September is National Preparedness Month

The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is reminding everyone that September is National Preparedness Month. Throughout National Preparedness Month, which is sponsored by FEMA's Ready Campaign, FEMA is encouraging all Americans to visit Ready.gov to learn how they can better prepare themselves and their families for the next emergency or disaster.

"Disaster can strike any time, anywhere. By taking a few simple steps now, you can ensure that your family and your community are prepared before the next emergency arises," said FEMA's Acting Regional Administrator Doug Gore. "We urge everyone to take steps necessary to keep their family safe, which includes getting a kit, making a plan, being informed and getting involved."

National Preparedness Month focuses on changing perceptions about emergency preparedness and helping Americans understand what it means to "Be Ready." National Preparedness Month coalition members have agreed to distribute emergency preparedness information and sponsor activities across the country that will promote emergency preparedness. Membership is open to all public and private sector organizations.

FEMA's Citizen Corps is also an important partner in this campaign. Citizen Corps is FEMA's grassroots strategy to bring together government and community leaders to involve citizens in all-hazards emergency preparedness and resilience.

Chasing4Life has been a pledging part of National Preparedness Month for several years. We are presently on the road beginning a 4-state National Preparedness Month Tour featuring 36 preparedness events during September from Nebraska to Indiana.

To see a list of national, regional, tribal, state, local businesses and organizations that have pledged their support and joined the 2009 National Preparedness Month Coalition, please visit www.ready.gov

Teaching Disaster Response to your Children

THE MAN FROM NEVERGO

By E. Weiss, Copyright 2006

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe,

a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his

thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest,

a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion

is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires

and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task

must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our

circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures

and the whole of nature in its beauty.

Albert Einstein

A religious man is a person who holds God and man in

one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm

done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose

greatest strength is love and defiance of despair.

Abraham Joshua Heschel

An individual has not started living until he can rise above

the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the

broader concerns of all humanity.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Beware...

The concept for the story of the man from Nevergo is not

a new story, but it is unfortunately one that is seldom

heard, told, revisted, or re-lived. Written as I returned

from the ravaged area of Louisiana following Hurricane

Katrina, this story dripped from my pen with ease as I had

just undergone the most drastic change in my life.

While our hero is found in a land far from here, his home

may be the same that we call home; an apathetic world of

self-indulgence and inward focus.

This is not a children’s story, yet the simplicity of it all

compels us to perhaps take on a new childlike innocense

and see the world with a new perspective.

Read on, but be aware; while devoid of what our world

deems requirements for a good story such as violence, sex

and intrigue, this story holds far more than you can imagine

such a short story could...

Within the lines lurks a challenge that may perhaps grip

your heart and cause you to desire change.

____________

There once was a man of heart.

He lived in the village of Nevergo, a small, uncelebrated

village in the heart of a poverty-stricken

area near the desert.

One day, the man heard news of a large city by the sea. The city was

called Ignorance, and was known to be the richest and most beautiful

city in the world. According to the news, the city of Ignorance had been

attacked by a terrorists from a far-a-way land called Apathy.

The man went to his village leaders and told them of Ignorance’s plight,

but the leaders of Nevergo told the man that it was not the worry of a

small poverty-stricken village to care about those in Ignorance.

The man set out to rescue the city under siege with nothing but a bicycle

and a backpack of supplies. It was to be a long haul, for the only way

to the city of Ignorance was to ride over a very tall mountain covered

with obstacles.

The man had never ridden his bicycle over a mountain before, in fact,

his only rides had been on flat ground or over small hills. While it was a

very beautiful and well-built bicycle, it was not really even meant for

such an arduous journey.

The man’s health had failed him many years before, and the bicycle had

been given to him by his father as a means of getting back into good

health. The plan had worked, for the man had ridden faithfully, actually

creating a small business where he would run errands on his bicycle for

the people in his village that had no bicycles.

After telling his closest friends of the city under siege, he had packed his

backpack with a few days of food, some water, bandages and a tire

patch kit.

