by Ron Foster
This was the situation in which the professional philosophers stepped up to the podium to have their say. The way various members of a religious sect or group view themselves as well as how much assistance is expected from their organized religion is a very interesting insight into the cultural aspects of disaster. This next case demonstrates the difference between “demand" religions compared with "assistance" religions.
Regular exposure to hurricanes, and vulnerability to volcanic and earthquake hazard threats, makes the Fijian islands an appropriate group to study, particularly because the occurrence of a disaster is often accompanied by substantial foreign aid and assistance. Irrespective of its altruistic intentions, unless this aid is designed in a manner consistent with community and cultural needs, it may, rather than assisting recovery, produce responsegenerated demands (Quarantelli, 1985) that compound community problems. Two problems with external aid provision are readily apparent. Firstly, aid practices and procedures, particularly those aimed at mitigating mental health consequences, are often developed in a cultural context that differs substantially from that prevailing within the affected country. This raises questions ranging from the validity of theoretical constructs and intervention procedures to the degree of cultural safety afforded by their use. Secondly, the ad hoc nature of intervention, largely as a consequence of the unpredictable (with respect to time, place, severity, etc.) nature of disasters, typically precludes attempts to identify the vulnerability characteristics that must be accommodated within culturally-safe interventions and which need to be considered if attempting to develop resilient communities (an important issue in countries like Fiji where natural disasters occur frequently).
Some 94% of Fijian Christians expected their church to render assistance to them. There was a confident anticipation that the church would "get them back on their feet" no matter how severe the damage. Reports of the last hurricane included stories of the church building new houses for members whose homes were destroyed. The church often supplied members with food and provisions over and above standard government aid. There was a strong belief that relief money was no obstacle for the church and that a high level of competent support could be expected. With the availability of foreign aid (from overseas Christian Churches), the Christian organizations of Fiji are able to provide good support on all levels, including reconstruction of housing, relocation, limited financial aid, and household food and supplies. Members of the Christian Church do not have any demands placed upon them apart from attending church and their usual church duties. The Christian Church can be classified as providing an "assistance" environment”.
While still anticipating some assistance, the expectations of members of Islamic Mosques and Hindu Temples were lower than those of their Christian counterparts. After a disaster, some 75% of Hindus and 63% of Muslims expected assistance to be forthcoming from their Temple or Mosque. Stress reactions could be exacerbated or compounded if this support fails to materialize or falls short of expectations.
Another difference between Christians, Hindus and Muslims was evident in regard to the expectations on the part of their respective religious centers to require and request assistance from its members. Hindus and Muslims are expected to provide manual labor (particularly by trades persons), food supplies (for the Mosque staff and Temple committees as well as the poorer of their members), building provisions (for the Mosques, Temples and their poorer members), and financial aid. Due to limited resources, Muslim Mosques and Hindu Temples come under the "demand" category of post disaster interaction. That is, the members of these organizations are expected to make contributions toward the repair and continuation of their Mosques and Temples, as well as providing support and assistance to their poorer fellow members. Operating within a "demand" environment may increase the psychological vulnerability of members of these religious denominations.
On the basis of these observations, membership of the Hindu and Muslim religions could constitute a response-generated demand. We could thus anticipate higher levels of post disaster stress amongst members of "demand" religions compared with "assistance" religions.
The unavailability of traditional funeral services was also to be sure to impact society’s mental health now that they would soon, for the most part, be to difficult to arrange.
Public rituals around death strengthen the social bonds with the hope of shared survival. Such acts fight off death through continuity of the social group: funerals give the members of society the impression that death is culturally controlled and regulated; they help society confront the death of its members and mend the trauma of loss.
The ambulance companies and mortuary services will be overtaxed and consequently corpses cannot be taken from houses or streets, in some cases it will be shocking to have the departed unnoticed or unattended for several days or weeks or unceremoniously loaded onto a flat bed truck for deposit in a mass grave.
The next time tragedy strikes, and this mess we are about to go through is far from over yet, people best remember the old Aesop fable of the grasshopper and the ant because big government can’t and won’t bail them out! We all need to ponder about personal and family issues such as how to do things for ourselves like treat the sick and manage without some of the usual conveniences and supplies we take for granted or think a trip to the corner store will provide.
Every individual and his family can become a target at any time or place in the world from terrorism to the impacts of disastrous weather; if you are prepared for it you lose a lot of the fear of the unexpected because you do expect it. You have adapted.
FDR said “The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself”: it’s time to realize the wisdom of these words once again. Community and Personal planning helps to remove fear. Knowledge of the threat and what to do about it before it happens is the key to surviving a disaster. Spreading the word, stocking supplies and watching the political climate the same as we do the weather is how my family and friends deal with the threat of terrorism. I hear “I regret that it’s necessary to plan”, I do not hear “I fear to do so”. A survival mindset is the one thing I can give to everyone, they all expect to possibly lose all their precious preparations and be forced to play refugee if they have to, but they know what to do and view themselves as “Survivors” not victims.
