Working with the State Department to Help Stabilize Africa
By Dan Corbett, PAE vice president of Operations | June 13, 2019
PAE work with UNHCR to drill boreholes to deliver fresh water to residents near Maban, South Sudan. The wells – some over 1,000 feet deep – can provide 15 liters of water per person per day.
Ebola is back in the news. In just two months, the number of cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has doubled. Now more than 2,000 are infected with the deadly disease since it first broke out in July 2018.
That news typically focuses on the health care response when it comes to combatting virulent threats – the doctors and support staff who treat patients, the efficacy of the vaccines and, steps taken to prevent its spread. A medical response is the direct and critical effort to contain the disease. But that medical response wouldn’t be possible without basic infrastructure, a solid supply chain and the people to keep it all running.
PAE is an integral part of the support network that enables aid workers to save lives. We’re supporting the international response to Ebola in the DRC working in close coordination with World Health Organization and United Nations Humanitarian Air Service. Our five staffers are working from a base in Goma and traveling to Beni, Butembo, and Kinshasa.
PAE employees practice donning Ebola gear as part of the company’s work in the 2014 outbreak of the disease in Liberia.
We’ve done it before. When Ebola broke out in Liberia in 2014, PAE teams built nine different temporary triage and isolation units in just 10 days. We constructed a logistics operations base to store equipment, materials and supplies that saved lives. In just two months, the team transformed a challenging environment into a working laydown yard with tents for warehousing and storage, a generator room, and a mechanic workshop for vehicle maintenance.
We also managed clinical and nonclinical Ebola treatment units in outbreak zones. Our staff, construction crew and advance party teams laid the basic infrastructure for the first four operating capability camps at Barclayville, Bopulu, Gbediah Town and Zorzor. With sturdy tents manufactured in Dubai and erected on concrete slabs, the FOC camps are designed as more permanent camps with fixed, solid infrastructure, to include prefab washroom facilities and field kitchens.
That’s just one example. PAE works in more than 100 locations on all seven continents to lay the foundation for a safe, effective platform for aid workers.
PAE supports the backbone of the United States Agency for International Development’s crisis response in some of the world’s most challenging environments. We work with the bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance across all 10 offices supporting USAID missions around the world.
PAE works with the U.S. government, its allied partners and nongovernmental organizations to bring stability and safety to areas of conflict. We build and operate refugee camps, manage supply chains and ensure food is delivered to people in need. We do it quickly and to the highest standards of excellence. We’re proud to work with the U.S. government and its allies to make the world a safer place.