alxd ✏️ solarpunk prompts
Some friends decided to buy shovels and go to the southern #Poland to help with the #flood cleanup.
I'm asking them to first call the local crisis centers and NGOs and ask what do they need. Bringing some electronic components for failing water pumps, power banks, setting up provisional infrastructure might help much more than being just another person with a shovel.
I consider it #solarpunk to bring smart, organized help, instead of just #voluntourism .
Mat
@AlexanderKingsbury @alxd I will criticise people who don't bother to ask "what do you need?" because their uninformed "help" can be disruptive to already organised support.
Like, can we just communicate before doing stuff?
AKingsbury
Seriously? You're criticizing people for helping the wrong way?
Are you going there with power banks, replacement parts, etc? Or a shovel?
alxd ✏️ solarpunk prompts
@AlexanderKingsbury not criticizing, trying to connect them with actual people on the ground who know what kind of help is needed. Same as I do with Global Innovation Gathering with people who want to help the Global South.
My point is that we need to stop seeing help as an aesthetic and start asking what kind of help is needed most.
alxd ✏️ solarpunk prompts
@AlexanderKingsbury @matti_len I can confirm they did not ask what is needed.
AKingsbury
Do you know that these people did not ask? Or perhaps that there was no call from emergency managers or the like saying "Please, we need willing hands"?
sabik
@AlexanderKingsbury @alxd
Yeah, unless you're skilled (and ideally trained), you're going to be the opposite of help
In any humanitarian disaster area, there are already going to be too many people who can inexpertly swing a shovel and need to be housed and fed
If you're moved to help, sign up for training so you're ready to help with the next disaster
alxd ✏️ solarpunk prompts
@sabik @AlexanderKingsbury it's interesting, because this is actually the topic of the upcoming Solarpunk Prompt about relief efforts corps, trained specifically for a particular kind of help.
AKingsbury
"absolutely no knowledge with what is needed"? Really?
clacke
@AlexanderKingsbury Often when there's a natural disaster, the relief organizations and government need to tell people "please stop sending <thing>, we already have <thing>". Sometimes even when people are sending money!
A rando just deciding to go to a place has no idea what is needed, that's correct. Maybe they'll make a lucky guess, maybe they won't.
Are you arguing against the value of being informed?
AKingsbury
I'm openly saying that I've never heard of a significant flood that had too much labor in the first couple weeks. Now maybe you feel like answering the question I asked you.
alxd ✏️ solarpunk prompts
@AlexanderKingsbury @sabik as for me, yeah, I'm comparing them, as they're both:
going blindly with the aesthetics of "I want to help" and absolutely no knowledge with what is needed, no local context or points of contacts.
AKingsbury
Are you seriously comparing shovels and labor in a flood zone to medical devices with no support structure?
sabik
@AlexanderKingsbury @alxd
Are you seriously suggesting there's a shortage of shovels or labour in the area
alxd ✏️ solarpunk prompts
@AlexanderKingsbury a lot of what we in the North (of the word, not Poland ;) ) consider help can be actively harmful, as it's badly misaligned with the needs.
We keep sending medical devices with no spare parts, only to be discarded as soon as the first maintenance is due. A lot of our relief processes are set up as industries instead of actual help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGRtyxEpoGg is a good documentary on the tech aspects of the process.
AKingsbury
Have you ever helped clean up from a flood? Or talked to anyone that has?
alxd ✏️ solarpunk prompts
I have not helped clean up from a flood. I have put in a lot of physical labor into other relief efforts and I stand by my point:
A well-informed, well-coordinated effort does more than just another pair of hands does.
If I can get the people shoveling clean water, food, or to organize what and where to shovel, it counts at least as much, if not more. Networkers matter.
I don't want to keep "helping" as just aestheticized notion. Let's help smart.
AKingsbury
Can you also confirm that there was no call from any competent authority or organization for such help?
clacke
@AlexanderKingsbury What kind of cross-examination is this? They're friends, and @alxd is providing good advice on not rushing headlong into a critical situation with more good intentions than good sense.
hypolite
AKingsbury
@matti_len @clacke @alxd@writing.exchange @alxd
Is it "unreasonable" to go and help after a disaster?
alxd ✏️ solarpunk prompts
@AlexanderKingsbury @matti_len @clacke
I find it interesting that you read my post as "better do nothing than just go with a shovel". I'm very intentionally saying "remember to call people and ask what they need", which has been confirmed by many others in this thread who are experienced in flood relief, like @sendai in https://eigenmagic.net/@sendai/113164606665322645
AKingsbury
It's hardly a cross-examination; I'm asking relevant questions in an attempt to understand the situation.
Mat
@AlexanderKingsbury @clacke @alxd@writing.exchange You're just missing the point. @alxd didn't criticise his friends in bad faith, but it looks to me as if you're trying to defend them. But from what? A good advice on how to act reasonably?
AKingsbury
@alxd @matti_len @clacke @sendai
I find it interesting that you repeatedly refuse to answer questions on the matter.
Mat
@AlexanderKingsbury @alxd @clacke @sendai Hey, what if you just fully explain your opinion on the matter, so we can bombard you with questions that miss the point of the discussion instead of adding any value to the topic? Oh, and if you ever stop answering or you ignore an irrelevant question, we will undermine all your arguments
McNadoMD
@alxd 1st rule of distaster relief: don’t become another strain on the already broken system.
Have to have a plan for food, shelter, personal hygeine, transport.
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