General Food Distribution

Last week I was with the General Food Distribution (GFD) team. It was a fun week and one that I was looking forward to for a while. I wanted to see how it worked and if I could plug into the program for a longer time.

Background:
Here’s the basics of how the program works. World Food Program (WFP) provides the food, we (SP) distribute it. So every morning, we load up the trucks, pack them with people and drive to a community in the district, sometimes that is 30 minutes away, other times it’s 2 hours each way. Once at the Food Distribution Point (FDP) the 8-10 Distribution Team Members (DTM’s) go out into the surrounding villages and let the community know that we are here and that they need to come to the FDP with their WFP issued food aid card. Once the community is mobilized (organized at the FDP) we give a short educational chat and we begin name calling. Using our lists we receive from WFP, we match the card holders with the lists to make sure the people who are supposed to get food do in fact get it. A hole is punched in their card and we move on towards distribution. The team also installs a large perimeter rope to keep people out of the FDP and maintain order. The WFP food truck should arrive by now, though sometimes there are hours lost in delay. The community members offload the food into organized piles. Then the community lines up based on household size and category (as determined by WFP). The distribution begins and each cardholder gets their second hole punched in their card. This is so they can’t argue they didn’t get food when they really did. Once the distribution is almost over, things get a little crazy. Generally speaking, there is always some food leftover but usually it isn’t a lot. SP, with the help of some armed local soldiers/ police, tries to keep order and distribute the balance to those in need or those who helped with the distribution. Every now and then, it just gets crazy and people get riled up and try to grab the remaining food. It gets really loud and I tend to just get out of the way. I saw about 12 guys carry one bag of food, trying to convince each other the bag was theirs. It was kind of funny actually. Then we pack up the trucks and head back to the office. Bam, food distributed.

A few thoughts on the GFD:
WFP calls the shots. SP is a partner with WFP but we can only contribute so much. Over the past few weeks our distributions have been disrupted for many reasons beyond our control. 2 days lost when WFP failed to pay the workers who load and offload the trucks, so no food could be loaded onto trucks, so it couldn’t go out. Other days, trucks get stuck on the bad, mud roads and we can’t distribute. Other times, they have food, but local elections are going on so we shut down as well. When everything is running smoothly, it’s a beautiful process and everyone knows exactly what they are supposed to be doing. It’s an exciting, busy place to be around. When there are kinks, everything just stops, people go home and we call it a lost day.

WFP also calls the shots in determining who gets food and who doesn’t. This is actually nice because it’s less our responsibility and more theirs. When people have complaints, it’s usually not our fault.

The strength of the program is really the staff SP has. The DTM’s are mostly college kids on break from school. They make a few dollars a day but work hard and never complain. They’re young, educated and speak good English. Most of them are also from the area so they understand the culture and language. The management of the program is also top notch with years of experience and good relations with WFP. It seems nearly every day may have problems, but the leadership are pro’s at problem solving and thinking on their feet. I can’t imagine the program surviving without leadership that can do those things.

So to wrap up, it was a good week and I got to take some great pictures. Check the link at the top of the page to see them. Maybe the explanation given in this post will make more sense with the images.