After slow start, DART gets job done
By COLIN FREEZE
From Friday's Globe and Mail
21 Jan 05
Kalmunai, Sri Lanka â †Six members of the Canadian Forces sat chewing tobacco in Sri Lanka yesterday, enjoying the scenery, and one blurted: â Å“Wouldn't this make a great Tim Hortons commercial?â ?
He had a point, despite the total absence of coffee during this break. Like the television ads, the scene seemed designed to appeal to Canadian pride: A Maple Leaf fluttered above in the hot, humid air, as a huge machine drew water from a lagoon.
That machine had produced more than 50,000 litres of clean water by midday. Thirsty Sri Lankans and foreign-aid workers were lapping it up â †and, more precisely, lining up to fill containers.
Nearby, other Canadian soldiers were removing rubble from schools and treating victims of the Boxing Day tsunamis with basic medical care. Farther away, still more soldiers ferried hundreds of local inhabitants across a channel, using pontoon boats to replace a blown-out bridge.
In short, after stumbling out of the blocks, Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team is now very much up and running.
A number of soldiers on the 200-strong DART team, which deployed two weeks ago, were stung by criticisms that surfaced early in the mission. Some military experts described DART's mission in Sri Lanka as off-the-mark from the beginning, saying the squad was too slow, too big and too expensive.
But those on the ground say they are simply focused on their job. â Å“We're just going to make sure any friggin' bacteria in there is dead,â ? said Master Corporal Bob Levesque, running one team's reverse-osmosis water purification unit.
At a cost of $750,000 each, the boxcar-sized machines (ROWPUs, as they are known) are expensive, but they are also winning praise from other aid workers in the region.
â Å“They've provided clean, clear water, so it's quite good,â ? said Christian Mascaro, an aid worker with the charity Action Contre La Faim (Action Against Hunger).
Yesterday, Mr. Mascaro distributed the water from the Canadian machines into 1,000-litre tanks, which were then placed along the main street of this devastated fishing village on the east coast. In yesterday's heat, many villagers were availing themselves of the water.
In the town of Kalmunai, Sri Lankan government forces walk the streets carrying assault rifles, passing buildings painted with Tamil Tigers graffiti. Water was getting to both factions, Mr. Mascaro said.
Hearing this bolstered the spirits of Canadian soldiers, who said they heard some Canadian media were reporting that Tamils were not receiving aid from DART.
â Å“I can't say myself that I saw the story personally,â ? said MCpl. Levesque, but he added that people should know it's not true. His colleagues readily agreed.
Four ROWPUs have been brought over by the military, but only one was operational yesterday. A second machine at the watering station had a broken filter. That unit is expected to be repaired soon.
Meanwhile, the four medical areas set up by DART have yet to see any major outbreaks of disease. Some centres have treated as many as 60 people a day since opening last week, but the plan is now to shuffle the teams to new spots to find patients who may have been overlooked.
â Å“We haven't seen a lot of outbreaks of infectious diseases; I'm surprised about that,â ? said Captain Bill Rideout, a medical doctor. â Å“There are tough kids here.â ?
Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Voith, DART's commander, said yesterday that the team is mulling over new missions. Some factions of the team are cleaning up schools, but others are looking into rebuilding docks and repairing boat motors, in order to make local fishermen self-sufficient as soon as possible.
The military will only assume such jobs if local people or non-governmental organizations cannot, Col. Voith said.
Most Canadian soldiers took some time to relax yesterday and were becoming a little nostalgic for home. Some soldiers said a glass of beer or a whisky would be nice â †but alas, the DART squad is on a â Å“dryâ ? mission.
Some wanted to know National Football League scores from the weekend.
Others reviewed pictures of the devastation they have taken on their digital cameras and thought about how to e-mail them home.
â Å“We're trapped in here all day,â ? said Capt. Rideout, referring to the clinic where he is stationed. â Å“Hopefully I can send home a picture eventually.â ?
