"Overwhelming sadness" but still getting the message out
January 31, 2005
By Cam Tait
TORONTO, ON // There was a time when exhaustion zoomed through Nicole
Ireland. The telephone was constantly ringing. People wanted information.
Others were looking for a way to contribute.
Then Ireland somehow found a burst of energy and put everything into
perspective. "What we were going through at the office was a fraction
of what people - including our colleagues - were going through on the
ground where the tsunami hit," she says in a telephone interview. "It
reminded me that our job was to get the money in so our colleagues could
get the work done."
Ireland was enjoying Boxing Day morning with her parents in Stouffville,
Ontario when she got word of the tsunami that swept southern Asia. She
knew she had to get a press release out right away to let people know
what was being done and how they could help. Ireland is experienced
in media relations, working at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, before
joining UNICEF in April 2003 as Associate Director, Communications.
Still, nothing could have prepared her for the task at hand.
"You spring into your own personal crisis management procedure," says
Ireland. "I knew we had to get a news release out on what UNICEF was
going to do to help so we could start raising funds as soon as possible."
She called her office, chatted with her vice president and wrote the
press release. It's a 30-minute drive from her parents' home to the
UNICEF office. "I was receiving calls in my car on the way to the office
and I was getting calls from media. We had to let people know where
they could donate money and that UNICEF had people on the ground where
the tsunami hit."
Ireland didn't know the severity of the disaster, but a Boxing Day disaster
wasn't new to her: there was also an earthquake in Bam, Iran in 2003.
"But I had no idea this was so horrific." When she got to the office
calls were coming in at an "overwhelming rate" on their toll-free number.
Within an hour, the UNICEF webmaster had a link for contributions on
UNICEF's main page. Ireland said money started flowing in very shortly
afterward.
The UNICEF staff met before Christmas to go over their crisis preparedness
plan just in case of an emergency. "We're always hoping nothing happens,"
says Ireland. But nothing could prepare anyone for such monumental mayhem.
And how does an organization ready itself for such an overwhelming outpouring
of public support? "People were calling and getting a busy signal and
that was a sign of just how important this crisis was...and the willingness
to help."
Ireland says the response to the tsunami was something new to UNICEF.
"We had to manage as we went, but we were overwhelmed with the response,
[it was] unlike any we've ever seen before," she says. One of the reasons
for this was the around-the-clock coverage by networks such as CNN.
"From a fundraising standpoint, it's a good thing. We could see what
people were going through. One of the issues in international development
work is that it can be hard for people to relate to something half a
world away. But continuing coverage made an impact."
Funds generated by UNICEF will go toward child survival in the countries
hit by the tsunami, since one-third to half the number who perished
were children. That means ensuring clean water, food and shelter. It
also means immunizing children against the measles, and trying to reunite
them with their families. "And getting kids back in school," adds Ireland.
"Get kids back into a routine and give them something as simple as a
soccer ball so they can be kids again."
A week or so after the disaster, Ireland finally caught her breath and
realized the deadliness of the earthquake and tsunami. "There are so
many things to be done that you don't have a chance to have any downtime
and sit back to think what has happened. I was learning just how horrible
and how tragic it really was. It does take a toll on you emotionally.
I felt overwhelming sadness for the victims and their families."
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