Collective Memory

The emergency preparedness expert Pamela Norris shares with faith leaders the importance of knowing your community's  cultural collective memory when developing an emergency preparedness strategy.
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Speaker 1 0:20

I'm Pamela Norris,

0:21

CEO of ICEBUDDY Systems, Inc. Our corporation's mission is to SAVE LIVES, therefore I'll be posting a weekly Disaster Spiritual Care series geared specifically for Leaders of all Faith Communities. As an Emergency Preparedness Expert, the majority of my time is spent addressing the need for individuals to be ready for emergencies. However, as Faith Leaders, when disasters strike, those individuals will be turning to you for leadership, advice, comfort, compassion as well as faith. The Reverend Lorraine Jones and I were honored to co-author a chapter in the book Disaster Spiritual Care: Practical Clergy Responses to Community, Regional and National Tragedy. Our contribution is a chapter addressing the pre-disaster phase of preparedness. It is entitled, No One Is An Island: How to Prepare Your Congregation and Congregants Through Cooperation, Collaboration and Community. This Disaster Spiritual Care series will provide practical strategies and tools to allow you to plan and prepare for the unexpected. Here you will learn NEED TO KNOW information that triggers a CALL TO ACTION. Today we will discuss the topic of COLLECTIVE MEMORY. One of the greatest weapons in the arsenal of emergency preparedness is Collective Memory. Memory informs us how we as a people fared the last time something unexpected happened. Everything is interpreted in our collective memory. This is why listening to and addressing cultural memories is CRITICAL for developing an emergency preparedness strategy that will work for YOUR faith Community. That's right!! One strategy DOES NOT fit all. It is so important. I'm going to say it again. One strategy DOES NOT fit all. Don't let anyone sell you on that idea. You must know and appreciate the Collective Memory of the people you serve. Here in Hawaii where I live, the Ohana or family gather with the Kupuna or elders and tell stories or Mo'olelo. Mo'olelo is the verbal exchange of collective memory of the Hawaiian culture. It is the generational lessons learned that have enabled survivability of a people who have faced and lived through numerous natural disasters, bloody invasions by other island leaders, take over of their sovereign nation by a foreign government, and man-made disasters resulting from World War bombings. Any emergency preparedness strategy for Hawaii must reflect the collective memory of its people. So what is the collective memory of the faith community you serve? This week's CALL TO ACTION FOR FAITH LEADERS is to identify the sources of and listen to the collective memory of your faith community. Share what you learned by sending an email to info@icebuddy.net Each culture's generational Collective Memory is rich with survivability lessons. GO, LISTEN, LEARN and REPORT BACK. Until next time...Keep Cool and Carry On!