August 29 - Vulnerability and Crisis

I am sure that over the past weeks, many Canadians have been following the news stories of the recent devastating wild fires.  So many people have had their lives changed. There are many aspects of loss and destruction but I have especially been thinking of people who have needed to evacuate their homes...and especially of those people who are vulnerable in even the best of situations.

We often tend to identify with people who are in similar circumstances to our own and I suppose that is why I have particularly been thinking of people who have sight challenges. For myself, I often find it confusing when Lyle and I move temporarily to different accommodations. Nearly always this is because we have chosen to do so. When this happens, for instance when we are on a holiday, I find myself relying strongly on Lyle as I get used to different kitchen appliances, strange bathroom fixtures, even different arrangements of furniture.  Of course, all this occurs when we are doing this voluntarily and have time on our hands to adjust to the new circumstances. Mandatory evacuations because of an impending disaster such as flood or fire, are an entirely different situation.

In an evacuation, people need to leave their homes and most of their possessions behind. For those of us who rely on assistive devices, this is an additional hardship. Many of the devices we use on a daily basis are not easily portable. I imagine that this is even more so for folk who have mobility challenges.

In times of crisis we need to reach out to each other. Most people do this. I hope that this blog serves to bring an additional awareness in times of crisis to those people who are more vulnerable than the general population.