EDV Disaster Education is a section that we’re very excited about, but it’s still in development so keep checking back. We’ve geared what we have now toward those who are already involved, but we also think that this section will be useful to anyone who’s interested in learning more.
You might be thinking, “What’s to educate about? An earthquake happened. Nothing too complicated there.” While this is a natural reaction, it’s also exactly the line of thought we hope to change. There are a variety of forces that are not immediately apparent at work in any disaster zone. They range from global trends to political agendas, from property rights to the very problems volunteers can cause when they go into disaster zones.
Because these factors are less visible than the rubble in the streets and damaged buildings they tend to be ignored, but this is a fundamental error. These are the forces that drive, or prevent, sustainable recovery and they always affect the work NGOs do as well as the experiences of volunteers. If we don’t understand them they can seriously hinder reconstruction work, but if we educate ourselves we can address them and avoid unnecessary pitfalls.
The Aims of Disaster Education
Finding the Root
Our experiences have shown again and again that the everyday volunteer is capable of affecting enormous positive change. Watching these changes occur is one of the most inspiring parts of volunteering.
However we also know that disaster zones are complicated places and even the most experienced organisations and well intentioned individuals can find themselves in trouble if they don’t recognise and address the root of the problems they’re trying to address. Often the issues our projects focus on require an understanding of much more than just the hurricane that struck the coast. The core issues we aim to address in disaster zones almost always go deeper than the physical event that caused damage we can see.
The best way to ensure that we address these underlying issues at work in any disaster zone is by educating ourselves, and our volunteers, on why disaster zones function in the ways that they do. With a little knowledge our volunteers will be much better equipped to avoid possible pitfalls and help us to achieve our full potential on deployment.
A Thoughtful Approach
Disaster zones are difficult places. There seems to be work crying out to be done everywhere one looks and the impulse to act, to help somehow, can be very strong. But these gut reactions tend to cause people to rush into work, and this rushing can cause unforeseen problems down the road. If we don’t stop to consider the long term implications of our work, we make sustainable recovery very difficult.
At EDV we want to encourage a thoughtful approach to the assistance we provide. Taking some time to think through the long term implications of our decisions on deployment before we act means the difference between being confident that our contributions will be sustainable after we leave and worrying that they will fall apart long before the next disaster.
This will sometimes mean that projects don't move as quickly as volunteers might expect. Again, we believe that presenting the necessary information will help volunteers understand and accept why work doesn’t always move as quickly as they'd initially expected.
Acknowledging our Global Impact
Knowledge about disasters will be even more important once we've finally packed up and gone home. Disasters aren't isolated incidents caused simply by natural events. They're rooted in longer-term, underlying factors and, whether you realise it or not, these factors are often connected to your life at home, no matter where home is. Our lifestyle choices and daily habits affect worldwide disaster trends in a variety of ways. One of the most obvious of these is climate change, but the list goes on and on.
Of course these are very complicated issues and we don't pretend to have any magic solutions. However we do believe that when our volunteers are on the ground and faced with destruction firsthand they become the ideal candidates to advocate for awareness at home. At the very least, we can learn to be a part of the solution, not the problem.
You can get an introduction to some very basic information by considering the question Are Disasters Natural?
The Methods
As we've said we're just getting started with this section and are discussing how it will evolve. Our plans and preliminary resources are outlined here but we'd really appreciate feedback, suggestions, and any other help on developing them. Of course, other ideas are also valued and in either case you can email our Executive Director at executive@europeandisastervolunteers.org
Short Educational Articles
This section will contain a collection of educational articles that introduce and explore fundamental concepts and practicalities related to disasters. They're based on existing literature but are at an introductory level, so they should be accessible to all. Of course, this list will expand as our website matures.
Long term, we’d love to have weekly discussions on deployment about why our programmes run they way they do, the causes of volunteer frustrations, and disaster trends. These, and other, articles will form the backbone of such discussions.
Discussion Forum
This section will provide an online forum for our volunteers to share their own experiences, ideas and frustrations. By making issues public, anonymously or with your name, we can address them before they become problems. The forum would also allow our volunteers worldwide to form a community and support one and other.
Lessons Learned
We believe that a key part of any deployment we run in the future will be a period of reflection and honest assessment of how we did in regards to our Mission Statement and Operating Principles. We will report on our findings here.
