ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 15, 2006  

Lutherans Offer Camps For Young Gulf Coast Disaster Survivors
06-083-KH*

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
(LSSM) will offer more than 65 camps this summer for school-aged
children who were affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in
2005. Of the one million people displaced by the 2005 hurricanes,
372,000 were school-aged children in kindergarten through 12th
grade, according to Susan Kim, news editor, Disaster Relief
Network.
     LSSM, in cooperation with Lutheran Social Services of the
South (LSSS) and Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod (LCMS), will offer these children an opportunity
for fun and healing with Camp Noah programs this summer in
Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas.
     "We hope to offer 50 week-long camps during the summer of
2006," said Carol Flores, regional coordinator, Camp Noah Texas
and Louisiana Gulf Coast, LSSS. Each camp hosts up to 50
children.
     The week-long therapeutic camps will serve children in the
U.S. Gulf Coast that were affected by the hurricanes of 2005.
     "The children who are coming to our camps this summer need
Camp Noah badly," said Carrie Hartwig, site coordinator, Baton
Rouge, La.  "They have experienced things that we wish no one
would ever have to experience, and their emotional state shows
it.  There are so few programs to help children who have
experienced disaster, and Camp Noah does just that.  It helps the
children to process what they have been through and to have a lot
of fun in the process.  Many of the children would not be able to
have such an experience if it weren't for Camp Noah," she said.
Hartwig's site, Trinity Lutheran Church, Baton Rouge, is hosting
six camps this summer.
     "Camp Noah helps to provide an opportunity for fun," said
Cindy Johnson, director of disaster response, LSSM. "It helps to
provide a safe environment so children can share their feelings
and be supported by trained, compassionate counselors."
     The Camp Noah curriculum centers on the biblical story of
Noah, allowing children to confront their disaster experiences in
a faith-based, supportive environment.  The story of Noah
provides a framework for the campers to talk about their emotions
and learn disaster coping skills.
     "Camp Noah is about rebuilding the lives and souls of
children," Johnson said.
     "It is a chance for them to gather in a place where they are
the most important people for the week," Flores said.  "Often
kids get forgotten in disaster recovery. I think, especially in
light of the scope of this disaster and the public blaming that
has been happening, it is important for kids to hear the message
that these storms were not their fault. They are the result of
natural weather systems," she said.

Camp Noah weekly activities
     Each day follows a different theme and offers a variety of
activities including guest speakers such as meteorologists,
emergency response personnel or police; field trips, often
including a water day; indoor and outdoor games; small-group
time; skits based on the theme of the day; and crafts, such as
creating disaster readiness kits.
     "Camp Noah is important because it provides children with
the skills and tools to feel more in control of their world -- a
very important step in the recovery process." Flores said.
     The beginning of the week focuses on preparation and impact,
using the story of Noah building the ark and the beginning of the
flood.  Often on the first day of camp a meteorologist teaches
the children about weather systems and how to prepare for a
natural disaster.
     On the third day the theme is "transition" and life on the
ark while waiting for the waters to recede.
     "Many of the children we will be serving this summer are
still living in temporary housing, often FEMA trailer parks that
are vulnerable again as we come into hurricane season," Flores
said.  "We will be serving children in Houston who still have not
had the chance to return to their neighborhoods and don't know if
they will ever be able to do so.  Many families have had to
combine households into tiny areas, so we know some of these kids
will relate to the conditions on the ark with all those animals
crowded together," she said.
     The final two days of the camp emphasize God's promise for
new life.
     "I think it is important for children to hear the message
that God does not send storms to punish people, but God does
promise to walk with us as we recover," Flores said. "We know
this by the covenant that God made with Noah through the
rainbow."

