Its time for Nepal Recovery.

The Nepal Earthquake in April 25 and another big one just weeks apart has left a big trail of disaster. In all, more than 8,600 people died and thousands were left homeless. The future looks bleak to many of them as aid and relief is slow to come and besides losing their homes, many lost their jobs.

The International Response is weak compared to other disasters, and one of the reasons is due to the lack of business interaction between Nepal and other countries. In most disaster relief, the support for donation and aid is spearheaded by businesses and it makes business sense to help business partners recover, but in this land locked nation surrounded by mountains, they do not have much dealings with other countries.

There was a good response during the search and rescue, but the job is not done then. Recovery is like a marathon, and the search and rescue is just the initial phase, and there is still a long way to recovery.

I've written several articles on disaster recovery and relief.

Disaster relief is not just for experts and special teams

What you can do to help Nepal's recovery

The recovery phase is usually forgotten and not supported. Like the Rohingya crisis, Nepal is at the point of inflection. With enough aid, Nepal can be rebuilt stronger and more resilient. Businesses need to be supported to restart and the people can gain employment and get on with their lives.

Without support and with dwindling aid, the survivors will be turned into refugees, leaving their homes to search for jobs in other lands.

I plan to go to Nepal to support the business recovery and get more ground information from the ground. If you wish to support, I'm running a fundraiser here.

Sustainable Nepal Recovery (Nepal Earthquake 2015)

Lets show the survivors in Nepal that we care.

-- Robin Low

Sustainable Disaster Recovery for Nepal.

The recent 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Nepal is a heartbreaking disaster with thousands dead and much of the infrastructure destroyed in Kathmandu.

Nepal is a poor country. Nepal’s GDP per capita was only $694 in 2013, unemployment is at about 40% and overseas workers account for 30% of the economy.

The disaster relief phase will be in the headlines as many countries send armies on the ground for search and rescue missions and medical support, saving lives. Providing much needed shelter, food and water will also be very prominent and large NGOs like Red Cross and Global Giving will raise a lot of funds for this purpose.

For people who donated and supported in the relief efforts, I really respect you for taking action and making a difference to the survivors after the earthquake. In disasters however, the rebuilding process is not as easy as providing shelter, food and water. In poorer countries like Nepal, the rebuilding process is extremely complex as the stability of the government is in question and even with a lot of funds from donations, it may never recover to even the state before the earthquake.


From my experience in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010, even with US$3.5 billion in aid, Haiti still has not recovered much and in some areas, the situation seems to get worse. The local economy that is supply similar products will find increasing difficulty to earn a living and resort to relying on just foreign aid to get by.

I have worked with a few great organizations in Haiti like Haiti Partners' Children's Academy which does great work and empowers the next generation of youths with holistic education with affordable education. However, there are also a lot of other NGOs which does not provide real social impact. Many NGOs still provide free services or free food, 5 years after the disaster, and local businesses are affected badly.

The situation of Haiti and Nepal may be quite similar, I would like to look at the disaster as an opportunity to rebuild an infrastructure for growth to reduce poverty. My experience at different disaster areas and getting inspired by the great projects and people I met over the years, I believe I have a lot of value to add to the disaster recovery efforts in Nepal.

I'm interested in forming a Relief 2.0 recovery team for the following tasks:

1) Deliver donated products to partners on the ground. (Solar panels, 3G connection, etc.)
2) Relief B2B, helping local businesses to restart, giving them access to crowdfunded loans (locally or online)
3) Gather information about local capacity and state of business and infrastructure. Find out what is needed to help economic recovery.
4) Gather and share information about marginalized communities and connect them to social enterprises in the world to find solutions collaboratively.
5) Document with photos, accurate information about the magnitude of destruction. Perhaps follow up in the future on the progress of recovery and what else needs to be done.

-- Robin Low

CSR came out of a necessity

I was involved much in Social Media in 2008, and got into more public relations and social projects. As I did some consulting for various corporates on crisis management, from the things I read, the things I learn and the cases that I work on, I realized that CSR like participating in Social Media was a necessity.

In the digital environment today, It was critical for an organization to have social media engagement. The public is already on social networks. The Internet gave the public a voice to share about the things they care about. And with this fast hyper-connected world, the public also want a quick channel for customer feedback.

When there is a problem, when a person cannot find any ways to resolve their problem, they will try to look for a Twitter account, Facebook page to inform the brand of the problem. This is the lucky bit because the brand gets notified of the problem fast before it becomes a crisis.

When you have a Facebook page or Twitter account to engage fans, the problem if its user generated gets resolved fast from other fans as well. And when a fake complains come in, the brand's reputation can be protected as well.

