Logistics

Milo Minderbinder was a character in the book and movie “Catch-22.” His aim was to give the men of his World War II squadron the best meals in the world. To accomplish this his black market ventures included trading blankets to the Italians for fresh eggs and speculating in Egyptian cotton. Although slightly misguided, it is that kind of resourcefulness that would have made Milo a potential Logistician with MSF.

“Logs” are key to the success of MSF’s relief operations. This is especially true in Pakistan where tons of equipment and supplies are being trucked and flown into mountainous Kashmir. There are so many Logs in the country right now that the joke is that the organization should be called “Doctors Without Borders Without Doctors.” Of course it’s a bit of an exaggeration, as of the more than 70 MSF-Holland expatriates presently in Pakistan 22% are Doctors and another 22% are Nurses (my unofficial estimate). However, exactly matching the medical total are the 44% working in Logistics, Water and Sanitation (fyi, the other 12% include the Head of Mission, project coordinators, a psychologist and a few beleaguered financial/admin types).

Logs come from a diverse background. In my office Alex is an engineer, Maria was previously in a physics Ph.D program and Steve, the Logistics Coordinator, worked for many years as an overland trucker. Steve said that when he applied with MSF he was quickly interviewed, asked how soon he could start, and questioned as to how MSF could recruit more overland truckers. When I asked Steve if he had seen Catch-22 he responded that he hadn’t seen the movie, but had read the book four times. I’m not sure if this was for entertainment or as a training manual. Subsequently, I’ve started to pay more attention to Steve’s purchase requisitions, but haven’t spotted any orders for Egyptian cotton…yet!

Being situated here in Islamabad it’s a bit difficult to feel connected to the Kashmir relief operations. However, we realize that our work supports those in the field. Their accomplishments were summarized in a recent Medecins Sans Frontieres intersectional update for the three MSF sections working in Pakistan - Holland, Belgium and France:

- Medical teams working permanently in 12 locations
- Support to Pakistani district hospitals in Bagh and Mansehra, with two field hospitals under tents (160 bed capacity overall) focusing on surgery, emergencies and intensive care.
- An average of one thousand consultations carried out every day
- More than 18.500 children vaccinated against measles, tetanus, polio etc.
- 8,700 family tents and 130.000 blankets distributed so far
- 11,000 construction kits, including iron sheets, tools and plastic sheeting, distributed so far
- Hundreds of latrines installed in sites of displaced people
- 120 international and more than 350 national staff
- Provisional budget of 22 million euros