‘How did the ducks get out of the water?’: Stories from Disaster Child Care

Disaster Child Care volunteer Patty Henry, who served in Denver, Colo., caring for children evacuated from Hurricane Katrina, shared the following stories from her daily journal:

“I rock a four year old and sing to her. She listens to ‘Five Green and Speckled Frogs.’ Then I sing ‘Five Little Ducks.’ She interrupts, ‘How did the ducks get out of the water?’ I explain that ducks can swim out, or use their wings to fly out of the water. I begin again to sing ‘Five Little Ducks.’ Again she asks, ‘How did the ducks get out of the water?’ and it dawns on me.... I ask her, ‘Were you in the water?’

“She tells me her story: ‘I fell off the roof in the water! Mommy catched me.’ I asked how her baby brother got off the roof. ‘Mommy catched him too. Then we got in a boat and they took us to a basketball game.’ I wonder if this is the Astro Dome? But we only wonder, we don’t ask. We’re not here to interrogate.

“We have a new family here today. A nine-year-old boy’s pants keep falling down. I tell him ‘You’re sagging!’ He replies, ‘Well... my belt is DROWNING!’

“A child from Louisiana is having a difficult time. Age nine, she frequently sits in a corner with her thumb in her mouth. She fights with her siblings and has frequent melt downs, crying. We hold and rock her, sit beside her, and take walks with her. She is very, very angry, and after three days we are still concerned about her ability to cope safely with all of this.”

Source: 9/28/2005 Newsline
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