“Recognize yourself and others as SurvivorsViewing yourself or others as a “victim” of terrorism or any type of traumatic, painful, or extraordinarily stressful event, discounts the person’s survival skills. Although the person may feel like a “victim” of terrorism, the “survivor” is someone who is resilient, knows how to ask for help, and has the ability to develop positive coping behaviors” (Stebnicki, 2007) Preppers are naturally resilient survivors who will not be burdened with the stigma of being a victim, if they do a bit of self reflection on their survivor mindset.
A positive mindset is also instilled in those around me. As quite often the subject turns to terrorism and its effects whereby, I fall back on my lessons from many courses to make an informed comment or observation. That someone is doing something about gathering and learning information on all things relevant to Emergency Management and disasters, gives most people a sense of relief that there just might be someone out here in administration that will be there for them when they need them and will educate them of dangers before an event happens and helps them to unburden a lot of fears. Educate the public and we all benefit. The Prepper community as a whole is a treasure trove of information and informed individuals ready to be tapped. The regular Emergency managers I can tell you now do not have a plan for a solar storm event and really could do little or nothing to help the masses of people impacted because of its huge magnitude of this type of nationwide extremely chaotic event. Prepare for yourself for this type of disaster or suffer some dire consequences because you will be basically on your own.
One particular preparedness measure many hold dearest and depend on in times of troubles is their belief in a higher power and how t
hey view what kind of support both physically and spiritually that affords them. Get right with these expectations now before some event occurs. Think about how you are going to relate or interact with people who may hold different religious or moral beliefs about the nature of a disaster also. If you are part of a church ask what plans might be in place if they were faced with a major disaster or if they have even considered their role and the churches members’ role in times of major troubles.
18
We Have Arrived!
LowBuck pulled down the short county road Donald lived on and began looking for his house.
“That’s the address coming up on the right.” Cat said as she looked at the mailbox coming up. “Ok, then I will turn in. Doesn’t look like anyone is around the place at the moment, unless he parks his truck in the back of the house.” Bubba said as he navigated the steep driveway that lead to Donald’s prepper shack.
They parked the motor home in the driveway and left a frustrated Harley dog in it as they walked around and checked out the backyard of the house. Nothing back there except a large raised bed garden and another storage building Don used as a garage for his lawn tractor and rear tine tiller.
“I guess we can let Harley out for a little bit, but keep him on a leash for now. I will go and get the key Don hid for us and we can check out the inside of the house.” Bubba said before setting off to retrieve it from its hiding place.
“Hey, not bad. Turn that faucet on in the kitchen and see if he has any water. I don’t know if he is on well water or city or what.” Bubba said, looking around the place after he unlocked the front door.
“We got flowing water!” Cat said excitedly and went to use the bathroom while she could. “I wonder where Donald is at.” LowBuck called from the kitchen after examining the contents of the refrigerator. Donald would have seen to this food if the power had been off for any length of time and he had been in the area.
“Cat, I am going outside and look to see if he has a barbecue grill. Would you mind starting to clean out the fridge in the meantime?” Bubba said as Cat started to open the window blinds and curtains to let some light into the place.
“I am sure he does somewhere. I will do the fridge in just a min. Hey, Bubba, a couple is walking up the driveway.” Cat said looking out the window and seeing two people coming in the gate and walking down the gravel driveway towards the house.
“Keep an eye on Harley and come outside after I talk to them for a minute, if it looks ok.” Bubba said and went out the front door to great the strangers.
“Hello, you must be Bubba, the Low Buck Prepper. Donald said you were coming by and to be on the look out for you and your motor home. We saw you pull in here a few minutes ago. I am Michael and this is Amy.” The big stranger said extending a handshake to Bubba.
“Pleased to meet you both. Donald has mentioned you two a couple times. Have you seen him around by the way recently?” Bubba said returning the handshake and introducing Cat when she came out of the house to greet them also.
“No, he has been gone for a few days, stopped by before he left. Said he was going down to Florida to play spring break one last time and would be back in three or 4 days. I suspect he will be in tomorrow, maybe. I take it that you have figured out what’s going on with the power and the sun, haven’t you?” Michael said, thinking they already had to have done so because they were hardcore preppers, weren’t they, and hung out with Don?
“Oh Yea, ain’t this solar storm a real pisser?” Bubba said sitting down at a picnic table to visit with the neighbors some more.
“Well, Donald has been hinting around and talking about the effects of one since he moved here but it wasn’t anything I thought would truly happen.” Amy said to Cat.
“Donald sort of made a few plans on how we could help each other if SHTF one day when we were shooting the breeze. But I have to admit, I was skeptical about the likelihood of really ever needing to do it.” Michael offered.
“Donald has been echoing those NASA solar maximum 2012 -2013 warnings to who ever will listen all over the place and on the internet so I guess there are a lot of people who realize it now.” Bubba said, scanning the road in case Donald was going to be pulling in anytime soon.
