Tsunami disaster is personal for Mercy Corps’ Mitchell

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Oct 20, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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“We’re getting relief to the area as fast as we can,” Mitchell said. “We’re getting aid to tens of thousands of people. We’re also working to provide long-term recovery and development.”

The kits of supplies being distributed by Mercy Corps include food, water and basic necessities. Soon another basic necessity will be distributed – money. Mercy Corps is working with South Pacific Financial Development to obtain loans.

“After the first few days of an emergency, you need to have money,” Mitchell said.

Mercy Corps has been active in Padang, an area with a population of 900,000 people. The organization had already established a presence in Padang over the last five years, and it was well equipped to lead the relief effort.

Mercy Corps teams led by Malka Older, Mercy Corps’ director of programs in Indonesia, were fanning out to assist the areas hardest hit by the earthquakes. They found many devastating scenes.

“Greg Casa Grande of SPFD was traumatized,” Mitchell said. “We asked him, ‘What can we do for you?’”

Aid from some nations, such as Australia, has been plentiful. But Mitchell noted, “The U.S. response has not been strong enough.”

As for Mitchell, he is planning a trip.

“I’ll be going out to Samoa at the end of October,” he said.

To find out more about Mercy Corps’ relief effort in Indonesia, go to www.mercycorps.org .

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