As the man rode up the mountain, he got stronger, his legs became like

tree trunks! Despite the pain and aches, the man continued, over rocks,

through small crevices, and even through snow and severe thunderstorms.

Along the way, the man encountered others on the mountain; they were

on their own quests, and had never heard of the city under siege. The

other travelers listened to his vision to rescue them, and, as they could,

gave to him from their own supplies. Some gave food, some water.

Others even shared weapons, ammunition and building materials.

The man was grateful, but the backpack had now become an immense

pile upon his back, and travel was more difficult. The air was thinner up

on the mountain, and the man found that he had to stop more often.

“I wonder if I should throw all of these gifts away?” wondered the man.

“Surely my trip would be easier if I did not have this burden upon my

back!”

It was a thought that only lasted moments, for he realized that the gifts

he had received would be needed when he reached the city under siege.

And so he continued.

It was more than halfway up the mountain that the man stopped to catch

his breath when he noticed a small road running up the side of the

mountain. The man had never seen the road before as it had been

obscured by bushes and branches. Here, on the higher side of the

mountain, the scraggly brush barely covered the road, and it was quite

visible. This road had been there all along! He could have been on it!

As he walked over to investigate, a voice called from the thickest of the

brush.

“What are you looking at?” said the voice.

Startled, the man answered, “This small road running up the mountain

appears to run parallel to my own path, yet is much smoother than my

own path!”

A large, powerful-looking figure stepped from the brush. He was quite

But the work tired the weary traveler, and he had to stop even more

often under the weight of his pack and the workload of peddling his

bicycle and clearing the road.

It seemed like years, but was only a few months when the man could

see the summit. Excited, the man re-packed his load, but when he went

to lift it, found that he had no strength to place it on his back where it

had been all these long miles.

“I am tired,” said the man, “But I cannot leave this all here. I am close

enough now, if I can get to the summit, I can coast all the way to the

city.”

But when the man went to lift the pack, he could not. His legs no longer

worked! Fatigue had finally taken its toll…

“What will I do?” cried the man. “I will never get to the city, they will

never get my supplies, and they will never find the road of escape!”

And the man cried.

It could have been minutes and it could have been hours. The man cried

so hard, time stood still on the side of the mountain… just one mile from

the summit. Suddenly, the man felt a hand on his shoulder, and he raised

his tired head to see the silhouette of small elf-like man standing next to

him.

“My name is Hearten,” said the little man. “I come from a small tribe of

little people that live here near the summit of the mountain. Why do you

weep?”

The bicyclist shared his story, his vision, and the tale of the road of

escape.

“I wish I had met you before you left” said the Hearten. “I care about

such things, and will assist you in your journey.

Tired, hungry and depressed, the bicyclist almost laughed. Surely this

little man could never hoist his load nor carry him on the rest of his

journey, but even as this thought entered his mind, Hearten put two

fingers in his mouth and the loudest shrill whistle came out and echoed

across the mountainside.

Suddenly, the tired rescuer was surrounded by no less than 50 of these

little people, all chattering loudly. Hearten, in a language the man had

never heard, explained the story to his friends and family, and no sooner

had they all nodded in understanding, did they pick up the man, the

large pack, and his bicycle.

The city of Ignorance was in ruins when the band of rescuers arrived,

but with the help of Hearten and his tribe, the city was evacuated and

the road of escape was used to bring those in Ignorance to safety. Over

a period of time, the refugees from Ignorance settled in a lush valley

near Nevergo and with the help of Hearten and his people built a new

city and named it Neveragain.

Often times, especially times of disaster, we see a problem so large that we think we cannot help because we are too small. Use this story as a discussion starter with your children.

The man was from what town? What do we know of the town from its name?

What do we know of the city he was heading to from its name?

Is there a lesson in this story? Perhaps more than one?

How could we be the man on the bicycle when the next disaster strikes?

Could it be that we are supposed to be Hearten?