Volunteering To Help After Major Disasters

But what most of these people don't realize is that spontaneous volunteers with no training and no affiliation can actually cause more problems than they alleviate in a disaster situation, particularly regarding disaster locations far from their home. The priority in these situations is helping the people affected by the disaster, NOT giving spontaneous, unaffiliated volunteers an outlet for their desire to help.

During and after disasters, what's desperately needed is equipment, supplies and expertise in disaster situations -- that's the priority. These are incredibly complicated situations that require people with a very high degree of qualifications and long-term commitment, not just good will, a sense of urgency and short-term availability. Unless you have a formal affiliation with a recognized disaster relief organization, and training with that organization, you are probably going to be turned away if you want to help onsite, particularly in other countries.

If you have been moved by a disaster to help in some way immediately, please consider donating financially. Money is desperately needed in these situations to purchase food, medicine, shelter, transportation, and supplies. Disaster relief organizations cannot rely only on donations of these materials; having finances means they can buy what they need and move quickly -- and time is of the essence in these situations. In addition to giving funds yourself, you can help by making sure friends and associates know how to give (you might be surprised how many people don't know where or how to). A simple link on your own site or blog, or a link at the end of your emails, can be a huge help.

If you want to truly help with a disaster beyond financial donations, start thinking NOW about ways to get the training and affiliations you need to do such effectively. There are many ways you can put yourself into a position for such. Here's why you need such training, and ways to get it:

• In disaster situations, volunteers must be mentally and physically prepared to work 14 hour days (or more) in highly-stressful situations where their own basic needs must be kept to a minimum. They may have to live in austere conditions, sleeping in a tent (that they must bring themselves) or a gymnasium with dozens, even hundreds, of other people. Just saying you can do all of this is NOT enough -- what happens if you get to the situation and discover you cannot handle what's happening around you? Volunteers who show up, unaffiliated, untrained and not self-sufficient, get in the way rather than helping, and take precious resources from those who have been devastated in a disaster situation.

• In disaster situations, you are going to be encountering disaster victims. They are going to be stressed, maybe desperate, and maybe angry. As a trained volunteer working with a credible organization, you are going to know how to comfort these people and direct them to where they can get assistance. If you are untrained and unaffiliated, you may become a target of their anger, because you cannot provide them with appropriate assistance, or because you provide them with incorrect information.

• Don't just assume that because you have equipment, you can volunteer: inexperienced people have been killed using chain saws after hurricanes and other disasters, by falling limbs and live electrical wires, during clean up efforts.

• Another reason not just pack up and go: in situations like the tsunami in Asia, the earthquake in Pakistan, or even Hurricane Katrina, there was NO food, shelter or services to spare for volunteers. Many volunteers coming into these areas had to be absolutely self-sustaining for days, even weeks. No shelter or safety measures could be provided to volunteers by the government.

• Also, in traveling to other countries, volunteers need visas and documents that affirm their expertise. You can't simply show up at the border and announce that, say, you are a doctor. The government does not have time to determine if you are who you say you are.

• Spontaneous volunteers also may not familiar with the concepts of situation assessments, incident management or chain of command. These three skills are essential in disaster situations, to ensure that resources get where they are needed as quickly as possible, rescues and relief efforts go to the most needed, efforts aren't duplicated in one area while another area has absolutely nothing, etc. They must understand boundaries and accept supervision. Gaining these skills comes from previous training with a credible organization specifically regarding disaster response.

• There's also a problem with people showing up at disaster sites under the guise of wanting to volunteer, but who are actually there to take advantage of unattended houses and shops, or even to exploit disaster victims, taking what few resources they may have and even harming them physically. To ensure the safety of victims, disaster organizations need volunteers who have already been screened and trained -- two things that can't be done during the disaster itself but, rather, need to have been done months earlier.

• If you want to be able to pack up and help onsite with the next disaster, you need training NOW with a credible organization in disaster relief. Even if you are an expert in, say, creating wireless communications networks in remote areas, or you are a professional nurse, you need training in working specifically in disaster situations in order to be considered for future mobilizations. Where to get training?
   
  
  • The American Red Cross is a good place to start.

  • Consider joining a local volunteer firefighting unit, or volunteer auxiliary supporting the police -- if you are accepted, you will receive training and experience that can help in disaster relief close to home.

  • Contact the member organizations of National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), which coordinates planning efforts by many voluntary organizations responding to disaster. NVOAD is not itself a service delivery organization; its member organizations independently provide relief and recovery services.

  • Contact the United Way or your nearest Volunteer Center for more information on how to receive training for disaster relief and crisis response.

• If you are already a volunteer in any way, for any organization, explore ways that the organization could include disaster response training for volunteers. For instance: if you volunteer at a museum, you could ask for training on how to handle art work in moving it to another location in a crisis situation. If you volunteer at an animal shelter, you could ask for training on how to accept pets that aren't allowed in shelters during a disaster, how to move animals in a crisis situation, how to engage in efforts to reconnect lost pets with owners after a disaster, and so forth. Once fully trained, the organization could publicize volunteer availability in case of emergency -- however, be aware that, in such situations, volunteers will probably have to be entirely self-funded -- no organization, probably, will pay for your transportation to and from the disaster site, nor your accommodations and food while there. Also, the organization with whom you volunteer may not have the funds to pay for such training -- the volunteers themselves have to fund raise or pay for the training themselves.

• Consider working with disaster response organizations and government agencies in your area to develop a campaign to help educate community members regarding how to prepare to live for seven days without electricity or running water, and how to create an escape, rendezvous and post-evacuation communications plan for the entire household. Such a campaign would need ongoing workshops, public service announcements on the radio and TV, perhaps even a cell phone text messaging campaign, and certainly lots and lots of volunteers.

• And remember: in engaging in disaster training, the skills you will learn may end up helping you in your home community as well -- what community hasn't, at some time, experienced a flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake or fire that caused wide-spread damage? Sooner or later, a disaster strikes every community, and having local people trained in disaster response will help greatly with immediate recovery efforts.

Once you have training you think could be of value in a disaster situation, register at HelpinDisaster.org, an initiative of the Points of Light Foundation to register disaster volunteers.

Places to look for credible organizations receiving donations for disasters:

NetWork for Good

ReliefWeb

• Vetting Organizations in Other Countries
  One of the frequently asked questions I receive is: "how do I know if a mission-based organization in another country is 'for real'? I want to volunteer/donate to such, but first, I want to make sure it's a credible organization, that it's not some sort of scam, or an 'organization' of just one person." This list of suggestions is my answer.

• Reality Check: Volunteering Abroad (especially for citizens of the USA)
  Times have changed drastically in the last 30 years regarding Americans and other "westerners" volunteering in other countries. The emphasis in local relief and development efforts is to empower local people, and to hire local people, whenever possible, to address their own issues, build their own capacities, and give them employment. This strategy is much more beneficial to local communities than to bring in an outside volunteer. That said -- the days of international volunteers are NOT numbered: there will always be a need for international volunteers, either to fill gaps in knowledge and service in a local situation, or because a more neutral observer/contributor is required. This new page provides tips on gaining the skills and experience that are critically needed to volunteer overseas.

• Hosting International Volunteers
  More and more local organizations in developing countries are turning to local expertise, rather than international volunteers, to support their efforts. However, the need for international volunteers remains, and will for many, many years to come. This resource provides tips for local organization in a developing countries interested in gaining to international volunteers.

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