Moving Forward Into 2021

Happy New Year!

Looking back on 2020 years from now, we will remember the heartbreak and hardships experienced by so many - few of us will be sorry to see the back of this year. But we will also recall the strength, endurance and support we showed one another and move into 2021 with confidence and gratitude. Together, we have faced a multitude of threats to people’s well-being - but through it all we have reaffirmed humanitarian principles and our deep commitment to helping the deprived, excluded and most vulnerable. Throughout this past year Field Ready has had a strong impact and continues to grow, spreading our transformational approach around the world. Here are some highlights:

Response to COVID-19 Field Ready responded in the earliest days of the pandemic by designing and making personal protective equipment, training others and advocating for an effective response. We’re tabulating our final numbers but our distributions assisted tens of thousands of people in the half-dozen countries we work in, including the U.S.

Because the pandemic continues to rage worldwide, we are doubling our efforts. With support from the Humanitarian Grand Challenge, we have recently launched a project that will ultimately benefit at least 100,000 front-line healthcare workers in four countries. Click here for more information.

Response to Tropical Cyclone Yasa

Our teams are mobilizing in Fiji now (see photo below) in response to the most recent Category 5 storm, Tropical Cyclone Yasa, which struck Fiji on 17th December. This was the strongest storm in the South Pacific since 2016’s Tropical Cyclone Winston, and the fourth most-intense cyclone on record in the basin. While assessment reports are still being prepared, the damage is known to be extensive with nearly the nation’s entire population of 880,000 people affected. Field Ready has the capabilities to respond rapidly in critical areas such as health, water and sanitation.

Achievements

In the Pacific, we’ve achieved locally made, mass production of several water and sanitation items including specially designed buckets and latrine slabs. (See more here.) In these first-ever distributions, we assisted tens of thousands of people while supporting local manufacturers in Fiji. Click here for more information.

We responded to Tropical Cyclone Harold after it ravaged Vanuatu in April, once again demonstrating our ability to rapidly deploy in response to sudden disasters. This was the first time we received support from H2H for our efforts. We also continued our ongoing work focused on disaster risk reduction (including support in preparing disaster evacuation centers) and mass production in Fiji and the wider region supported by the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP), UNICEF, the HitNet Foundation and USAID. Click here for more information. In Syria, in response to the ongoing civil war, we were awarded a Humanitarian Grand Challenge grant for Creating Hope in Conflict, a project focusing on improving healthcare. We also carried out a water-monitoring demonstration project in Jordan supported by FCDO (formerly DFID) (for more information, click here) and are just launching assistance in Beirut with support by the NextFab Foundation.

In Iraq, we launched a makerspace technical assistance project aimed at helping several makerspaces continue activities (in partnership with Re:Coded in Erbil, the Station in Baghdad, and in Mosul at MosulSpace). The project also focuses on training significant numbers of Iraqi youth. It’s been so successful – even during the pandemic - that the GIZ-supported project is being expanded to other areas throughout Iraq and is being considered for other areas. Click here for more information.

In Nepal, we've continued to support a number of important initiatives including laying the groundwork for Nepal’s first Fab Lab opening in 2020, hosting the second part of the Humanitarian Design Challenge in February (click here for more information) and creating new hands-free taps and training workshops to help prevent COVID-19 transmission later in the spring. Click here for more information. In Bangladesh, with support from Australian DFAT, we worked with various partners in the Rohingya response with localized manufacturing of WASH items and then pivoted to make a significant impact in the COVID response (which we plan to expand next year).

To extend our community, our efforts to share, exchange knowledge and propagate our approach were hampered by the pandemic but continued with Humanitarian Makers and Humanitarian Making as well as the launch of the Local Procurement Learning Partnership.

In the News

We’ve had notable news coverage this year, including having our Surprise Soaps featured by the BBC; coverage of our South Pacific efforts on FBC-TV and in the Fiji Times; recognition of our TC Harold relief efforts in Vanuatu in the H2H newsletter, an H2H video and the country’s Daily Post.

Our work in Iraq was featured in GIZ’s azkente magazine and there was coverage of our work in Mosul by Middle East Eye.

Our "Humanitarian Making" app on is detailed on ReliefWeb; plaudits for our open-source localized approach for COVID-19 response in The Conversation. A look at our Hackaday Prize partnership results are available on the Hackaday blog.

Looking forward to 2021 We’re all looking forward to change next year. In addition to those mentioned above, we’re working on a range of exciting new projects. Here’s a few:

· We will continue our tireless efforts to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

· In Kenya, we will carry out a range of activities including work on additive manufacturing and other items needed by disadvantaged groups.

· Research and development will continue in areas such as mass production, water monitoring and the Waste4Warmth project.

· Our efforts to mobilize communities of practice, to share information and improve the ecosystems around local and distributed manufacturing will be revamped.

· Emergency response will continue to be an important part of what we do. By their nature, we’re not sure when or where this will occur - but rest assured, we will be prepared.

Thank You!

As we mark this holiday period, we would like to thank each of you for your extraordinary efforts and sacrifices during this unprecedented time in history.

Please consider helping us gain more visibility by posting a review of Field Ready's work on GreatNonprofits. This helps potential donors and volunteers wanting to see the reputability of our organization. Donations are easy to make here (click the "Donate" icon) and are tax deductible in the U.S. Also, next time you shop on Amazon, please consider adding us as the designated Amazon Smile charity. Proceeds from your purchase will be donated to Field Ready. Thank you to all our partners and supporters for the ongoing interest. We would not be able to do this work without you. Please consider sharing our updates with your networks.

We wish you all a safe, healthy and happy New Year.