We recently experienced Bush Fires here in Melbourne, Victoria. An event so tragic that they now refer to it as Black Saturday. More than 200 people died and more than 1000 homes were lost. It affected everfything; our people, our wildlife, our landscape.
It was a spooky day to begin with. The mercury recorded 48.5 degrees and the winds were full of grit and dirt and howling. We knew that if a fire started, it would take hold fast. When conditions are that ripe it doesnt take much for a fire to start; a stray cigarette butt, a piece of broken glass that reflects the sun onto dry grass, (or 'fuel as we call it here, anything that is dry and can catch alight is referred to as fuel).
it is normal practice here to have a Fire Plan. Some wirtten plan of protecting your home. Usually the women and children will leave for a safe place to stay and the men will stay and fight the fights. Without trivalising too much, you keep your house and land as wet as you can, keep an eager eye out for stray embers, and jump and extinguish them as quickly as you can. Of course there is much more to it than that, but that gives you an idea.
When a high fire alert day occurs, homeowners have to decide whether to flee or to stay and implement their fire plans. There wasn't much warning on this day. Raging fires that travelled at over 120 kms took decisions away from people. As a friend of mine relayed, "one minute mum and i were sitting with a cup of tea and reviewing the fire plan, the next minute we were surrounded by smoke".
Here in Australia, and even more so here in Victoria, we watched events unfold on our TV screens, knowing that this disaster was happening in live time in our neighbourhood. The doom was almost tangible.
For an entire week, no one knew where to start or what to do. Everyone felt so helpless and hopeless. The immediate calls were for cash, clothing and blood, and I am happy to report that we raised over $200m (in a global financial crisis), created the biggest stockpile of clothing and bedding ever know (to this day many Second Hand Charity shops, or Opportunity Shops as they are known here, are still refusing donations because they are swamped and oversupplied) and there was more than enough blood for the needs.
But it wasn't enough.
We still wanted to do more to help.
We just didnt know what that was.
And then the biggest debate I've ever witnessed in Coaching Circles began: Should Coaches go down and coach for free? Because we all know that there is a grey line between coaching and other things like therapy - but this situation called for a clearly defined definition. Would coaching harm or hinder?
I made some calls to some leading experts. Through my association with the Global Coaching Community (GCC) an 'organism' with which ECI is fondly affiliated, I spoke to Peter Zarris, who is the Chair of the Interest Group in Coaching Psychology for the Australian Psychological Society. Peter advised that even "persons trained in trauma work" (such as counsellors, psychoterapists, emergency services, etc, would not be equipped to deal with this event. Or as he said in his own words "this is trauma to the power of 100".
And the outcome of the debate here was that the best thing that us coaches could do was nothing. Now for a group of people that are usually known for their passion for helping others, this was probably the most difficult thing anyone could have asked us to do. To do nothing. To stand back.
Peter's advice was that in one or two years time, we may be able to get to the fringes and start coaching there. Like for example, the person in the township who was away at the time, didnt lose their home and only lost people that they 'knew of from around the town'. Or maybe to coach the therapist whose job it was to prepare the investigators for the commission into the disaster.
In terms of coaching the victims and volunteers of this disaster, our time may never come! And that is the hardest thing to deal with. To know the power of coaching. To know the power of transformation. But to accept that Trauma is holding the cards in this situation, is very difficult to come to terms with.
The true test of coaches who want to give will be to see who will coach for free in 2 years time, to the people on the fringes who become ready for coaching, long after the event has stopped being reported on a regular basis.
And as I am constantly taught by the Universe on my journey; Giving Back is the art of giving what is needed when it is needed. Not choosing what and when I want to give.
Sally Parrish
Head of Australasia, ECI
