By Joseph O. Prewitt
Diaz, PhD
Introduction
As the aftershocks continue in
Nepal, humanitarian assistance has been steadily on-going. From Nepal
Government Reports, UN reports, NGO’s and the Red Cross appeals all posted on
internet or circulated through news reports and the social media. Thee reader
can surmise two points: (1) The Nepal earthquake and the sequel have had
devastating social, psycho-social, medical, and public health consequences. (2)
The community mobilization activities among the directly and indirectly
affected people have not sufficiently explored the growing needs for getting
back to a normal pre-disaster life. We have not heard whether community
mobilization, past the immediate response has explored post-disaster
redefinition of place in terms of appreciation for life, psycho-social nature of
relationships, and the deeper impact in spirituality and religious faith.
Challenges
The nature of the disaster, the
loss of place and collective histories , the lack of health care, uncertainty
of well-being of family and friends, and
many aftershocks have surely resulted in increased levels of distress
and fear. The resulting overt behavior expressed as distrust in the immediate
response efforts from government and others, the disorganization of everyday
community life, and the lack of information about the future have resulted in
feelings of lack of safety and security. Neglect of marginalized groups such as
the women, children, elderly, people with disabilities and other social
outcasts increases psycho-social confusion and delayed disaster rehabilitation
services.
Accessing the impacted people
After assuring safety and
security, developing activities that assure calmness are in order. Usually
people feel calmness when they feel in control of their lives, and their place.
Usually allowing affected people to share in a group about their historic
environment leads to an enhanced awareness of sense of place and calmness.
These focused group, community walks, and informal chats would cover three
themes: what makes our place unique, what activities or features of our place
lead to continuity, and how our place helps us achieve our goals. Finally
develop a functional definition of what the community members understand as
well-being (resilience).
The beginning of a feeling of
hope and looking at the future comes out of the answer to four questions:
(1)
What
do we want? Usual response is to satisfy basic needs, and begin to
articulate what the future looks like—reconstruct the school, the health post,
and a recreation space. They may want to generate a happy place. No matter what
the affected people list looks like, there are going to be some cultural and
environmental projects. The affected people will have to identify the social
capital available in their place. They identify their situation, and as they
look at problem solving, they develop solution focused activities that
culminate in well-being i.e. resilience.
(2) What do we have? The affected people identify the social
capital available in their place, such as the number of people willing to work
by skill sets, prior experience or private resources such as land or a water
hole. Social capital interaction serves a different role: (1) brings together
people with common interests and activities, and (2) identifies human spot
where tension exists. Ultimately, social capital activities open a space for psycho-social
support in the area of bonding or bridging activities, thus linking social
capital with community mobilization.
(3)
How
do we reshape our place? The affected people may actively engage in re-establishing
their place and mobilizing human capital. How the affected people organize
themselves to achieve their objective. Identify external stakeholders, develop
a plan, visit with government officials, and engage others, such as faith based
groups. Re-establishment of place provides the opportunity for the development
of a stronger sense of place. The more people involved in place shaping
activities the greater the social capital developed.
(4)
How
do we know we have achieved well being-resilience? The
affected people develop a set of objective with specific tasks, timeline, and
person responsible. They will have a written vision of what the finished
product looks like. Usually a trusted elderly person will keep a record of the
number of people who worked, how many hours, what resources came from the
community and which came from external stakeholders. The leadership of the
place will organize information activities usually an evening meal at intervals to inform people of the
completion of task and celebrate their accomplishments, the relationship among
the people, and the social mix that these activities have generated.