During the month of May, Red Cross Aruba invited IFRC volunteers from the Mexican, Panama and Salvador Red Cross to Aruba to give a training of the latest software for registration and humanitarian assistance distribution they developed to speed up review of beneficiary cards using bar codes.
This system is called MEGA V and with the use of smartphones equipped with the Open Data Kit (ODK) software, the user can immediately digitalize date for analysis, allow the remote monitoring of progress in collection, facilitate date collection, eliminating the need for paper surveys, thus, significantly reducing survey time.
This system was first used in Haiti in 2010 during the earthquake aftermath. During that international call for assistance made by the Haitian Government that year, more than 440 NGO’s responded and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements made a plan of action which included among other things, the distribution of relief items to support 400.000 people (80.000 families), maintaining such support with monthly distributions for the next six months.
The magnitude of the event, therefore, of the response, presented unique challenges to which the Movement had to adapt to reach the established goal.
Stella participated in the training of ODK and Mega V and finds it very practical. Even when doing surveys in the neighborhoods, it can all be paperless and the data collected goes directly on the server. All houses can get a barcode, and during distribution of water, food or other relief supplies, information can be monitored by scanning.
Red Cross Aruba will make good use of this system to simply logistics during calamities and during standard assessment projects.
