Q&A: Food distribution, HIV+ babies, Rights in a conflict zone, Pond water quality, Monitoring relief, Local volunteer

Topics included:

• Emergency food distribution
• HIV-positive babies
• Rights in a conflict zone
• Maintaining pond water quality
• Monitoring emergency relief aid
• Local volunteers
• Buying laboratory equipment

Can you offer any insights or pointers to useful information/contacts on these topics? Thank you.

Responses to the previous questions are summarised below. Please continue the discussions online at Aid Workers Forum or e-mail exchange@aidworkers.net

New Questions

EMERGENCY FOOD DISTRIBUTION

Steffi Knell asks, "Where can I find good practice guidelines for emergency food distributions?" Join the discussion online at Aid Workers Forum

CARING FOR HIV-POSITIVE BABIES

Ruth Grobler wants to know the do's and don'ts of caring for HIV-positive babies. Daphne Banks asks, "What are the first basic signs of HIV/AIDS in a baby 0-3 months? What are the danger signs in such young babies?" Join the discussion online at Aid Workers Forum

RIGHTS IN A CONFLICT ZONE

Farhana Faruqi requests examples of best practices for securing rights of at-risk groups trapped in a conflict zone. Join the discussion online at Aid Workers Forum

Responses

HOW TO MAINTAIN POND WATER QUALITY?

WEDC provide a factsheet on Improving Pond Water. Its basic advice is to reduce contamination by restricting activities around the pond, stopping any use of the pond for washing / cattle drinking, and building platforms so that people do not have to walk into the water. It also recommends a simple filtration system to improve the quality of water drawn from the pond. Don suggested using a native species of duckweed to remove nutrients, adding that it also shades the water so helps to keep other growth down. Continue the discussion at Aid Workers Forum

MONITORING EMERGENCY RELIEF AID

Christophe pointed out that the monitoring of emergency aid can depend a lot on the situation in the field and the type of activities. Edmund added that it is important to be clear on what would indicate achievement of the desired results. For example, relief delivery rate, reach to needy groups, cost-effectiveness, organisational efficiency, etc. Laura reminded us that the Sphere handbook gives minimum standards of humanitarian response, covering the 5 main sectors. Jeff mentioned that it can be helpful to look at past evaluations that have been conducted on programs similar to the ones that you're targeting. ALNAP provide some online training modules and a database of previous evaluation reports. Continue the discussion at Aid Workers Forum

LOCAL VOLUNTEERS

Rather than recruiting volunteers because the program can’t afford to hire staff, recruit to give volunteers the opportunity to share the program’s mission, is Jayne's advice. Give volunteers the big picture and make them feel valued. Mary suggests finding the obstacles that prevent volunteers from working with your program and minimizing those barriers. List the benefits volunteers would receive. Above all, match volunteers with work they like, are good at, and find challenging yet furthers your program’s mission. Continue the discussion at Aid Workers Forum

A GUIDE TO CHOOSING AND BUYING LABORATORY EQUIPMENT

When buying laboratory equipment, consider more than the initial price. Calculate the equipment’s shipping and insurance costs, operating costs, and maintenance as well as spare parts availability. Determine the local conditions where the equipment will be used and assess your needs for durability, robustness, and safety. Compile a needs specification and compare it with the manufacturer’s equipment data specification sheet. Also consider local power availability and reliability. Continue the discussion at Aid Workers Forum

Aid Workers Exchange 26-MAR-03 ISSN 1478-5137