The Real Medicine Foundation's Psycho-Trauma Teams have completed the first phase of our pilot project, using mobile quick-response teams for the psychological support and counseling of children affected by disasters, as well as their parents, caregivers, teachers and community members. The concept had been devised shortly after the 2004 tsunami, realizing how desperately psychological and emotional support for the victims was missing.
Working closely with the Superintendent of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Mary McDonald, we supported the approximately 330 displaced Gulf Coast children and their families that had been welcomed into the 29 schools of its school system. We worked with the principals and teachers as well as the parents, counselors and staff of the schools and provided a follow-up seminar for the counselors and educators of these schools in the week of October 17th.
Our teams in action...
Dr. Kevin Becker in
conversation with Dr. Mary McDonald, Superintendent of the
Catholic School System in Memphis
Most important to establish after a disaster
Dr. Annie Farnsworth and counselors
We helped to develop personalized models to help the staff respond to and anticipate the needs of the students. Just in a conversation today, on November 8, Dr. Mary McDonald said that, with the provided tools, she and her staff are doing really well and feel confident to handle the upcoming challenges.
This project will serve as a model project for the planned future work of the Real Medicine Foundation's psycho-trauma team internationally.
At this
point, we would like to provide resources for everybody, who is
interested to read more about how to handle children's psychological
and emotional challenges after disasters and traumata.
Please feel free to
contact us with any questions or if you feel we can be of service
to your community or if you would like to specifically speak with
one of our psycho trauma specialists: info@realmedicinefoundation.org
During our time in Memphis, we learned about many children, who had lost all their toys in Hurricane Katrina and Rita. Our Real Medicine team members Lauren, Jade, Hana and Loren initiated a toy drive and we were able to distribute seven boxes filled with stuffed animals to the children in Memphis who had to evacuate from their homes and life as they knew it. Thank you to everybody who contributed, it was beautiful to see the children's joy!
Thank you as well to Viraj for sending us hundreds of the Coloring Workbooks "After the Hurricane with Oscar!" They were highly appreciated.
Coloring workbook for children
And last, but not least, thank you with all our hearts to Margaret and Fred, Liz, Lillian and Kemper for your unbelievable generosity! We would not have been able to work without your support, you made a difference in the lives of many, many children and their families! And thank you to all of the wonderful people, you know who you are, who were with us on this journey, thank you thank you thank you!
September
23, 2005
The
Real Medicine Foundation's second Psycho-Trauma Team has been
working on the ground in Memphis, Tennessee, since Monday, September
19. Our third team is coming in this weekend.
Here
is a quick update about our work so far:
Guided
by the Red Cross and the EMA (Emergency Management Association)
here in Memphis, we had started out providing psycho trauma support
with the first team that was put together by Dr. Kevin Becker,
the Director of the Institute of Trauma and Crisis at Harvard
Medical School, on Sunday, September 11. We worked in a shelter
that provided space for 150 people displaced by Hurricane Katrina,
70 of them children.
Katrina's
kids draw pictures of the Hurricane
On Tuesday,
September 13, we received an emergency call from the Red Cross
requesting our psycho trauma support for a horrible situation
in which a father needed to tell his four children about the death
of their mother in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. So, our team
went to a shelter in Memphis to facilitate and support the encounter.
St.
Jude's Children's Research Hospital here in Memphis requested
our help as well. We had an initial consultation with representatives
from various departments. They are currently treating children
of Gulf Coast families whose medical treatment was interrupted
by the hurricane. We have been invited to speak at an upcoming
grand rounds at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital on trauma
issues to those health care providers working with these families
both here in Memphis and in Baton Rouge.
In addition,
we are working closely with the Superintendent of the Catholic
Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee. This extraordinary school system
has opened its arms and doors to meet the educational and practical
daily living needs of approximately 330 displaced Gulf Coast children.
Over and over we were touched by the fact that nearly all of the
children have come with little more than the clothes on their
backs. "These people have lost everything, their homes, their
communities, their friends, their jobs and their schools." The
uncertain future weighs heavily on the children and their families.
The Diocese continues to generously open their schools and their
hearts to students arriving here daily.
