenswear, menswear and children's wear, and place each pile in a different corner of the storage room. If you have time to separate each category by size too, it would be immensely useful. You can ask regular volunteers to be stationed at each pile.
The best way to handle clothes is to spread and flatten each piece, then put one over another to make a pile of 20 to 30 pieces, which should be tied together with coloured string. If you have time to find three different colours of string for each pile, all the better. You may get some insight into the professional secret of merchants at Rong Klue market this time round.
Clothes should be distributed to victims daily once they're categorised. The longer you keep them, the greater the chance they'll be difficult to handle and become home to mosquitoes and cockroaches. At the distribution spot, you may ask victims to queue in separate lines for men, women and children. Parents would of course be taking children's clothes, which should already be sorted by age.
It might sound complicated, but with a little effort by both the donating public and the relief staff, we can ensure that these donations reach those who really need them, instead of getting stuck in some relief centre until they are sunk in the flood like the victims.
Gonthong Lourdesamy used to work for The Thai Environment and Community Development Association (Magic Eyes) and has been a regular contributor to The Green World Foundation.
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