“We are going to cook up a bunch of meat we had in the freezer tonight if you want to come join us?” Amy offered after already agreeing with Michael on the way over they were going to invite this new friend to dinner.
“I think we need to see about Donald’s freezer also and maybe cook up some of his. I guess he has a grill around here somewhere.” Bubba said, trying to think about what he should be doing while waiting on Don to come back.
“Oh, he has a great one with a smoker that goes on it but I don’t think he has put it together yet and it’s still in the box. If he did put it together or it’s in a box, it’s in that shed back there.” Michael said motioning to the metal storage building Donald used as a garage.
“Let me go see, I will put it together for him if not and we can maybe use it to preserve some meat while we are making dinner.” Bubba said, rising to go have a look.
“Oh, he left you a key? I will give you a hand with putting that together if need be in a second but I need to know if you might possibly have a key to his prep shed, too.” Michael asked.
Bubba got pretty suspicious of this line of questioning but carefully said he did have one and what did Michael need from it.
“Ah, let me explain. That’s old Max a friend of me and Don’s that lives up on that hill over there and he has a wife who is on oxygen. He has got a gas generator running that oxygen machine of hers at the moment but he was siphoning gas out of his car to run it. Donald has a portable solar panel in there and some marine batteries and an inverter that I thought he might lend to the cause if Max would let us have some of that gas for other things maybe.” Michael explained.
“Oh yea, he has a bunch of solar stuff stashed around here somewhere. He told me you helped him put together that hybrid portable solar wind generator of his. If you know where he keeps that stuff, we can get the solar battery system running or well maybe not. Donald might have some info on how long this storm is scheduled to go on or if other flares are predicted to precede another CME. I seen some pictures of some of it he sent in for a casting call application I put out for the Real Day Prepper Show though. Quite impressive, he has some versatile equipment.” Bubba replied.
“Hey, he also has a windmill or turbine thing built out of a marine alternator that uses cut PVC pipe for blades that can turn out 1500 watts but I don’t think he ever got around to getting a pipe for a tower to erect it.” Michael told him and pointed at the Prep Shed, which was another modular steel building Donald had next to the main house.
“Let’s go check it out then. Wow, he has got some shit packed in here. Good Old Prepper Don!” Bubba exclaimed as he went into Donald’s Prep Shed and marveled at what the guy had managed to packrat away for his preps over the years.
“ I am not so sure it’s cool that we are in here though, at the moment. How much of this crap did you know Don had already stored up?” LowBuck said looking pointedly at Michael for some kind of indication.
“Oh, he showed it all to me before, no big deal he said because he had been fixing it up and arranging his stuff for that NATGEO prepper show and everyone would have known anyway if he had gone through with it. I never did figure out why he didn’t do the video shoot with them because it seemed like he was so Gung Ho about it to begin with. Amy and I even helped him take some prep pictures they asked for for their applications and did a few chores he needed some help with to get ready for their visit along the way before he quit considering doing it at all.” Michael said, looking unfazed by the amount of food storage and other supplies stacked in boxes or on shelves in the building.
That’s Don’s Shit, he wasn’t going to take any of it, wasn’t his to fool with. But he thought Bubba might need convincing of that, though. Don already had told Michael personally that
he would be sharing preps with him in this type of situation because only a community could survive. Michael said he wouldn’t be a burden and start thinking about doing some prepping himself and had been adding to his own food stores. Michael had told Donald if he came by one day and said “ Don, I haven’t eaten in two days can you please spare some food”, then he expected Don to make good on the kind offer and he would also help him if he could, Michael thought to himself.
“Feels very weird to be playing in Donald’s preps when he is not here all the same, come on. Let’s go outside for now and talk about when we should try and hook up some solar electricity for Max if Donald doesn’t show up in the next day or two.” Bubba said, backing out the door and into the late afternoon sun.
“I will lend Max that battery and panel Don already gave me, and a low wattage inverter to augment that generator. That way we can see how it works and if the sun does mess it up we will have some indication of what the space weather is doing and speculate from there.” Michael said, formulating a plan of sorts.
“Now that sounds workable and good, let’s go with that plan. I don’t think there is a problem utilizing most solar electrical stuff at this moment anyway because my extra battery on the mobile home is fine but I hate risking that expensive equipment of Donald’s without his say so.” Bubba concluded.
“I agree we can wait. Where did Cat and Amy go?” Michael asked as he rounded the house to see an empty picnic table.
“They are probably inside the house. Hey, I got my big pet bulldog, Harley, in there by the way that you will need to meet and greet before we can get too comfortable around here.” Bubba said, giving him a heads up that he was about to meet a dog as big as the Hound of the Baskervilles.
“That’s ok, got a fine bulldog myself at home I will need to introduce to you later.” Michael said, following LowBuck into the house and offering the back of his hand for Harley to smell and let them start to get better acquainted.