What do you do with 135 missionaries in a hurricane? You had better be prepared. Wayne and I have seen firsthand in the last three weeks what Hurricane Mitch did here 10 years ago. The country is still recovering, and some of the locals say that the country has not fully recovered. We saw places last week where the water rose and could only imagine the devastation and nightmare that it caused.
With that in mind, President Gomez gave Wayne and I the assignment of preparing 72 hour emergency kits for each missionary companionship. We had these ready this week for our Zone Conferences. The problem with the kits is making sure that they are saved for a disaster. President was quick to explain to the missionaries that a disaster is NOT when they are out of month before money. An added incentive for not getting into the kits is that if something is found missing from the kit, then the elders that lived there before are charged to replace the items...also if the kit is intact until March (the end of hurricane season), then they can eat the contents of the kit.
Filling up the cart at Price Smart
Our problem was coming up with items that would sustain life, yet be a little fun. We went to Price Smart and filled an entire flatbed with supplies. (As if we don't get enough stares when we go anywhere...just add a cart filled with food). Then we had to fill the boxes and distribute them to the missionaries. The kits included cereal and milk (they have milk here in small juice-like cartons that does not need refrigeration), pork and beans, vienna sausages, chef boy-ar-de ravioli, pop tarts (the office elder's favorite), and various crackers, nutrigrain and granola bars.
Assembling the Kits
All in all it was a good experience and we are glad that assignment is filled until next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment