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GDF soldiers return from Haiti
GDF Sergeant Leon Martin
Even as Guyana’s efforts to raise funds and collect relief supplies for earthquake-ravaged Haiti, some Guyanese have offered and done their services on the ground in that country following the disaster.
As part of the Caribbean Disaster Relief Unit’s (CDRU) efforts to help to bring relief to the nation, two Guyana Defence Force soldiers were deployed to Haiti on January 20 as part of the CRDU and have since returned after almost a month there.
The two are Sergeant Leon Martin of the Defence Operations Centre and Corporal Eion Junor, a carpenter of the 4 Engineer Battalion unit.
An organ of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, CDRU comprises personnel from the Defence and police forces of the region who fill various appointments that are rotated annually. Personnel assembled in April and after undergoing collective training were on call in their respective countries. The Unit was deployed to Haiti shortly after the earthquake.
Martin’s specific duties entailed the setting up of the Operational Centre at the Toussaint L’Ouverture International Airport, while Junor participated in the building of tents and other accommodation for the members of the Caribbean military contingent on the ground. Both soldiers spent three weeks in Haiti.
While there, the soldiers said they also engaged in the distribution of food supplies to persons who were forced to flee their homes in Port– au–Prince after the earthquake hit on January 12.
Leogane, Fonds Verettes, Monville and Cil‘eque are some of the cities where the soldiers engaged in food distribution.
The soldiers recounted the level of destruction to the country’s infrastructure as well as the conditions under which its people are now forced to survive. They confirmed the images made available daily by international media, but called the experience a rewarding one which has forced them to be more appreciative of life.
They spoke too of the desperate measures which some Haitians turned to in search of a meal and remembered one instance where they charged towards a vehicle containing food items forcing it to return to the makeshift barracks.
Caricom heads are currently mulling the deployment of a contingent to supplement the Jamaica Defence Force, who had deployed to Haiti shortly after the earthquake.
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