by Jennifer Kowalewski
Debby Dunseath
might not have served in war, but she and other Red Cross
volunteers felt they were living in a MASH (Mobile Army Surgical
Hospital) unit while helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Dunseath and two other Ohio
University graduates — Meghan McGuire and Megan Fallon
— while not fighting on the frontlines of Afghanistan or Iraq
did their country an equally worthy turn as volunteers in the
Red Cross following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Their
actions were inspired by their service in ComCorps, a branch of
AmeriCorps administered through Community Service Programs
(CSP). As members of ComCorps, Dunseath and Fallon had performed
local Red Cross volunteer work; McGuire had been trained for
volunteer service in the Red Cross.
Dunseath completed her ComCorps
service earlier this year with Fallon, while McGuire will finish
in August 2006.
When they arrived in Louisiana,
they were given a crash course in what they needed to do to help
people survive a natural disaster that had swamped the city of
New Orleans and blew away coastal chunks of Mississippi and
Louisiana.
“Without the health-care
providers that volunteered there would have been no care for the
evacuees,” Dunseath says. “All systems in Baton Rouge were on
overload and could not possibly care for the many that needed
assistance with health issues. We all did the best we could in a
‘hostile’ environment. We often felt like we were serving in a
war zone. The term MASH came up a number of times.”
Like Dunseath, McGuire
experienced a lot in the thick of the wreckage of New Orleans.
“My experience in New Orleans
taught me a lot about myself and what is important to me. It
opened my eyes to so many things,” McGuire says. “I learned more
about patience and compassion and empathy while there than I
could ever have learned elsewhere.”
Fallon says she loved working
with people to raise money for emergency needs. But like many in
the region, she found staff relations difficult during the
stressful time. Dunseath agrees.
“The importance of screening
the volunteers was a major issue,” Dunseath says. “Many of them
did not understand the culture in Louisiana, and they were not
prepared for the things they encountered. I spent a lot of time
with staff members who were overwhelmed and therefore
ineffective in the jobs they were sent there to accomplish.”
“They are wonderful women who
believed that they could contribute to the relief efforts.
Through their Red Cross service they were able to help people in
very great need. Their experiences were very valuable lessons in
real humanitarian work,” says Nancy Schell, ComCorps
program director.
That’s what ComCorps is all
about, says Schell, “helping others.”
Schell says CSP’s program
provides health education, health screenings — such as lice
prevention and vision checks — and facilitates access to health
care for children and families. CSP’s AmeriCorps grant, in place
since 1999, is administered through Ohio University.
ComCorps partners with all five
schools systems in Athens County, the local Board of Mental
Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Head Start and seven
community agencies.
ComCorps also is a valuable
vehicle for OU-COM students to participate in screenings and
health presentations.
Because of the program, the
lice infestation rate has fallen in area schools. Although
vision screening is not mandated by the state, ComCorps helps to
screen children, because many learning problems are a direct
result of poor eyesight.
“Everyone should take the time
in their life to serve in an area that is suited to them in
AmeriCorps,” Fallon says, adding the program has helped to
improve communication between area schools and agencies.
“Our members provide an
opportunity for teachers to introduce health education into
their classes,” Schell says. “We teach hand washing and germs,
testicular health, nutrition, exercise, poison prevention and
any other topics requested. Considering recent research that
indicates that healthy children are better learners, we also
encourage teachers to incorporated exercise and walking programs
in their classes especially since physical education is offered
less and less each year in many schools.”
“ComCorps is a wonderful
program,” McGuire says. “I have learned so much and felt so
fulfilled at the end of the day. It is a great stepping stone
into the so-called ‘real world’ of employment. I wouldn’t trade
my time with ComCorps for anything.”
- 30 -
News for
the week of Nov
21 –
Nov 26
