Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/lessons-from-katrina/5016681/
The journey for me started out with a desperate call for volunteers on the nightly news the day the buses started transporting New Orleans residents displaced by Katrina to the Houston Reliant Center/Astrodome. I was stunned, shocked, and moved by the incredible stories that were being told. As a Louisiana native and a frequent visitor to New Orleans, I recognized the flooded sites, the neighborhoods with water up to the rooftops, and the tragedy of levee breaks. The news report moved me to get out of bed and drive down to see what I could do to help. During the next 17 days, I would learn a great deal about the impact of Katrina on real people, my friends, community, and myself, my early childhood colleagues and the larger early childhood community, our human capacity to help, and much more about disaster relief work. So, what were the lessons of Hurricane Katrina?The first lesson is that we human beings have an incredible capacity to give. During the first few days in the shelters at Reliant Center/Astrodome, I heard it took 2,500 volunteers per hour around the clock to do what needed to be done. That included medical volunteers ...