(no subject)

[marathoner452]

I probably shouldn't be updating this from work, but I'll make an exception this time.

So my do-I-head-down-there-and-help question has passed the parents test and the sibling test. They all think I should go, but they have no idea how torn I am about all of this. See, there's two sides of me arguing. The one says, "look, you're already doing more than most people by working at the Red Cross. Besides, you've put in a serious summer of training and it's time to reap the benefits. Is it really all that wrong to stay put and keep doing the good you're doing right here? Look, you don't even know what you're doing. Stay here and get trained and be ready for the next one." The other side of me says, "look, no matter how much you rationalize your decision to stay home and safe, there are thousands and thousands of people who didn't have a choice to lose everything they owned. How many chances do you have in life to pack up and leave for 3 weeks, to give everything you have with no holding back? Anyone can pour water, serve food, and set up cots. They don't need just skilled people; they need people who are willing."

I'm torn right down the middle. Either way, I'll never look at the world the same way again.

~Bethany

Comments

[roadwarrior220.livejournal.com]

I'm with you all the way.

[ratkrycek.livejournal.com]

Here I am, as promised (warned? *g*). Looks like you survived your Disaster Services training - I'm looking forward to mine. At our intro class, there was a fellow who'd just graduated from Brown who wanted to "fasttrack to International" and he wanted CPR right away - wasn't at our CPR training (Nick told him he could find one sooner). Me, I think I'm happy to go at the weekly pace (for now) so I have time to absorb everything. Oh yeah, I absolutely want to get up and out and helping out NOW and ASAP and get off my you know what - but I do think your second and third (another entry? We were told the same thing - they'll need trained volunteers for Katrina later, too, as well as now) so why don't I just sit back, enjoy my training, and so when I do go I'll know exactly what I'm doing.

But that's me. :) Sounds like you've been in AmeriCorps for awhile - is that age limited, or can anyone join? - and so you probably have other training under your belt.

Family Services sounds fun - Nick says that comes after our training, so presumably after the Disaster Services? I emailed him to ask since I didn't see it on our schedules anywhere for RI, but did for other chapters elsewhere, to ask if RI offered it, pretty much, and he said they only advertise those courses to folks who've completely the prerequisites.

"Enjoy your CPR classes," he emailed me, "And I'll see you after that."

:)

So maybe there is something to sticking around rather than leaving immediately. Hey, I get to sort of bond with my team/class, and that's not such a bad thing.

What are your thoughts now? And I hear you on the never look at the world the same way thing.

Good luck!

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

We offer Family Service to anyone who's done Intro. to Disaster Services. Community Service is the prequisite for the sheltering classes.

You have to be over 18 to do Americorps. Americorps NCCC is the only part of the program with an upper age limit-they only take people 18-24. NCCC travels within an area and works on a different program every month. They repaired a pier out in NE Maryland after Isabel, they were the first Americorps people down there with hurricane relief, they tutor inner-city kids or build houses or any number of things.

The state and national programs have you doing direct service at the same project for a year. Habitat for Humanity, for example.

As a VISTA, I work behind the scenes on a long-term project. The goal is to get the community involved in an anti-poverty initiative and to make that project sustainable. Disasters disproportionately affect lower-income families and those families have a much harder time recovering from them. That's where the Red Cross comes in, and my goal is to make sure they're as prepared as possible.

Oh, and I made a post in my journal just for you. :-)

~Bethany