DMS Foundation intends to develop over a course of time a series of local community-based, Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Rescue Centres to be known as DMS Centres in Quito under the banner of  “one-community-at-a-time”.

The DMS Centres will replace the original plan which called for a Fully-integrated Emergency Preparedness Program for the city of Quito operating under a single chain of command.  These DMS Centres, will be focused on specific and vulnerable communities within the City of Quito , and will be run and managed in accordance with DMS’ mandate as a humanitarian disaster mitigation and emergency preparedness organization. DMS Centres are to operate independently but in cooperation with government under a “partnership for success”,  working collaboratively hand-in-hand with the City Government and all disaster mitigation and emergency services including, disaster relief organizations and local NGO’s.

DMS expects to bring visible and tangible value to the citizens of Quito with the support of its donors and value-added members as these DMS Centres grow  and offer emergency preparedness and rapid response plans for this Andean city of 2 million people.

Quito has been found to be one of the most “at-risk” cities in the world. It is surrounded by several active volcanoes, many within 60 km, including the nearly 6,000 meter high Cotopaxi, one of the most unsettled volcanoes in South America. An eruption of Cotopaxi would produce significant damages through the catastrophic melting of the snowcap and debris flows coming off the mountain in the form of Lahars. Additionally, the high valley within which Quito is located is very susceptible to seismic activity.  Illicit construction is a critical vulnerability issue in Quito, which is a result of rapid population growth, poverty, and shortage of public resources.  The city is some 45+ km long and 4 km wide and it is estimated that 60% of buildings do not have municipal permits. Out of a total of 508,728 housing units in Quito it is estimated that there are about 153, 317 housing units built illicitly by low-income groups in particular barrios, mostly through self-help using untested construction materials. These buildings are highly vulnerable to significant impact during a seismic event.

Historic Quito houses many of its government buildings including the presidential palace and has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations agency UNESCO. These beautiful buildings are served, however, by very hilly, narrow cobblestone streets, making the movement of emergency response equipment and the evacuation of large numbers of people challenging, at best. Other areas that will be addressed by the Program will include; flood prevention against runoff from surrounding mountainsides during the rainy season; provision of a reliable source of potable water during a disaster event; mitigating against landslides caused by the deforestation of hillsides; wildfires; and human caused disasters.

DMS Foundation completed a needs analysis of the city’s disaster mitigation and response capabilities including a project plan with cooperation, participation and attendance of the major offices, agencies and stakeholders from the Quito Government.  The decision that had to be made given the scope, shape and costs associated with the project and DMS’ ability to continue attracting ongoing donor support for the project, called for a new approach to providing a workable solution for the City of Quito and within the parameters and mandate of DMS as a humanitarian disaster mitigation and emergency preparedness and response organization and stay clear of the City’s daily infrastructure requirements. DMS estimates that the DMS Centre program will take up to five years to complete and it is expected that the City of Quito will be able to show case this new model in countless other cities and towns throughout Ecuador and beyond as time progresses. 

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Mozambique

Our objectives in Mozambique are to develop and create “Partnerships for Success” between the Mozambique Government and local communities living in areas subject to recurring natural and man-made disasters by establishing a series of “DMS Disaster Mitigation and Response Centres” to empower these communities to anticipate, prepare and respond to these disasters long before any outside help arrives.

The DMS Disaster Mitigation and Response Centres will be equipped with the necessary technology, products, materials and services including the provision of training to enable  at-risk communities to respond effectively in any emergency situation. DMS Foundation believes that these centres would be of great value to Mozambique and make Mozambique a shinning example for the rest of Africa.

 The main areas  that the DMS Disaster Mitigation and Response Centres expects to address in Mozambique include, but are not limited to:

1.       Flood mitigation and abatements programs;

2.       Introduction of flood plain management programs in cooperation with authorities at all levels, but in particular at the local community-level;

3.       Provision of clean potable water to needy communities which could include reverse osmosis and desalination plants capable of supporting and providing safe drinking water to thousands of people;

4.       Development of training and awareness programs on the prevention and spread of HIV in cooperation with local health and education authorities;

5.       Introduction of a community-based malaria eradication program also to be developed in cooperation with local health and educational authorities;

6.       Vaccination against measles, smallpox, polio and the treatment and eradication of trachoma.

DMS Foundation is currently in discussions with the relevant authorities in Mozambique and its pool of supporters in both Canada and the United States to launch this project.  Mozambique is one of the most vulnerable regions of the world to both natural and man-made disasters including health issues and is in desperate need of support.   

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