** Please note I wrote this with pictures I cant post a Pdf so you have to refer to the pictures in the album and the story write up. More pictures later when I get to the camera pics. On the 2nd to the 5th of January I was honored to be invited to be a volunteer for the Flood relief Humanitarian Mission organized by the Kuala Kubu Bharu Malaysian Fire and Rescue Academy to Gua Musang Kelantan. The mission statement read This humanitarian mission will focus on the victims affected by the flood disaster in terms of the distribution of donated food and drink , shelter , security, and management of cases of phobias and trauma caused by floods so that they can continue to live in peace and post-flood. The mission did donate good, but the main task of the volunteer firemen (and one fire woman) was to use the specialized Fire and rescue pumps and waterhoses to clean out the mud and slit in schools, community areas and homes. So we would spend almost a day in one village school area. This team of firemen I went with were amazing, if they are an example of the Malaysian Fire and Rescue workers than I have to say we are in good skilled hands. They are skilled, hardworking and dedicated. As such I was privileged to actually talk to some villages for a good period of time, go into their home and sit with them. I could not talk to all villages though, mainly because while I speak fluent Bahasa Malaysa, Kelantanese is totally a different language. So some villagers just could not understand my Malay and vice versa. I would like to take this opportunity to share some of what I learned from this mission . The stories shared by the villages are for a different time, this is focused on what I saw that shocked me, and how we as volunteers and helpers perhaps need to shift gears so that we help solve rather than contribute to the problem. First issue do not judge, some reports have come out saying that villagers are bored or waiting for help, more village community projects are needed. Please stop this kind of talk. The Villages are hard working and it is too easy for people passing to make assumptions when they see villages just sitting in the community centers. The villagers have done more than any of us can imagine unless you have been faced with a similar situation. The villagers are overwhelmed, tired and fatigued to the bone. They had to clean their own homes (of the homes still standing) of a foot or more of mud, just using spades and brooms. See the album for the picture of mud in the kitchen of a Kampung house. The family with small children had already by themselves cleaned their hall and living areas but faced with a foot of mud in their kitchens they needed a break. They were very shy to ask the firemen to go into their homes, but because I had gone in and talked to them. They asked me if It was okay and of course it was. The kitchen floor was literally caked with a foot of mud. When the water gun first hit the mud, it was almost immobile, then it began to bubble and finally shift. At that point the stench that was released by the mud was gagging. Without the water gun, I can only imagine how hard it would be to more that mud by hand as the mud got harder and harder as the days went by. While volunteers and rescue units do an amazing job, the first heroes in this are actually the villagers. Yes they need help, but they are behind the scenes helping themselves. Slowing trying to rebuilt a drowned, mud covered life. The second and probably the most pertinent issue, that volunteer groups must start addressing is this. Dear friends, I would like you to think, very, very generous and kind hearted people, have donated boxes of goods, carefully packed in plastics, boxes and cans. So what exactly is happening to the lorry and truck loads of packing materials being brought into remote areas? Areas in which all the items in the house has just become garbage? Truck loads of goods come in and leave empty. Garbage services are not yet up and running, what do you think is happening to all the rubbish? I hate to say this but all of us who bring goods in, unless you are leaving with a truck load of rubbish, you have just contributed to a continuing health crisis that is going to hit the area. The Villagers can clean inside their home, they cannot also clean the outside at the same time. There is NO place to throw rubbish. Where there are small village fire pits plastic, styrofoam, tins and goodness only knows what and being burned. I doubt what is being released by these small fires is in any way good for the environment. The solution for this is rather simple, ridiculously so in fact. The teams that go into an area full of goods to be donated, please, please come out full as well. Full of rubbish that would otherwise be collecting, ignored or pushed to a corner where it will become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and disease. There are no convenient garbage trucks going into remote areas to make the rubbish disappear. We as volunteers and helpers have to be aware of this. The villagers are not going to ask you to clean - we have to be aware and do this as part of our mission/ The same is to be said when villagers have enough of old clothes and non-durable goods. If you see clothes piling up and you have more old clothes, please just leave with the clothes - do not leave it there and add to the health risk in the area. Health and cleanliness is a major, major issue. I have not even mentioned toilets, and honestly I really would rather leave it to your imagination. A small example is provided in the following picture of the sludge that is coming out of a school water tank. This was more than a foot deep and hand to be cleaned manually before the water gun could do its magic. With plumbing systems not functioning the water in the tank was used for everything, all the daily needs of the village... as I mentioned I will leave the details to your imagination. Following the cleaning, the firemen pumped the river water into water containers for the villagers to use. The coffee colored water is water from the river, the color comes from the soil, which will separate from the water after a day or two. Once the soil has settled the water is relatively clean. Wow this write up is longer than I had anticipated and it is not even the tip of what is going on. This is a school where the firemen were cleaning a foot of mud FROM THE FIRST FLOOR!!! On the Ground floor - well I think the pictures says it all. The waterguns cannot handle this amount of mud buildup, it has to be first moved by hand. I admit, I was naive in imagining the scale of the disaster. Help efforts have got to be more targeted and planned. In many ways we are missing the mark and the disaster becomes a tragedy if one of the cans we donated became a breeding ground for mosquitoes that killed the very children we were trying to help. So my humble suggestions for flood interventions in Malaysia. 1. First two days send in water, food, blankets, towels and slippers ONLY. Food has to be ready to eat stuff canned chicken and sardines, bread, dried fish etc (Do not send instant noodles, there is no hot water yet to boil) 2. After the two-three days other good, clothes need to be sorted and packed so that people feel that you are donating and not dumping. Culture of the groups that you are donating to must be taken into consideration. Exchange empty gas containers with full ones. Help remove the garbage as you leave and remove the rubbish from the area to the actual garbage dumps. Donate if you can directly to the families so that they can begin to prepare to go home. Donate directly to families, talk to people spend a bit of time with them. Once you have spent time they may be more willing to share what they actually need. 3. Dont just bring food. COOK!! The village women have been cooking and cleaning for days. They are fatigued themselves. If you come with a team, do not just give things and go, have a few members actually cook a hot meal for the village. Again the villagers will not ask you to cook for them but hot food and someone else to actually cook and clean is a real luxury at this time. 4. Donate cleaning items and I cannot overstate this, help with the clean-up. 5. Coordinate - some places get too much some too little. I do not know how we can do this but major NGOs need to coordinate where they are going so that help is better targeted and supplied. Working with departments like Bomba and Army need to be coordinated. 6. Temporary shelters need to be donated for the homes that have been destroyed. 7. Probably the MOST important suggestion. STOP DESTROYING THE HILLS AND JUMGLES. I stopped counting the number of small land slides that I saw. Concrete bridges washed away, sheer destruction.. sorry Iit overwhelming to write about that without getting angry. Will do so next time, if you are interested. Once again, kudos to the firemen and fire woman from the KKB Fire and Rescue Academy who volunteered for this mission, you are amazing people, thank you so much for allowing me to tag along. Written by : Dr. Anasuya Jegathevi Jegathesan, Senior Lecturer HELP University Malaysia, Licensed Counsellor, Board member of Persatuan Counsellor Malaysia
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 01:54:25 +0000