Web Log on Responding to the Needs of Children Impacted by California’s Wildfires
The smell of fire and smoke is everywhere
by Kate Conradt, communications director
You can smell the smoke the minute you open the door in the morning.
It's wood smoke, reminiscent of camping in the mountains, but far more
ominous. The air is thick with it in San Diego, no less so for the ash
that gently wafts over the city.
It doesn't take long before
your clothes and skin smell of the fires — and the back of your throat
parches from the constant assault on the respiratory system.
But at least the Santa Ana winds have died down.
The
schools are closed here, many of them serving as evacuation centers,
all of them because the air presents such a health threat. One mother I
spoke to, Gail, said her children were missing school and their
classmates — though the youngsters were enjoying the adventure of
sleeping in a tent outside Qualcomm Stadium for two nights. It is early
days for them as evacuees, and the novelty has yet to wear off for the
children, as it clearly has on Gail. She worries about the air quality
and the chill at night as they sleep on cots.
Another mother
with three teenagers said her kids were climbing the walls without
school and without anything to do. They are hoping to evacuate the city
to find cleaner air further north.
At Qualcomm Stadium, we provided our games and activity manual to a
group of San Diego teachers providing a safe space for children at the
stadium. We also will provide them canopies to help protect children
and volunteers from the hot sun. Over the coming days, we will continue
to support their efforts as needed. The parks and recreation department
has a well-stocked area for children to play — so we will stay in touch
with them in case they need help as we move to shelters in the suburbs,
closer to the fires, and where we hear that there are a lot of children
with little to do.
Qualcomm Stadium is quite organized, and a
lot of people are trying to help. Food and water is plentiful, and
volunteers are arriving all the time to help provide services
(acupuncture!) and other assistance. Still, families are sleeping out
in the open — some stringing tents between their cars in the parking
lot, others crowded on cots on the hallways of the giant football
stadium because it is warmer there. There is no privacy, and we felt
like intruders in someone's bedroom when we walked in this morning.
For
however many comforts there are at the stadium (and word is that other
centers lack some of the amenities), it is no long-term situation for
children and their families, especially those who cannot afford to
evacuate further out or who have lost everything and will lack the
means to start all over again. Some shelters are expected to stay open
for several weeks.
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Read another first-hand account by Save the Children US staff member Jeanne-Aimée De Marrais
For more information read the News Release , or contact Mike Kiernan +1 202 261 4686