WFP in Haiti: ‘No problem; just solutions’

The horrors of the earthquake in Haiti earlier this year were publicised for all to see and aid agencies around the world gathered their resources to provide support as quickly as they could. World Food Programme (WFP), of which TNT is an official partner, asked TNT for logistics support to transport food and supplies.

Spanish-speaking Karim el Hamraui, Compliance Auditor Air Hub, in Liege, Belgium, flew to Haiti at the end of January to take on the task of Freight Cargo Tracking Specialist. It soon became clear, however, that his services were required elsewhere. He takes up his story.

“Two Logistics Cluster cells were established in support of the Haiti earthquake response: one in the Dominican Republic’s capital of Santo Domingo and one in Porto Prince in Haiti. When I arrived, my original role was Logistics and Air Cargo Tracker Specialist in Santo Domingo. However, because I am a fluent Spanish speaker, my capabilities were better suited to the role of Fleet Manager and I was put in charge of running the fleet of trucks from the Dominican Republic to Haiti.

‘I could handle all the planning and coordination in Spanish and that made things easier. I could also draw on my experience from the European Air Network coordination. But my experience of coordinating fleets of trucks was limited and I had to adapt quickly.

‘Our objective was to ensure that, for the incoming flow of humanitarian freight from organisations such as UNICEF, Oxfam and WFP from the airport, ports and other collection points, we would have trucks ready to move the freight to Port au Prince and other northern cities also hit by the earthquake in Haiti.

Complicated coordination
‘We coordinated the truck planning, field coordination, truck tracking and communications with different subcontractors to ensure we had sufficient capabilities to move the freight. We also needed the right types of trucks, not just for the different locations, but also for the supplies they would carry, which ranged from high energy biscuits and ready meals to medical supplies, tents and blankets.

‘We also needed somebody to supervise the loading and to complete the paperwork. As the number of trucks grew everyday, it was a constant challenge to ensure that the trucks going out actually tallied with those listed on paper.

‘We had a team of 11 people. At the start we had to discuss how we could all work together most effectively. Some of our roles overlapped and we had to form a structure. We had no supporting documents and we had to build our own mechanisms to create tracking capabilities. Once our responsibilities were redefined, we had two people in the office, seven in the field and two responsible for Customs clearance at the ports and airport.

Fast pace
‘From 12 January to 24 February we moved more than 600 trucks to the different locations, which was quite an achievement. We started at 08.00 and worked until about 23.00 and the days were long and stressful. As we were in an emergency situation, the pace of work was extremely fast. People were literally screaming over their phones and running to different offices. No day was ever the same and our only concern was to ensure that the goods had arrived safely to be distributed to the affected people.

‘Despite the stress and fast pace though, we all worked extremely well as a team. Whenever we had an issue in the office, we thought: “We have no problems, just solutions. We even thought about having our own T-shirts printed with ‘no problem’ on one side and ‘just solutions’ on the other.
 
‘I was out there for almost one month and, when you work with people so intensely, you naturally create links with them. We were under a lot of pressure to get the trucks out as fast as possible. It made you realise that the job we did, the structure we built as a team, the intense atmosphere and the pressure that we worked under enabled us to pre-empt any situation. As a team, we all did everything with a smile and it was truly an incredible experience. 

‘There was no time to really stop and think and, at the end of the day, it was invariably hard to remember what happened in the morning. But, as WFP have said, the Haiti disaster has become one of the most important humanitarian operations in recent history. I would like to thank TNT for giving me that opportunity to play a part.”