The human toll and tragedy of the disastrous
earthquake in China's Sichuan province is still
being measured. Apart from the overwhelming human
suffering and lives lost, a large part of the
infrastructure of the region was destroyed. Medical
supplies, food and the drinking water supply are all
very limited in this area.
Alexander Kindler is a research technician at
Aqualon's R&D laboratory in Düsseldorf, Germany. In
his leisure time, Alexander is a very strongly
engaged member of the "Technisches
Hilfswerk - THW" and his specialty is drinking
water purification."The
THW (Technisches Hilfswerk) is the Federal Agency
for Technical Relief of the Federal Republic of
Germany. Its statutory tasks include the provision
of technical assistance at home and humanitarian aid
abroad in disaster areas....The diversity of its
units reflects THW's range of operations. For
example, there are Technical Groups on the local
level which focus on recovery, clearing,
electricity, supply, water damage, bridge- building,
infrastructure, drinking water supply and oil damage
and special units such as SEEBA (Rapid Deployment
Unit Search and Rescue) and SEEWA (Rapid Deployment
Unit Water Supply and Treatment)." (Information
from THW Brochure).
Given the enormity of the
situation in Sichuan province, THW is taking part in
the relief effort.
On May 24, a team consisting of 22 people from THW
left Frankfurt airport in Germany for Chengdu/China.
Among them was Alex Kindler. They took with them six
equipment units for drinking water purification.
Alexander's organizational commitment in the
disaster area will probably last four weeks.
Alex has experience with the difficult, exhausting
and often dangerous work involved in disaster relief
efforts. In 2005, he was part of a team from THW in
the relief efforts following the tsunami in Banda
Aceh.
Our thoughts and admiration
are with him and the other relief workers.
Hercules has established a
fund for donations from employees globally to help
employees affected by the earthquake rebuild their
homes.
