May 7, 2008
Building digital life lines
Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) steps in when natural disasters occur wiping out electricity, fresh water and communication infrastructures. The BBC reports.
"The group are currently on standby to deploy to Burma; they are waiting for authorisation to enter the country.
"The UN-sponsored organisation specialises in setting up communication links at times of emergency, for use by charities and those affected.
... The first phone call they offered anyone was to an Albanian refugee caught up during the conflict in Kosovo in 1998.
Since then, TSF has deployed on countless missions all over the world, offering calls to thousands of people.
Recent funding of $2m from the UN Foundation and the Vodafone Group Foundation means that the charity - which still only has 15 permanent staff - can be "in country" for 200 days every year."
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2008/05/020039.htm
