Crew members aboard Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) are working alongside United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to ensure the success of Continuing Promise 2009's mission to help people in Latin America and the Caribbean region.
During the past three months, USAID has worked closely with the Department of Defense to aid Continuing Promise 2009, a four-month humanitarian and civic assistance mission to Latin America and the Caribbean incorporating all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, nine international partners and more than 20 non-governmental organizations.
USAID is an independent government agency under the U.S. Secretary of State that provides assistance to democratic nations in the areas of economic growth, agriculture and trade, education, humanitarian assistance and healthcare.
"USAID aids countries that want our assistance," said USAID political advisor Melissa Francis. "We try to help as many people as possible, and we've found while working with the military on [Continuing Promise 2009] that we can reach out and help people we wouldn't normally be able to."
"USAID has a very tight budget that is regulated for specific uses by the secretary of state," Francis said. "The military has a much larger budget and the capabilities to reach out to people who may not otherwise receive aid."
Comfort has received millions of dollars in donations from various non-governmental organizations. Through USAID, Comfort was able to identify where the donations would be best used.
"Without USAID we wouldn't have been able to get the donated supplies to the people who need them the most," said Navy Lt. Martin Battcock, a maritime civil affairs officer with Comfort who has worked closely with USAID throughout the mission.
"USAID has an established relationship with the non-government[al] organizations in these countries that we, the military, don't," Battcock said. "They identified to us which organizations can use and can distribute the supplies best. They are the subject matter experts in the area of humanitarian aid in these countries, and it is important for us to work with them in these matters."
Other than the distribution of donations, the Comfort crew supplemented several USAID projects in countries they visited. USAID supports numerous low sustainability, high impact projects throughout the countries in which they operate.
"We're here to compliment USAID," Battcock said. "They have established programs and projects, and we want to lend a helping hand where ever they ask but at the same time don't want to be a burden or hinder their projects."
One such project is the creation of an ecotourism site at the Embera village of Ella Drua in Panama along the Rio Gatun River. The Embera tribe is one of seven indigenous groups to the Republic of Panama. To protect their customs and way of life, the Embera people, along with the help of USAID, have begun making their village more tourist-friendly.
At the Embera village, more than 100 crew members from Comfort dedicated hundreds of man-hours to create a dam to provide the village with fresh, running water.
Julio Segovia, a program development specialist for USAID and the point of contact from USAID for the military in El Salvador, said it has been an honor working with the Department of Defense.
Segovia said this mission shows what can happen when different branches of the government work together to accomplish a single objective.
"This is the first time USAID has been invited to participate in this type of mission," Segovia said. "The mission was accomplished, and we're happy to have been given the opportunity to be involved in it. We're looking forward to working with the military on future missions of this type."
Marcus Suorez
(NNS)
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