The goal of the CSR may be to explore issues and increase understanding of the linkages between business ethics, the community and the business activities, however, from many case studies that show that a brand with a good reputation tend to recover from a crisis faster, it is important for brands to build a good reputation through CSR.

“88% of consumers said they were more likely to buy from a company that supports and engages in activities to improve society.”

- Better Business Journey, UK Small Business Consortium

For big brands, having a good CSR program can bring in more sale, retain talents, differentiate from competitors and much more. Its not only good, but it is actually essential.

However, CSR needs to be managed wall and I'll be talking more on it in my next posts.

-- Robin Low

Volunteers, not always a good thing.

Many people think that volunteering for NGOs and organizations is doing them a favor and having real social impact. After cleaning up at an old folks home or painting murals, many people think they have done well and deserve a pat in the back.

With many of the CSR projects of organizations, employee engagement seems to be the "in" thing now. In Singapore, there is a system called Community Involvement Programme (CIP) where student are required to clock a certain amount of CIP hours to graduate.

However, after running and working with NGOs, I could tell you that some of these free volunteers are not actually helping these organizations, but rather -- giving them more work.

This is a very fine line to thread. Some people and companies like to think that non-profits should be grateful if we have something to give them. This attitude is really wrong as non-profits will try to accommodate volunteers even if they do not need them in fear of losing donations and creating negative PR.

As you know, with social media, bad publicity is just a tweet away. Non-profits that are savvy knows this. When a corporation comes with 50 volunteers to paint an old folks home, these organizations will find them walls to paint on, even though it was painted a few months ago.

As non-profits, they do work with a lot of constrains. They do have liability if something goes wrong or people get injured, at the same time, they are probably tight on manpower, and every minute organizing activities with corporates is taking time away from doing actual work. The organizations also need to create a positive experience, and the volunteers also come unprepared to the site and need equipment to get things done.

The non-profits do not want the corporates to feel unappreciated and will find all ways to accommodate them. Even if its free labor, building the right experience matters or it may end up in a crisis. There needs to be value created for all parties for it to be a win - win situation, or else its just activity for activity's sake.

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To add value in the relation, corporates should:

1) Find a value proposition to pitch to the organization.
       - List skills which the volunteers can provide.
       - Sometimes pro-bono work for the administration is better than donations and engaging the                   beneficiaries.

2) Understand the needs and constraints of the organization.
       - Working with children may require background checks on the volunteers.
       - Working with gardens or disaster relief may require tools and outfits which organization may                not be able to afford to provide.

3) Plan in advance, NGOs need time to plan and respond.



At the same time, the non-profits should:

1) Create a list of support they need (skills)
     - List opportunities available. (Training kids, chefs in soup kitchen, etc)
     - Have some budget to pay for some pro-bono work. (Reimbursements, etc)
     - Share needs openly (IT Support, Tech, Marketing, Accounting)

2) Hire a event planner to manage volunteers.
     - Create volunteer programs which enrich experience of volunteers and allow them takeaways and        shares for more awareness. (Photo Ops, learning experience)

3) Be honest and truthful.
      - If you cannot handle volunteers, just say no.


-- Robin Low

Liberated by disasters

When a disaster happens, some people are burdened by a task of picking up the pieces caused by a force beyond their control, others are given a gift, a gift of being spared from the disaster. Some people take it for granted and do nothing, others may volunteer or donate.

Many things we learn about relief is not true. We are often told that individuals are not effective in the field. We are told not to donate clothes, but only give money. However, when you think of it closely, do you know how your charity money is spent?

I have been to several disasters, and I have realized that there is a big role for individual volunteers to play. Large charities and governments bring aid to the field fast, but due to top down bureaucracy, they are unable to act fast enough to satisfy the changing needs on the ground, and individuals are required to fill the gaps and meet the needs on the field.

I have often seen children running around naked, and yet charities tell us not to donate clothes. The reason why the charities tell us not to donate clothes, is not because the people do not need them, but rather the charities do not have manpower to sort them. As an individual, I have been to a shelter and got the children in the shelter involved to help sort the donated clothes. At the end of the day, the sorted clothes are picked through and used by the survivors.

There are times which I do not agree on how the charities act. Most incoming resources for recovery are managed by foreign organizations, professionals & volunteers and they excluding local stakeholders. Funds provided largely spent on foreign resources - Local resources and Stakeholders are not actively engaged in relief & recovery initiatives, often being displaced by foreign providers. But instead of complaining, I felt that one should take action to do what is right.

