International Save the Children Alliance
Web Log on Responding to the Needs of Children Impacted by California’s Wildfires
Ready to help
by Jeanne-Aimée De Marrais, Team Leader, San Diego Wildfires Response
I am on my flight, being deployed to San Diego to lead Save the Children’s emergency wildfire response effort and watching reports of the fires on in-flight television.
The urgency that I feel — and the lump of emotion deep in my throat — are all too familiar.
It’s not my first deployment as Team Leader for Save the Children’s domestic emergency unit. I served in the Gulf Coast for 13 months, helping lead Save the Children’s Hurricane Katrina response. No matter how many disasters I work on, I am always deeply touched by the feelings of loss, sadness, and devastation that children and families are facing — and I carry that in my heart always.
In about 90 minutes, I will meet my team of five at the airport in San Diego, and we will head directly to the Qualcomm Center in San Diego where at least 7,000 people are being housed tonight. I feel a tremendous urgency to get on the ground and start building partnerships with the local community in San Diego — as well as serve children who have lost homes and tragically, sometimes everything in the last few hours.
I am anxious to get to work — I know from experience that shelters can be very dangerous places for children. Disaster plans in the U.S. do not adequately protect children, and a shelter’s dark corners and spaces crowded with strangers are often very unsafe for children.
In California’s shelters we will set up Save the Children’s “Safe
Spaces” program for children. We provide materials and training to
volunteers so that they can operate a safe play space that supports
children’s recovery and resilience.
We know from years of helping children in shelters around the world that if we provide a calm, safe, fun place for children to be children and interact with peers and with caring adults, they will be able to best bounce back and be strong. Safe Spaces also allow parents who have lost everything to have a few minutes of rest so that they can think about how they and their families can start rebuilding their lives.
The first challenge when we hit the ground will be figuring out where the children have been evacuated. Shelters in this country usually only count individuals — they don’t count children — so Save the Children must first identify where the children are and what are their most urgent needs to ensure their safety and resilience.
Over the coming days, in addition to providing Safe Spaces in shelters, we will also do a rapid assessment of child care facilities to determine how many have been damaged and are in need of assistance to get operational again. Communities cannot recover if there is no quality child care available for their young children.
As I keep watching the news, I feel a tremendous sadness. A mother who says that she calmly evacuated with her three children and is fine — looks at her feet and realizes she has two different shoes on. She softly says, maybe she’s not so fine. And I can see the fear in her children’s eyes.
Disasters are terrifying for young children who do not fully understand what has happened to them and who don’t have the verbal skills yet to express what they’ve seen. And perhaps most of all, disasters are frightening for children because they see their parents’ fear and sense of loss.
I also feel a deep sense of emotion because I know that in the next
day, I will make a difference, a real and profound difference in a
child’s life — in many children’s lives. I know how to keep children
safe and support their recovery, and in about 60 minutes when we land,
I will have the chance to reach out and truly help. It is an amazing
privilege to be able to help families and children recover from a
disaster like the fires.
Since I came back from Hurricane Katrina, I have often publically
said that disasters are remarkable environments that bring out the very
best in Americans. Disasters tragically strip people down to the core —
the superficial stuff in our lives quickly evaporates and all that is
left is core, heart and soul. And in that environment, people are able
to connect, core to core. It is an honor and privilege to be able to
work in partnership with communities, schools and families in this way.
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Read another first-hand account by Save the Children US staff member Kate Conradt
For more information read the News Release , or contact Mike Kiernan +1 202 261 4686