Children address fears at camp
     Camp Noah offers a safe setting for children to address
their fears in an effort to relieve reactive symptoms.  Many of
the children affected by the Gulf Coast hurricanes are beginning
to show signs of emotional distress and post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD).  According to the American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry, symptoms often surface several months or
even years after the traumatic event.
     "There have been studies telling us that the children [on
the Gulf Coast] are just beginning to have an understanding of
how their lives have changed," Johnson said.
     A study at Columbia University, New York, compared the
children displaced by hurricane Katrina with children surveyed in
Louisiana in 2003.  Katrina's victims were more than twice as
likely to experience anxiety, depression and behavioral problems.
Another assessment estimated that of the 1.2 million children
that were living in Katrina disaster zones, as many as 8 percent
are expected to develop PTSD.
     "We have already heard stories about kids that are still
having nightmares about water or about dying," Flores said. "Many
children still get anxious when it storms outside."
     The objectives of Camp Noah include decreasing the number of
behavioral or emotional symptoms children experience following a
disaster, increasing children's coping skills with bad weather
and increasing children's understanding of God's role in their
lives.
     "We hope to provide some renewed hope as we remind them
that, no matter what happens in their lives, God is always with
them," Hartwig said.
     In 2003 the Mississippi Center for Disease Control and
Prevention conducted a multi-state evaluation of Camp Noah's
effectiveness.  The results showed that, after attending camp,
"examples of behavioral and symptom changes included children
being calmer, better able to speak about what happened to them,
sleeping through the night and having stopped regressive
behaviors."  About 50 percent of the children surveyed also said
they learned that God was with them.
     "During the camps following Tropical Storm Allison, we had
one young man in camp who was very angry and acting out all
week," Flores said. "By the end of the week, this young man was a
different child and was in front of the group leading worship.
That is the power of Camp Noah."

Volunteers important to Camp Noah
     The Camp Noah program provides volunteer mental health
professionals that are available to the children throughout the
week.
     "We really want to offer a health professional at each camp
that can offer ongoing mental care for the children and their
families," Johnson said.  "That way the camp isn't just about a
week-long experience. There's an opportunity for ongoing care."
     In Louisiana mental health support has been coordinated by
Louisiana Spirit, "a conglomeration of social service agencies
that have come together to respond to the storms," according to
Flores.
     As with many Camp Noah volunteers, Hartwig's camp site
recruited its mental health professional through the
congregation. This summer most of the camps will be organized and
run by volunteers from congregations and church organizations
around the country.  There are more than 45 volunteer teams,
including 18 teams from congregations and church organizations in
Minnesota.
     "Because of the magnitude of this particular disaster, it's
difficult for people [along the Gulf Coast] to think of hosting
Camp Noah themselves, so we rely heavily on volunteers," Johnson
said. "They just don't have the resources."
     Each volunteer team pays a $2,500 registration fee as well
as transportation costs.  Teams receive special training to
participate in Camp Noah. Because the camp is free of charge for
the children, LSSM relies on volunteers, donations and grants to
support the program.
     Each camp is expected to fill, meaning Camp Noah will serve
more than 3,000 children this summer.
     "Camp Noah hopes to provide children with the knowledge that
God loves them and cares for them," Flores said.  "We hope to
provide them with a week of unique experiences, great
relationships and lasting memories."
     Camp Noah was created by LSSM following Midwest floods in
1997.  Since then, Camp Noah has served children affected by
disasters in Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota,
Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma,
Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.  The project is
sponsored by LSSM with funding from volunteer teams, private
donations and a grant from Church World Service (CWS).  The ELCA
participates in the ministry of CWS.
     Camp Noah is open to any children kindergarten through sixth
grade who have been through a disaster.  While Camp Noah is
sponsored in large part by the ELCA, other church denominations
are involved and children are welcome to participate regardless
of their faith tradition.
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     More information about Camp Noah, including volunteer
opportunities, is available at http://www.campnoah.org/ on the
Web.  Information about Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota is
available at http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/.

*Katherine R. Hinck is a senior journalism and religion major at
Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D.  This summer she is an
intern with the ELCA News Service.

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