Lost and Found In the Marshall Island

In the Republic of the Marshall Islands, homes do not have street names or numbers. Instead, they’re identified by color or by another identifying symbol. Without addresses, how would Zika responders and contractors find the places where help was needed?

The Strategic National Stockpile worked with a team of “zone nurses,” who were assigned to one of six different geographic areas on the island, armed with a list of names provided by the island’s hospital. On an island where phone networks and hotspot services are unreliable, stockpile personnel had to strategize with the zone nurses and officials from the island’s public works department to locate homes using GPS latitude and longitude to plot directions on a map.

Zone nurses then knocked on doors to locate pregnant women in need of Zika prevention resources and services. Through collaboration, technology, and creative problem solving, teams were able to deliver Zika Prevention Kits and educational materials and spray for mosquitoes both inside and outside homes.