 |
| Photo by CDS/John Elms |
| A
young client of Children's Disaster Services in San Francisco following
the crash landing of an Asiana Airline plane in early July. CDS
volunteers are specially trained to help children use creative play to
work out the feelings of fear and loss that follow a disaster. |
Following the July 6 crash landing of an Asiana Airline plane at the
San Francisco airport, five volunteers from the Critical Response
Childcare Team of Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) worked with
children for three full days from July 10-12.
The Critical Response Childcare Team is specially trained to provide
care for children and families following mass casualties events like
airplane crashes. The group worked in San Francisco at the request of
the American Red Cross.
The following story from this CDS response was shared by team member
Mary Kay Ogden. For more information about Children’s Disaster Services
go to
www.brethren.org/cds.
Harold Giggler
Four year old Harold Giggler arrived at the Crowne Plaza Children’s
Disaster Services center in Burlingame near the San Francisco Airport on
Wednesday, July 10. Harold Giggler is not his real name. We couldn't
pronounce his given name. The CDS Critical Response Childcare providers
named him after we got to know him. He and his parents had survived the
Asiana airplane crash on July 6, and Harold rode in on a deluxe
wheelchair with a casted broken left leg, which was to be kept immobile.
Harold was accompanied by either his mom, his dad, a cousin or all
three. There was always someone to interpret, but the main language of
communication was play. It wasn't until the third time that the parents
left him in our care while they went to the hotel restaurant for some
food. It can take a long time to earn trust, especially in a foreign
country where your child's language is not spoken.
The group of five CDS childcare providers named him Harold because
the only crayon he had any interest in was purple. This reminded us of
the children’s book “Harold and the Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson.
Two of us had listened carefully to his name and repeated it several
times. However, Harold did not respond in the slightest degree of
recognition when we used it, so we likely mispronounced it and used the
wrong intonation.
We had a low table that Harold could sit parallel to and reach most
items. Harold started off with the wooden puzzle, which had nine shapes.
The first time, and every visit afterwards, he took out and put aside
the oval, half circle, and circle. He especially liked the black
trapezoid. After completing the puzzle with colors up, he put it
together again with the color sides facing down. Harold worked with
focus and determination.
The more time we spent with Harold, the more he jabbered in Mandarin.
We smiled and nodded a lot. While we could not pronounce his name, he
repeated in English some of the shape words his father taught him,
including trapezoid.
When we brought the purple play doh over to him, he began pressing
the puzzle shapes into the play doh. That is when some major giggling
started. It continued when we flattened out some dough, thinking this
would make the shape pressing more successful. He decided it was a
pancake and that it should be eaten. So we pretended to do so. Once it
disappeared he decided teeth brushing was in order. The giggles just got
louder and more frequent.
He painstakingly built a tower out of Legos, using only the blue and
the red ones. After completion and applause, he knocked the whole thing
over in a fashion very typical of any preschooler.
It was the giggles and the eye contact that informed our actions.
When something dropped, he would look at us and then down, effectively
saying, "Pick it up!" Like many preschoolers, when he tired of coloring
with his purple crayon, he pushed his clipboard and crayon off his lap
and onto the floor. After picking them up several times, we pretended to
go to sleep by closing our eyes and putting our heads on our hands near
our shoulders. Soon three adult women were doing this, and Harold
laughed with enthusiasm. Then he joined us and would wake us all up with
noise and fist pumping. We all mimicked his actions, and by then Harold
had earned his second name: Giggler.
It was 9:30 p.m. when Harold Giggler left to see the doctor next door
to get some medication for pain. We were all tired, but refreshed with
the resiliency of a four year old who never complained, worked around
his casted leg, and was very easily entertained. The name Harold Giggler
and the memory of his lilting voice and laughter will always bring a
smile to our faces.
Source: 8/8/2013 Newsline
There
is still time to register for National Older Adult Conference (NOAC).
If you are age 50 or older, plan on joining others from across the
Church of the Brethren denomination at beautiful Lake Junaluska, N.C.,
on Sept. 2-6.
Brethren
Benefit Trust (BBT) has launched a news and information website titled
“ReformWatch,” offering information about health care reform and the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
“God
of Life, Lead Us to Justice and Peace” is the theme for the World
Council of Churches 10th Assembly on Oct. 30-Nov. 8 in Busan, South
Korea. Congregations may walk alongside the church delegates preparing
to travel to South Korea this fall through use of special study and
worship resources titled “Pilgrimage to Busan: An Ecumenical Journey
into World Christianity.”
When Church of the Brethren member Clair Mock took his annual
birthday motorcycle ride on July 25, the “Bedford Gazette” featured the
event with an article and photos--noting that at 108 Mock is the second
oldest resident of Pennsylvania. Mock celebrated the day with a
motorcycle ride on the back of his nephew Neal Weaver’s Harley, and a
trip to the County Fair where he was greeted by Pennsylvania Secretary
of Agriculture George Grieg. Present for the occasion were his daughter
and former Annual Conference moderator Elaine Sollenberger,
granddaughter Lori Knepp, and great granddaughter Morgan Knepp, among
other family, friends, and well wishers. Newsline thanks Frank Ramirez
for being present to take this photograph and being one of those at the
motorcycle ride send off!