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Wheaton's Roger Sandberg headed for Haiti

Posted January 16, 2010 10:00 pm

By Ted Cox

You might no think of sending someone with a master's degree in business administration to a crisis zone like Haiti, but that's exactly where Wheaton's Roger Sandberg Jr. will be going a week from Sunday - and with good cause.

Sandberg, a 2000 graduate of Wheaton College, wasn't sure whether to go into the world of profits or not-for-profits after he got his MBA. But through one thing and another he found himself working for the international organization Samaritan's Purse, which took him and his wife, Rebecca, and their growing family to Nairobi, Kenya. They spent five years there, with Rebecca working with another humanitarian agency.

"It challenged and changed our world view," Sandberg said. "It seemed like a good fit for me. It was hard, but it was fulfilling."

They were involved in humanitarian efforts in the midst of the Sudan civil war, and starting in 2005 Sandberg began working for Medair, a Swiss-based nongovernmental organization devoted to international relief and rehabilitation efforts.

The end of the civil war brought them home in 2007, but Sandberg stuck with Medair, assigned to "expand into North America for recruitment and fundraising." Wheaton was not only home, but the religious college figured as a natural recruitment ground. "That played into it," Sandberg said.

Medair usually concentrates on Africa, Asia and the Middle East and on strife from armed conflicts. But the tactics for aiding those in need are very much the same in dealing with a natural disaster, and Sandberg figured Medair would be involved from the instant he heard about the Haitian earthquake on Tuesday.

"We could just tell how bad it was and how impoverished Haiti was already," he said. He got the word from Medair to start organizing medical supplies and personnel for its contribution to the relief effort, and he's set to go to Haiti next Sunday.

Many people forget that disaster relief isn't just about sending money to the Red Cross and airlifting supplies to the locale. Even now, Haiti is dealing with a bottleneck of relief supplies coming into the country. So it's about "logistics," Sandberg said, and organizing a "supply chain" to get supplies to quake victims in Port-au-Prince and its outskirts into the heart of Haiti.

That's Sandberg's role. "I started as a logistician," he said. And it's become one of his areas of expertise. "Once you've experienced it and done it a couple of times, there's a rhythm to it," he said.

It begins with direct rescue, already winding down as fewer survivors are being found in the rubble. Yet then comes relief, as aid agencies try to cope with the spread of disease, given the lack of water and the sheer number of dead bodies. And things get even worse before they begin to get better with the improved distribution of supplies.

After a couple of months, that generally leads to a period of rehabilitation, then redevelopment, a course that will take months and even years in Haiti.

"It's hard to say" how long he'll be there, Sandberg acknowledged. He'll leave behind Rebecca and their three children, ages 8, 5 and 2.

"Today was my son's first basketball game ever," Sandberg said Saturday. "It might be the only one I see this season."

Yet there's no thought of him doing anything else. "I'm in go mode," he said.

So he'll continue organizing efforts this week, and in the meantime he reminds those giving to the Haitian relief efforts they can also contribute online at medair.org.

Relief efforts continue

How local businesses are helping:

• Lincolnshire-based Hewitt Associates is spearheading a Chicago Helps Haiti relief drive and telethon for the American Red Cross with the help of the media, including the Daily Herald and WLS-TV Channel 7. The telethon will take place from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday, with local TV and radio stations leading the promotion, joined by the Herald and Crain's Chicago Business. Hewitt will provide the phone bank with 1,500 employee volunteers, in Lincolnshire and other company call centers in Florida, North Carolina and Texas. A hotline number will be announced Thursday. Hewitt and Chicago media previously worked on a similar one-day telethon to benefit the Red Cross following the Asian tsunami in 2004.

• On Tuesday, Jan. 19, 100 percent of the money spent on dinner, lunch or cocktails at Meson Sabika, a restaurant in Naperville owned by Hossein Jamali, will be donated to the American Red Cross for Haitian relief. And the Naperville Rotary Charities has agreed to match the amount raised at Meson Sabika that day.

• Chicago's Hideout nightclub will sponsor a benefit for Haiti with the Waco Brothers and Eleventh Dream Day performing at 8 p.m. Monday. Tickets are $20, and proceeds will go to Partners in Health, which has been working for 20 years to provide health care to the poor in Haiti. The Hideout is at 1354 W. Wabansia. Call (773) 227-4433 or visit <a href="http://hideoutchicago.com" target="new">hideoutchicago.com</a> for details.

How to help:

Local

• St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church: <a href="http://www.stapostle.org/index2.php?area=news&data=detail&id=4646" target="new">www.stapostle.org/index2.php?area=news&data=detail&id=4646</a>

• Feed My Starving Children: <a href="http://www.fmsc.org/Page.aspx?pid=276" target="new">www.fmsc.org/Page.aspx?pid=276</a>

• Spirit of Truth School in Haiti, run by Ruth Caudle of Vernon Hills: <a href="http://www.haiti-world.org" target="new">www.haiti-world.org</a>

• Naperville-based International Buddhist Progress Society at Chicago is helping through the Buddha's Light International Association to provide food, water, shelter, medical services and emotional support. Donations may be sent to the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund (Account # 1005231), c/o American Metro Bank, 4878 N. Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640.

National

• To donate $10 to the American Red Cross, text "Haiti" to 90999. The amount will be added to your next phone bill. Or, donate through the Red Cross' International Response Fund, <a href="http://www.redcross.org" target="new">www.redcross.org</a>.

• Former President Bill Clinton Foundation's Haiti Relief Fund: Text "HAITI" to 20222

• InterAction has a list of agencies responding and how to donate to them. Find it online at: <a href="http://www.interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquake-haiti" target="new">www.interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquake-haiti</a>.

• To find out how to help the International Rescue Committee, visit <a href="http://www.theIRC.org" target="new">www.theIRC.org</a> or call toll-free, 1-877-REFUGEE.

• To donate through Oxfam's emergency appeal, visit <a href="http://www.oxfam.org.uk" target="new">www.oxfam.org.uk</a>

• <a href="http://unicefusa.org" target="new">unicefusa.org</a>

• <a href="http://doctorswithoutborders.org" target="new">doctorswithoutborders.org</a>

• <a href="http://habitat.org/Haiti-Earthquake" target="new">habitat.org/Haiti-Earthquake</a>

• <a href="http://salvationarmy.org" target="new">salvationarmy.org</a>

• Donating cash to established relief organizations is the best way to help because it allows professionals to get what they need.

Watch for scams

Want to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti? Aid organizations need your assistance but warn that well-intentioned efforts like collecting bottled water and clothing on your own may not be the most helpful thing for a disaster-ravaged country that does not have the infrastructure to distribute them. Some tips from InterAction, a coalition of U.S.-based international nongovernmental organizations:

• If you decide to donate supplies and not cash, contact an established relief organization before you collect anything.

• People who want to volunteer should have previous disaster or international experience or technical skills and should work through a relief organization.

• Be careful of scams. The Better Business Bureau offers the following advice to help Americans decide where to direct donations:

• Rely on expert opinion when it comes to evaluating a charity.

• Be wary of claims that 100 percent of donations will assist relief victims.

• Be cautious when giving online, especially in response to spam messages and e-mails that claim to link to a relief organization.

• Find out if the charity has an on-the-ground presence in the impacted areas.

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