Children
displaced by Hurricane Katrina are integrated into the Memphis
school system
School
uniform donations
Five
girls from New Orleans in Memphis
In our
initial meeting it became apparent that their system needed a
plan and a protocol for how to appropriately respond to the emotional
needs of these children and to help them assimilate. This week
we met with representatives from each of the 29 schools in the
district, serving pre K through the 12th grade. Through this direct
collaboration we have developed a personalized model to help the
staff respond to and anticipate the needs of its students. We
are committed to continuing to support the Diocese's efforts.
In the words of one staff member with whom we met "Memphis can
be proud" of the way they have opened their arms to the needs
of these families. Our team wholeheartedly agrees.
At this
point, we want to thank all the wonderful people who are making
it possible for us to be here and are so unbelievably generous
and welcoming. And thank you to all of you who are supporting
this work with your expertise and financial contributions, we
would not be able to do anything without your amazing and continuous
support. You are helping to make a huge difference in the lives
of many, many people! It is so wonderful to see how this "network
of friends helping friends" is growing every day. And an especially
big Thank you to you, Meg, for sharing your family and your friends
and your resources, words are not enough to express our gratitude!
We will
continue to update you on our work and progress, please stay tuned.
Dr. Martina Fuchs and
Jeffrey Weir at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital,
Memphis
Dr. Kevin Becker and counselors
Dr. Gerri King, James
Kinhan, Dr. Annie Farnsworth, George Valadie, President
of the St. Benedict High School, Memphis
Dr. Penny Haney and Jeffrey
Weir at St. Paul School in Memphis
Jeffrey Weir at St.
Paul School in Memphis
Dr. Penny Haney at
St. Paul School in Memphis
Dr. Annie Farnsworth
at a seminar for staff of the Catholic School District of
Memphis, at St. Benedict High School
James Kinhan,
Dr. Annie Farnsworth,
and Dr. Gerri King
in conversation with teachers at the Immaculate Conception
School in Memphis
Stephanie Skavenski
at the shelter at the Mid-South Baptist Conference Center
Dr. Guy Sapirstein, Dr. Penny Haney and Dr. Annie Farnsworth
September 7, 2005
The Real
Medicine Foundation is currently assembling its first Mobile Psycho-Trauma
Team to assist those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, which struck
the Gulf Coast of the United States on Aug. 29. The volunteer team
of professionals will provide emotional and psychological support
and counseling to help children, families and communities cope with
the aftermath of the catastrophe.
We are requesting donations in order to reach locations housing hurricane victims as quickly as possible.
While the government and hundreds of other organizations are working to provide food, clothing and shelter to hurricane victims, the volunteers of the Real Medicine Foundation believe that relief from the emotional distress can be as important, particularly for children.
"Children who experience adverse events like natural disasters and other traumatic events frequently go on to develop serious psychological after-effects that can last a lifetime," said Dr. Kevin Becker, director of the Institute for Trauma & Crisis at Harvard University's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and a member of the mobile team. "Timely and appropriate support is key to preventing these long-term impacts."
A model for the Psycho-Trauma Units proposed for Katrina relief was devised shortly after the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, an Indian Ocean island nation where more than 30,000 were killed by the Dec. 26 waves. Real Medicine had provided support and counseling to the children of Sri Lankan coastal towns devastated by the disaster.
The idea for a mobile, quick-response psychological support team fills a void to which other organizations are unable to attend in the initial period following a disaster. Each unit is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team of professionals, which typically include physicians, psychologists and community workers.
We are planning to have an initial team in place as early as Sept. 9. Future teams in additional locations depend on the support of private donations and those professionals willing to volunteer their time. Funding just one team's expenses costs the foundation $16,000 for a few critical weeks following a disaster.
The idea behind Real Medicine is that it's friends coming together to help friends. To this point, we have been able to provide support to people half a world away. Never in our nightmares could we have predicted that the next place people needed our help would be in our own back yard.
RealMedicineFoundation.org is a Nonprofit Organization, created pursuant to California Nonprofit Public Benefit Law, operating for charitable and educational purposes with confirmation as a 501c3 tax exempt organization.
