I have had the privilege of working in the communities of Whittlesea, Kinglake, Kinglake West and Flowerdale over the past three weeks. Called up to help coordinate the Material Aid Centre in Whittlesea I spent the first 10 days or so working with a team of people that took delivery of the mountain of generous donations given by people from all over Australia.
My role in the last few weeks has changed focus to the affected communities (pictures opposite) up in the hills. It's here that I have experienced, and been on the receiving end, of just about every human emotion. And most of this as a result of well intentioned people; people who want to help and so make promises that cannot be kept, (or at least not in the time frame that the affected people need).
One of the things I am reminded of in this experience is that well intentioned is not good enough! It is not good enough to send well intentioned people into these environments - we need people that understand the emotional and physical roller coaster that is in play here. We need experienced people that are able to separate the barrage of anger from the release of frustration and fear.
We need organisations that have used the devastation to gain exposure by advertsising assistance to keep their word!
No longer is it good enough to promise and hope delivery is possible - we need to be professional: we need to know our limitations, our resources and our capacities and we need to do what we do well.
