Volunteers assemble at 7:30 in the morning and hear a talk by the guy in the picture. The talk was the same all three days I was there. It's mostly about the pitfalls of volunteering. First, we are warned not to take pictures when working in the disaster area. The influx of volunteers can be irritating for disaster victims. When volunteers snap casual pictures of their devistated homes it is obviously extremely callous. I decided not to even bring my camera, because picture-taking is a basic travelers' instinct that is hard to resist. Better not to have the option.
Next, the lecture on boots, which begins "Safety boots are not safe." Of course they're not- when you're walking on large nails scattered at random angles. The solution is metal inserts, but even these can't prevent attacks from the side!
After that, he talks about the three slopes of life: the downward slope when life is going fine (kudari saka), the upward slope when life gets hard (nobori-saka), and the "ma-saka", the "Impossible!" Well, these people just ran into the "Impossible!" Volunteers blundering around in the wreckage, trying to do good, should keep that in mind.
A lot of adventures you are having! It's really interesting to get the bits of this that you are able to write about. What an experience you are having!
ReplyDeleteScary to think of a world in which safety boots are not safe. Interesting briefing on sensitivity as well. I am sure you are wise to have left your camera behind.
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