August 27, 2008
Telecoms: One man's vision proves a lifeline in conflict zones and disasters
Satellite phone missions keep thousands in touch with the outside world. An interesting article by The Guardian on Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF.
"Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), the brainchild of Jean-François Cazenave, has provided a vital link for aid agencies and a lifeline to friends and relatives from Iraq, Niger, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua and more recently, Tbilisi, the Georgian capital.
"In every disaster relief situation we saw the same thing, the need for victims to be able to communicate. And all the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also need telecommunications", Cazenave explains.
So he went back to his local council with a proposal and the mayor bought Cazenave his first satellite phone.
ince it's first mission in Albania in 1998, TSF has been out on more than 70 missions to 50-odd countries."
Picture above, a communication services set up in one of the 37 locations in Niger ravaged by famine.
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