Self-Organizing Man

Flexibility and Accountability

I still await deployment by the Red Cross.

The scope of need boggles the mind.

200,000 + survivors living in Red Cross shelters over 27 states.

500,000 + meals per day served by Red Cross volunteers and paid staff.

85,000+ volunteers serving the needs of Red Cross clients.

40,000+ additional volunteers needed to meet the immediate needs of survivors.

[Note: The Red Cross still provides services to survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing.]

The Red Cross responded to the aftermath of Katrina by changing their volunteer policies. Previously they only deployed long standing volunteers of one year of more to federal disasters. For Katrina they have trained, and are training, spontaneous volunteers. Since late August, the national office changed the training manual nine times to meet the changing needs of Katrina survivors.

The Red Cross expects to have had over 1,000,000 face-to-face contacts with survivors.

Flexibility remains a value I struggle with. Yet stability arises from flexibility. Standing upright, I fall over when I force myself to remain rigid. When I relax and stay flexible and let my body sway with my breathing I remain upright.

The Red Cross’ flexibility allows them to save lives.

My biggest epiphany: I cannot claim bragging rights for assisting survivors through a hardship deployment while letting my home responsibilities slip. I remain accountable to my family and my choices and my ethics.

I cannot let go of small things in lieu of greater glory. Tasks needing completion in the present call for action. Hardship deployments, no matter how wonderful and necessary and extraordinary, remain in the realm of the future.

How I do anything is how I do everything.