AIT volunteers rush to Japan to offer assistance

AIT volunteers rush to Japan to offer assistance

The TSF team was deployed on 12 March from its regional base at AIT.
The team is based at the United Nations On-Site Operations Coordination
Centre (OSOCC) in Tokyo, and is collaborating with teams of the United
Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), and the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Japan. The TSF team is equipped with
satellite phones and terminals, as well as computer and IT devices, to
help provide emergency telecom services in the disaster hit
areas.

Mr. Clinton Smith is a Master’s student in Disaster Preparedness,
Mitigation and Management (DPMM) field of study at AIT’s School of
Environment, Resources and Development (SERD). He had earlier served as
a volunteer in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami that struck
Indonesia in December 2010.

Mr. Sebatien Sivadier, TSF’s Regional ICT Coordinator, is based at
AIT. An AIT alumnus, he was deployed during the disaster relief
operations in the Philippines and Samoa islands in September 2009, as
well as in Indonesia in December 2010. According to TSF, two other AIT
students have expressed their willingness to support TST for
deployment. TSF is a partner of AIT, and its Asia headquarter is based
at AIT.


Mr. Sebastien Sivadier (left) at the United
Nations On-Site Operatins Coordination Centre (OSOCC) in
Tokyo.