Belonging in the Face of Disaster

By Brian Smith


On this - the fifth anniversary of four hijacked planes crashing into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, DC and a field in Pennsylvania - I feel we should reflect on how important our sense of belonging can be, in the face of disaster. There are several complex issues at play when a disaster strikes our core need to feel safe and secure. I don't feel qualified to analyze these issues so I thought i'd just include some links to interesting articles, resources and stories that I came across in my internet-based reflection on one's sense of belonging following a disaster. Feel free to send me over other information on this topic.

The first is a great story entitled Weaving their way back from disaster. It's about tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka who rebuilt their sense of belonging around lace-weaving machines. Here's a short quote, “When I first met the women they were consumed with grief and anxiety. They explained how the lace-making machines gave them a sense of belonging to their past, since the craft is handed down from generation to generation,” Govender explained. “Once we gave them the machines, we quickly noticed the women talking to each other and sharing their sorrow and grief. They helped each other cope with their loss. Over time, we noticed their stress levels decreasing.”

Here is a good little article by Karen Pace from the Children, Youth and Family Programs department of Michigan State University. She is reflecting on the complexity of the resilience and maintenance of democracy after the 9/11 attacks. In The Character of a Nation is Tested, the author offers some strategies to address, "...sweeping stereotypes and hate-based reactions [that] rock the core values upon which a true and just democracy are based: respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, fairness, caring and citizenship."

Mohammed Mukhier wrote an article for The Optimist Magazine and titled it Surviving the bam earthquake: psychosocial support helps people to heal. This is a report on the humanitarian response following the earthquake in Bam, Iran in 2003. Here's a quote from the report, "Repairing human wounds is far more complex and difficult than repairing cracked buildings. Ef­fective psychosocial support to those affected by a disaster needs to begin within seconds and then last for years."

Finally, here is a story about part of the response to the earthquake in YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia this past June. I think this quote captures it nicely, “Even though the earthquake had destroyed almost everything in the villages we visited, we found that most people were staying in their communities,” said Bordoloi. “There was a sense of cohesiveness and resilience among villagers, and that even though structures were gone, the communities still remained intact.”