A victory constituting scientific intervention, humanitarian action and divine miracle! This is a story with a happy ending for few families that has made millions of eyes around the world moist. Although only 17 are out and 16 miners are still inside, the happiness from the ongoing reunions is irresistible to those who are waiting and watching.
This story also reminds us of resilience that we human beings possess, a capacity to bounce back from an adverse event. These brave men have not only survived a very challenging period of their lives, most of them have carried out responsibilities such as a journal writer, camera man, spiritual leader and secretary of the group. Needless to say, this situation will leave some psychological scars on these miners but with support and right focus, they will remain victorious!
A great example of a nation's unity and commitment towards it's countrymen. I hope other countries will learn a lesson from this event. There are millions of families who are still waiting to know the fate of their dear ones who are separated as a result of an armed conflict or a disaster and are asking for sincere assistance from different States around the world.
And finally, for those of us, who are trapped in our own mines where we may not see a ray of hope in a particular situation, loosing hope in the moments of solitude, it is an inspirational story. If they survived, we will survive too and be victorious. Peace will be restored again!
Additional Resources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_resilience
- http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/family_links?OpenDocument
I liked this post.
ReplyDeleteThank you Chile for this lesson on resilience
ReplyDeleteOver the last twenty years we have attempted to understand why people are able to survive in spite of terrible odds and bounce back. Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Sociologist, and Humanitarian workers have attempted to conduct studies with disaster-affected people in order that they may understand this phenomena. We now know, that Resilience is:
• a dynamic process that may vary from one social context to the next and from one worldview to another.
• pertains to the ability of adults who are exposed to an adverse event to maintain relatively stable, healthy levels of psychological and physical functioning.
Resilient individuals may experience transient perturbations in normal functioning but generally exhibit a stable trajectory of healthy functioning across time, as well as the capacity for generative experiences and positive emotions.
Chile woke up to a major tragedy some 70 days ago. Thirty-three miners had been trapped underground and there was no word if they were dead of alive. Seventeen days later the news arrived: all thirty-three were alive. The Government of Chile put a mechanism in place to save these miners.
As soon as the condition permitted, communication between the rescuers and the trapped miners were initiated. Communications were oriented to provide a sense of security and well being at the beginning, the objective was to maintain the miners calm and to engage them in activities that would promote their desire to live—the dynamic process had changed for these miners, there was shift in the paradigm and a shift in world view was necessary. The miner’s were encouraged to identify tasks that enhanced group cohesiveness, and promoted volunteer actions that fostered the well-being of the group.
As I write this lines 19 miners have been rescued. Although they faced difficult life threatening situation they have emerged victorious.
What did we learn from the Chilean effort? We learned two important things: (1) that the early interventions with the miners and their families assured security, calmness and promoted physical and psychological well-being, thus instilling hope and (2) bolstering an environment of recovery with the aim of bringing the miners back to a gradual pre-disaster levels.
Most important, we were able to see, after a long time how the Chilean country, so divided by political sequalae, shifted this disaster to a nation building exercise. We saw resilience at work: a shift in the response approach brought about a health adjustment, and a successful rescue mission.
Thank you miners, family and friends. Thank you Chile!
Thanx, Gudiya .
ReplyDeleteHar haadse ke peechhe aati hai
Ek Jaadu ki Pudiya !
Thanks, Joe for such an insightful and informative comment!
ReplyDeleteOshiya, thanks for visiting the blog and the comment :-)
Thanks for the information Joe.
ReplyDeleteGudia can you remove 'word verification' option. It will make easier for the visitors to post comments.
ReplyDeleteI removed it, sir! :-)
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