Fear prevents people from taking actions. Even when you feel that you can contribute, you will find excuses to stop you from taking actions. Procrastination sets in and it is hard to overcome.

With social media, emails and smses, the world is a much smaller place. Everyone is interconnected. With information that others are burdened by disaster, I decided to go to the areas and contribute as an individual. When I wanted to contribute actions, I constantly send information of my actions back on social media, and request for reimbursements from my friends to support my effort. When they see my actions and photos, much of my costs are covered.

When I declare to friends that I am going to Japan a week after the tsunami, there were people who cautioned me about the dangers, and others who wanted to contribute. Some asked me how effective I could be on the ground, some asked why I wanted to go. Frankly, I don't really have the perfect answer. Some time ago, I have decided to live life by my rules, not by rules other set for me.

It is a liberating experience not to be controlled by fear, but have the courage to do what you think is right. It is not easy, but defeating procrastination is a lifelong skill which I intend to master.


-- Robin Low

Human Inadequacies

Knowledge both saved us and burdened us.
Experience may help us in may ways, but also make us fear new ways of doing things.
Planning may help us accomplish many things while avoiding problems, however, over planning is the main reason for "failure to launch"
Eagerness to help may sound noble, but too much aid may result in more harm than good.

From medicine to finance, business to government, the world we live in is not as simple as it seems as many problems faced may not be solved by only apply one discipline of knowledge but diverse knowledge is required to understand the root cause.

With the Internet, we all have stupid amounts of information (and misinformation) on our finger tips. Putting this knowledge in the hands of experienced, competent and hardworking people, we have accomplished much, yet failures are common, persistent -- sometimes frustrating and demoralizing.

We live in a world of extreme complexities. Many things are intertwined. High school drop outs may not be just an education problem, as homeless kids will most likely drop out of schools. Over legislation tends to try to sweep the underlying problems further and when the problem arise again, it will only come with increased intensity and magnitude.

We need to recognize that we are humans, and we have egos -- egos which may get in the way of making the best of choices. Even the best of intentions may fail

The snake trying to save the drowning fish may think it is doing the fish a favor by bringing it out of the water.

Though meeting many people, trying out many different solutions and perspectives, I've came to understand the simplicity, complexity and duplicity of many problems, and I hope to share my experience with some anecdotes and stories. Some may apply to you and if you relate to them, please share, comment and discuss.

-- Robin Low

Misconception of success

I am influenced by my upbringing in Asia and I could see that many people consider success to be "Being Rich and Famous".

I have read on the news and know some people who are really rich and famous as well, and it seems like many of them are not happy. In fact, one of my favorite actors, Robin Williams killed himself. There may be no correlation between being successful and suicidal, but I do think that this concept of people striving to be rich is flawed.

I've several friends who are ridiculously rich, I met him in Boston recently and he brought his mom over as well. He was originally from China and had an uncle who is a government official and he is considered an "Investor" and he owns a Maybach and has a driver. I would say he would be considered by many people in Asia a successful person, but when I met his mom last week at a supermarket, she was shopping at a Chinese supermarket squeezing vegetables and throwing them back. She seemed to have a foul mouth and tried to bargain at a supermarket and cursed at the cashier when she did not get what she want.

I met up with some investors who know him and when they talk about him, they say that he was very driven by returns and often loses more money because he picks the companies with the highest risks.

I recall many people I know in Singapore who are "investors" from China as well, and they all seem to buy the most expensive things and create this appearance of "wealthy businessman" but when you start talking to them about their investments, even in real estate, about Gross Floor Area, Plot Ratio and other terms used in property development, they do not seem to know anything at all.

I know many people who would worship these "rich" folks and consider them successful. However, if you are not a property agent or investment banker, what value do these people add to you, if all they care about is money?

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I would consider successful people as people who have great influence and insight. They may have a simply life, but their works affect many. Successful people also continual add value in things that they do.

Prof Muhd Yunus is someone I look up to. He has transformed banking with microfinance and he still stays true to his vision of ending poverty.

I feel that people's concept of success is flawed and picking role models, because they are rich is not a good way. I've know many people with a lot of money have a lot of addiction problems and I do not see them as being happy.

I consider myself rich when I have a choice of what to eat today and I can buy a friend a meal, yet I've known some friends who are parents and make over $250,000 a year, and never thinks about charity or giving back to the community as they feel that by donating, their children will get less money for their college funds.

I would say that children are mostly affected by their parents, and I've seen many kids growing up to be compassionate and yet with the knowledge to know the value of things.

The last thing I'd like to share is:

Pick a right model of success as it affect who you hang out with and what you do, and eventually who you become.

-- Robin Low