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Last Updated: Jul 9th, 2007 - 13:38:25 |
Source: http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&sun=123434128007092007&an=353027097707042007&ac=Special%20Feature&aop=311213099007042007
After the waters have receded and the winds have died down, and you emerge to survey the damage of the latest hurricane or storm, chances are you will meet a young Pathfinder among the volunteers helping to reorder the chaos left behind.
“We work with ODPEM (Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management) or the Parish Council. Pathfinders are usually on call, so whenever there is a disaster, we usually have a team in whatever area the disaster is, to distribute food, clothing or assist in rescue efforts if the need arises,” Pastor Charles Blythe, youth ministries director for West Indies Union, said. The Pathfinders Club falls under his portfolio.
Pathfinders, a part of the youth outreach of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, are actively involved in the preservation of the environment as well as disaster management.
According to Blythe, the youth learn responsible behaviour and the importance of caring for the environment and their community through the programme.
“The whole idea is to give them an appreciation of caring for humanity.
"We believe in a holistic lifestyle, so as a church and a club, we think the environment should be protected and preserved and we should be part of that process,” he said.
He explained that Pathfinders sometimes participate in clean-up projects such as clearing of garbage in communities and donating garbage containers to communities or public areas that need them.
He said in 2005, pathfinders undertook two major projects in Jamaica, one in Montego Bay where garbage containers were installed throughout different parts of the town and in Spring Village, St. Catherine where they also painted structures and cleaned up the premises of four basic schools.
The support given by the Pathfinders and the Adventist groups is invaluable to the ODPEM.
“The Seventh Day Adventist is a strong partner. We (ODPEM) are making significant efforts to enhance the level of support we provide to the agency’s disaster management mechanism,” Ronald Jackson, director general of the Office of Disaster Preparedness in Jamaica, said.
The Caribbean is prone to a number of natural disasters that includes hurricanes and its effects, such as flooding and landslides.
Preservation of the environment is a key component of Jamaica’s disaster management plan and these are areas that the Pathfinders club and other community service clubs in the Seventh-Day Adventist Union are actively involved in.
Jackson acknowledged that pathfinders play a key role in building ODPEM’s community disaster committees or groups.
“Because they have a church in every community across Jamaica, they were quite instrumental in forming and maintaining these groups.
"However, their effectiveness was limited to the Seventh Day Adventist membership because persons of different religious beliefs were reluctant to participate in programmes that the Seventh-Day Adventist spearheaded,” he said.
“Other than the fact that they were in every community, they were an existing group that was already organized for relief management at the community level.”
Jackson said some of the groups that the Seventh-Day Adventists assisted ODPEM to form, are still operational. However, he said ODPEM has broadened the reach to include existing community based organisations and the Social Development Commission.
Pathfinder training
The Seventh-Day Adventist’s pathfinder club was founded in 1919 in the USA. There are now six pathfinder classes for young people between 10 – 15 years old. Each class is reserved for young people of one age group. Pathfinders participate in community projects and outreach programmes based on the class that they assigned to. They are assessed on the level of their participation and input as part of the requirement for moving on to the subsequent levels.
The highest level in the Pathfinders is the role of the Master Guides, who form the leadership core of the Pathfinders. Master Guides are also the ones who work with shelters etc.
Master Guides have advanced training in disaster preparedness and response, which is provided by the Pathfinders club.
“That is part of the required training regimen they have to complete before they can become Master Guides,” Blythe explained.
According to him, Pathfinder honours courses are specialised areas of expertise that is included in the year-long programme, which they are required to complete.
“Master Guides and Pathfinders in the higher classes are able to achieve Honours and Advance Honours in basic rescue, first aid and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation,” he stated.
He said that Pathfinders were very active in assisting with recovery efforts in Portland Cottage (in 2004) and other areas of Clarendon that were also affected.
“Pathfinders were involved in mainly food, clothing and bedding distribution in communities that were affected by the hurricane all over Jamaica,” he stated.
“They have been, and continue to be key members of the national and parish shelter and welfare relief subcommittee. They have really helped ODPEM in establishing secure locations for regional stores of relief supplies and they sometimes provide facilities that are used as emergency shelters,” he said.
Blythe explained that the church’s link to ODPEM is through the humanitarian arm of the global Adventist Group – Adventist Development Relief Agency, ADRA, which then mobilises the efforts and resources of other community services groups in Seventh Day Adventist Churches island-wide. This includes the Adventist Laymen Services and Industries, which comprise members of the church who own businesses.
Jackson added tthe Adventist church is preparing to widen the extent of participation of its members in disaster relief efforts to include not just members of groups such as ADRA and Pathfinders, but the wider membership and ODPEM is now reviewing a proposal on this.
“They are now preparing members of their church to provide shelter management support in communities where Seventh-Day Churches are located. Those persons will be trained as shelter management volunteers who will monitor and co-ordinate emergency shelter activities,” Jackson disclosed.
He said the volunteers would also be trained in psychosocial trauma, which is a feature of ODEPM shelter management training.
“This will enhance the capability of the ODPEM mechanism, because we now will have a sustained shelter management core to draw from. We usually have a high turnover rate of volunteers and every year, ODPEM loses several trained volunteers, who have either migrated or relocated within Jamaica, or are simply no longer able to serve each year,” he said. In addition, he said some of the ODPEM volunteers are sometimes affected by disasters and this reduces the number of personnel on hand to work in shelters and co-ordinate relief efforts.
Jackson said several other churches have come on board and now play a role that is similar to ADRA’s. He said this include The Jamaica Baptist Union and The Jehovah’s Witnesses. He said there are other church groups with outreach arms, which, while not officially affiliated to ODPEM, assist in recovery and relief efforts.
He said ODPEM recognises the work of the Pathfinder club and noted that environmentally friendly practices is one way of reducing and preventing possible adverse ef fects of natural disasters. Jackson said the agency plans to work closely with the club to strengthen their environment protection activities.
Building young people
For 31-year-old Stacey Nicely, a Master Guide in the Northern Caribbean University’s Pathfinder club, she gets a chance to help young club members move from one level to the other. She said her role is a fulfilling experience.
“It builds you as an individual as you have to always be creative in finding new ways of engaging young people and my involvement in the club keeps me socially active,” she stated.
According to Nicely, the environmental conservation certification is one of the requirements that the young pathfinders are expected to complete as part of their training.
She said this training gives them a strong appreciation for preserving the environment.
“Wherever the pathfinders are involved in overnight activities such as camping, they always leave the environment cleaner, than they found it.
"They know that they cannot throw garbage anywhere, but they should take the garbage from the campsites with us or dispose of it properly,” she continued.
Fourteen-year -old Pathfinder, Shanique Townsend, agrees.
“I have benefited from being in the club, as I have learnt the importance of keeping the environment clean and teaching others to do the same,” she said.
If you are between the age of 10 – 15 years you are welcome to join the Pathfinder Club here in Antigua. There are 28 clubs in Antigua and one in Barbuda. The clubs are attached to the Seventh-Day Adventist churches.
For more details visit the Seventh-Day Adventist Co-ordinating Council on Upper Newgate Street.
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