Tag: relief efforts

A Personal Story Straight from the Heart of Haiti

admin /
Fabien Vorbe
Fabien Vorbe

In my last post, I introduced Fabien Vorbe.  All my previous posts have all dealt with professional athletes contributing to the relief efforts in Haiti; however, Fabien’s story allowed me to get an inside view from someone who was directly affected by the earthquake.   

Although we are not professional athletes here at Furman, we did more than enough to help one of our fellow mates.  On January 22, 2010, Furman held a soccer tournament that included all the athletic teams’ girls and boys, as well as coaches and staff. 

Overall, Fabien informed me that the tournament raised nearly $15,000 for him and his family.  Through all the trials and tribulations he and his family have faced over the past couple months, Fabien still puts himself second behind all those who were injured or killed by the earthquake.

 He informed me that his immediate family and relatives are safe and living at his uncle’s house that survived the quake.  Fabien was very appreciative and grateful for the prayers and support from the Furman family. 

Hopefully, with the relief efforts continuing to grow, Fabien, his family, and his beloved country can return to peace as soon as possible. 

For more please check out my interview with Fabien.

The Military's Humanitarian Aid

admin /

collage 1 

When we think of war, most imagine deadly weapons, destruction, and death.  Often times the media only shares these stories and images, and fails to inform the public of the humanitarian aid that the military provides.

Stability and Support Operations (SASO), assists with stability operations where the “goal is to meet the immediate needs of designated groups and to transfer responsibility quickly and efficiently to appropriate civilian authorities.”  They are responsible for organizing efforts to allow organizations such as the Red Cross to provide aid and assistance.  It is important to note that, SASO’s job doesn’t just involve war devastation but also trauma that comes from catastrophes such as the recent earthquakes in Haiti. 

SASOs program is two-fold.  The purpose of the support activities often consists of humanitarian and environmental assistance.  This includes:

  • Saving lives
  • Reducing suffering
  • Recovering essential infrastructure
  • Improving quality of life
  • Restoring normalcy

The other half of their duties is stability operations which uses military power to influence the political and civil environment. This includes:

  • Facilitating diplomacy
  • Interrupting specified illegal activities
  • Reassuring allies, friendly governments, and agencies
  • Encouraging a weak or faltering government
  • Stabilizing a restless area
  • Maintaining/restoring order
  • Enforcing agreements and policies

Just reading a brief article did not do justice to the scope and importance of SASO’s impact.  Therefore I delved into this topic deeper and found an individual here on Furman’s campus to help me gain a deeper insight into what exactly SASO’s goals and duties are.  In my next post, experienced active duty Army officer, Major Michael Roddey, who spent time in Afghanistan during 2006 and 2007 with SASO will give his first-hand knowledge of SASO.