Katrina Relief: Flexibility is the name of the game
Category: Hurricane Katrina...
Posted Monday, September 05, 2005 at 10:36 PM [GMT-6]

Just received another report from Robin Hoke, whose husband has spent the past week as part of the Permian Basin Unit of the Texas Baptist Men's disaster relief team, preparing and serving meals to hurricane victims in Louisiana. Gary and his co-servants are on their way home now, as fresh volunteers step up to take their places. The following report demonstrates how disaster relief cannot be scripted in advance, except in very broad strokes.

When the Permian Basin Disaster Relief unit arrived at the Cajundome in Lafayette on Sunday, they just assisted the Texas State DR feeding unit in preparing the noon meal. The state unit (which is huge and has 9 convection ovens) had been at the Cajundome, but was only feeding the people at lunch. The concession stands inside the dome had been preparing a nice evening meal for the people. Actually, the people aren’t very hungry. They are just sitting around all day, and are depressed. Some of the food is going to waste. So tomorrow they will not fix quite as much.

Alan drove down from Odessa yesterday and took over as the “blue cap” in charge of our unit. Gary, Joe, and Miles left this morning and are actually in the area right now.

The Texas State Unit had been told to go to San Antonio to feed people at Kelly Air Force Base. After lunch on Sunday, our guys helped them tear down and load up. Before they headed out, they were told not to go to San Antonio. They would not be needed there right now. We assume that the numbers of people at many of the locations change from day to day. The volunteers providing help will have to be flexible and patient. Our unit will stay in Lafayette for now, cooking a noon meal for the people living in the Cajundome.

Actually, the people aren’t very hungry. They are just sitting around all day, and are depressed. Some of the food is going to waste. So tomorrow they will not fix quite as much.

At some point, the relief work shifts from meeting purely physical needs to dealing with emotional, psychological and spiritual challenges. Keep praying, and get involved when and where you can.

Technorati tag:

Permalink
Comments
Post a comment [Take your time...we're in no hurry.]
Note: You must provide either a website URL or an email address...but there's no rule that says you have to tell the truth. If you don't want your email address published on this site, just input a website URL, or make up an email address.









Remember personal info?