Topic: Somerset County MRC Volunteers

“Reflections of Katrina, A personal perspective”

Volunteers:  Andrea Babchak, Tim Johnston, Janet George-Murnick

Date:  Monday, November 28  

To all MRC Volunteers:  I would like to share a few comments from our recent program for those of you who were unable to join us last month.  I would also like to thank our volunteers in this forum for all their dedication, inspiration and motivation to help our fellow man during difficult times. In addition to deploying out of state, they were willing to take time out of their busy schedules to share their experiences with us. I cannot articulate how much we gained from their insight. I also cannot convey to all of you who were unable to attend what they shared, the reasons they decided to volunteer or how they were affected by the entire experience.  Please take a moment to review the following excerpts.

 

I hope this enables you in the future to make informed decisions should the need arise to respond to an emergency on a local level. 

Respectfully, Lucille

(Pictured from left to right: Janet, Tim and Andrea.)

Andrea

When I signed up for the Medical Reserve Corp last year, I was expecting to get a little satisfaction out of volunteering my time; little did I know how much of an impact it would have on my life.  These memories of the people of Katrina are still very special, and I know they will be the rest of my life.  It helps remind me that it is important to volunteer and help in our local communities every day, because we should not wait for the catastrophes. 

 

Janet

When I stood in the bleachers above one of the basketball courts in the Baton Rouge River Center on September 27, my first night there, I began to appreciate the magnitude of the disaster.  Seven thousand people in one facility.  And many of them there since August 28.

My immediate thought was how could we as a nation have allowed this to happen? How could we expect anyone to live day and night on a cot guarding a green garbage bag filled with all his possessions?  How could the children, four thousand of them, be expected to run and play in the two feet of space allotted to them, for that was the distance between each cot.

The next morning I was given my assignment.  Not a health care related one as I had expected.  But one in Public Affairs working with domestic and foreign correspondents who came to the River Center each day to record the stories of the shelter residents for their far away readers. I couldn't have been given a better task.

Each day for the next two weeks I walked among the rows of cots stopping and talking to all who responded to my handshake and introduction.  "Hi", I would say. "I'm Janet and I'm from New Jersey" as I had been taught by my Red Cross trainer.  Some answered; some did not.  And so I began my odyssey to gain the trust of and learn the stories of many of the families for whom River Center had become home.  And to determine which ones would be willing and able to tell their stories to the press.

I met African Americans, Hispanics, Caucasians, and South Asians.  I met forty five year old great grandmothers and one week old babies.  I met physicians and lawyers.  I met truck drivers and waiters.  But mostly I met people.  People who were living testimony to their resilience.  People who had not only lost their homes and their jobs.  People who had even lost their children.

As I heard their stories I began to feel they were part of my family.  I became concerned for their well being when I could not find them on the X-Y grid that was their address.   When the lucky ones began to leave for the FEMA trailer park I missed them.

Katrina was a lifechanging experience for me and one that I would do again in a minute.

 

Tim

Tim conveyed his feelings with pictures and music that he prepared which I wish I could share with you all. He and his son created a heartfelt and enlightening DVD with a selection of music to allow him to reflect on the entire experience and how it affected him and his family.