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Afterward, when the storm clouds break and the waters recede, the thoughts of mothers and fathers turn to dealing with loss, the mounds of paperwork to secure recovery aid, the rebuilding of homes and lives. Often lost in the hectic atmosphere of recovery is the emotional toll events like last year’s floods take on victims, especially children.
That’s what Camp Noah tries to address.
The weeklong day camp was in the area last week, set up at the Riverway Learning Community in Minnesota City. About 25 children who had been directly and indirectly affected by the August 2007 floods participated in the camp, which is run by the Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota, a St. Paul-based organization that helps victims of disasters.
“The main goal is to talk about what they went though,” said Cindy Johnson, director of Camp Noah. “I think sometimes during a disaster kids are silent because they don’t want to upset their parents even more than they are.”
Some of the children only had their basements flooded; others lost their whole house. They were taught how to talk about the loss they had and to express what it meant to them.
Alexa Rae Hesch, 8, from Minnesota City, said most of her house flooded and her family had to stay with a grandparent for months.
But what she lost was more specific, and can only really be understood by her.
A small plastic bag that held pedals of a rose her grandmother gave her the day before she died was washed away.
“I put them in the bag in memory of her,” Hesch said.
Even less sentimental things that were lost can have an effect on children that is hard for them to explain.
Paige Jereczek, 8, said her backyard was torn apart by flood waters. One of her favorite items was lost that day.
“I was sad, because I lost my trampoline,” Jereczek said. “I got that when I was 3.”
Over the past three summers, more than 200 Camp Noahs have been held in places like Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado and Puerto Rico. Volunteers have helped children deal with wildfires and floods, hurricanes and tornados. Another camp will be held in the Rushford area this month.
Though the camp has strong religious roots and many of its lessons are faith based, camp volunteer Marcy Allen said children didn’t need to be Christian to attend. When a community is devastated by an event, everyone is affected.
“Even if their house wasn’t flooded, their neighborhood was,” Allen said.
The camp wasn’t a somber event. Students made crafts, played water games and acted in plays. They had visits by firefighters and meteorologists. But the key lesson during group work, one-on-one talks and anything that went on was that it’s OK to be scared, it’s OK to be sad.
“My mom said that was how she felt, too,” Hesch said. “She said it was OK to feel that way, because we had been in that house for two years and it was fun.”
They were told to talk to their parents and their friends. They were told that floods like last year’s don’t happen often, and you don’t need to be afraid all the time, but only prepared for all occasions.
“The goal,” Johnson said, “is to leave them with some hope for the future.”
Contact Nolan Rosenkrans at (507) 453-3519 or nolan.rosekrana@winonadailynews.com.
