Word comes to us from Oisin Walton (TSF) in Gonaives and Adele Waugaman (UN Foundation) who are part of two teams of Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) emergency telecommunications specialists deployed to Haiti as it was hit by four cyclones—Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike—all in less than a month. Their teams deployed from France and Nicaragua to help in the hub of humanitarian relief efforts in Gonaives, a northern city that has been mostly destroyed by the hurricanes. Local authorities estimate that as many nearly 56,000 families have been affected by the cyclones, and living conditions here are extremely difficult.

While the good news is that the water levels in Gonaives' streets have lowered, mud has taken over. The city is surrounded by hills devastated by deforestation, triggering mudslides that pour into the city. Daily storms make removing mud from homes and roads impossible, and aid agencies fear the stagnating water will spread diseases if not removed quickly. Haitians are now crowded into schools, churches or hospitals that have been converted into temporary shelters, even while these buildings also have been affected by the storms. In other instances those left homeless are staying with family or friends. The teams' driver reported sheltering 20 people in his house for more than two weeks.

The objective of the team was to provide 3-minute phone calls to reconnect with loved ones and, after 10 days it has been successful, as more than 1,500 families were able to ask a loved one for money or give news to their family for the first time since the cyclones. Access to satellite phones is very important since 80 percent of calls go abroad, 90 percent are to the U.S. mainly but also to Canada, France, or the Dominican Republic. Normally, a 3-minute call would cost around 135 gourdes, or for comparison, a cup of rice costs 35 gourdes.

A positive example is of a 53-year old woman who was able to call her father in New York for the first time since the disaster. She thanked the team because even if her father wasn't able to send any money they were both very happy to give news. "It was so good to hear his voice. You gave me three minutes of happiness," she said before leaving. Later, a man cried after calling his wife in Miami. Western Union services here are now available, making TSF's calls even more important as people will now be able to arrange money transfers.

TSF's calling operations should last another week and includes telecommunications support for United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) teams, as well as for relief workers with UNICEF and NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières and the Spanish Red Cross, is supported by the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO), the UN Foundation and Vodafone Foundation Technology Partnership, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, AT&T, Vizada, Cable & Wireless and the Regional Council of Aquitaine, which support the use of emergency communications for disaster relief.