Deploying as an Individual or Small Group

Deploying as an Individual or Small Group for IYCF-E Support

You don’t need a big organization to help families feed their babies safely after an emergency. One person, or a handful of people, can do a great deal. Here’s how to deploy well on your own or in a small, informal group.

Steps to deploying

  • Use Determining Need to decide whether a response is needed and, if so, at what level.
  • If you’ll work with families directly, review Infant Feeding Support for Clients in an Emergency.
  • Watch for shelters, points of distribution, and other survivor resources on TV, radio, social media, posters, and signage. Track these locations in a spreadsheet or another convenient place.
  • If you know others will also be doing IYCF-E response, talk to them (see below).
  • On your own, do as much as you judge appropriate. Collaborating with others? Put a few agreements in place first.

Working with others

If other people will also support families with safe infant feeding, discuss and agree on:

  • Does anyone want to collaborate at all — even just sharing information or covering different areas?
  • Are you operating individually or as a group? If a group: do you use the group’s name or your own? Whose contact info goes on referrals — one person’s, or a shared email and phone?
  • How much will you share about sites, available resources, and people? (Keep confidentiality and personal information in mind.) If you like, track site information in a shared operations spreadsheet — available on request.
  • Will you coordinate who goes where and when? Will you track who visited which locations and what they did?
  • Under what circumstances will you refer to each other?
  • If distributing kits, handouts, or materials, will you share those expenses and supplies, or is each person responsible for their own? (An inventory spreadsheet is available on request.)
  • How will you handle other expenses and any donations — in-kind or monetary — offered to the group?
  • Are there any kinds of support the group wants to keep off-limits?
  • How will you support each other’s self-care, emotional wellbeing, and days off?

What to wear

Dress for your area’s expectations and for safety:

  • Sturdy, comfortable shoes for lots of standing and walking.
  • Weather-appropriate clothing: layers for temperature swings; a hat and/or sunglasses if it may be sunny (many distribution points are outdoors); warm gear, hat, and gloves if it may get cold.
  • Clothing that builds trust with people in your area. Where people trust officials, scrubs may help; where people trust neighbors and are wary of officials, wear casual clothes.
  • Clothes you don’t mind getting dirty — expect mud, soot, and debris.
  • PPE if local conditions call for it: masks, gloves, shoe covers.

Items to bring

When visiting a point of distribution, shelter, site, or event, these help.

Always tell someone where you are going — even if you’re traveling with someone else.

Self-care

  • Water — bring plenty; it may not be easy to find in the field.
  • Snacks and/or lunch — food may be scarce.
  • A little cash — power outages can mean no card payments.
  • A paper map and/or directions if cell service is unreliable.

Field kit

  • Name tag/badge (you may want to de-emphasize the words “breastfeeding” or “lactation”).
  • Permanent marker.
  • Handouts and resource info; business cards for you or your team; hotline cards if you have a hotline.
  • A copy of the Rapid Needs Assessment for reference.
  • A public link to your resource directory — or printed copies people can photograph. See Creating a Resource List.
  • A link to or copy of the Shelter Signs.
  • Safe formula-storage sheet; DIY sanitation-kit sheets; extra booklets if you’re not always giving out a kit.
  • If you speak any Spanish, the Spanish phrases reference sheet.
  • An appropriate number of sanitation kits for you or your team, if distributing.
  • Carriers, hand pumps, etc., if you have any and want to distribute them; anything for special requests.

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