Amateur radio operators in New Zealand have joined the global quest to make life easier for the countless thousands of victims of Haiti's devastating earthquake.
Last Wednesday's quake flattened much of Port-au-Prince in Haiti, disrupted water and power supplies and left tens of thousands homeless and wondering who was alive and who was dead.
Auckland radio operator Daniel Ayers is part of an international organisation called Iresc which supplies communications to disaster areas.
They could often help where communications on the ground at a disaster area had been wiped out or seriously reduced, he said.
The sisters of St Joseph's Convent in Trinidad and Tobago wanted to know if the sisters from the St Joseph's convent in Port-au-Prince had survived.
"Nothing had been heard from them and there was grave concern for their safety," Mr Ayers said.
A message from an amateur radio operator in Trinidad and Tobago was picked up in Auckland, where Mr Ayers searched the internet for reports of the sisters.
"Within five minutes I had located and was able to forward a report that although several of their houses had been destroyed and there had been injuries, the sisters were safe," he said.
It was satisfying to deliver some good news in the midst of such a tragedy, Mr Ayers said.
NZPA