Connections

Here at IslandWood we teach (when I do indeed start teaching in a couple of weeks) about the interconnectedness of things. That glacier that came down a few thousand years ago that formed this landscape determined where we would live and who would live here; the trees that happened to grow here led the loggers to come here in the 19th century which eventually turned Bainbridge Island into what it is today. The glaciers, the trees, those early settlers and a myriad of other things are connected to us this day, on this Island and in this region.

On a little bit bigger of a scale is another example of connectedness. I just read an article from the bbc about the gas companies Total and Chevron being involved with the military junta in Burma.

The article can be read here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8249374.stm

Apparently Total and Chevron finance the Yadana gas pipeline project, which brings gas into Thailand. Watch groups state that the Burmese government has earned an estimated $5 billion dollars in illicit revenue from the project, discreetly hidden in Singapore banks. The Burmese army provides the security for the pipeline, which of course brings human rights abuses into the picture. The world feels like such a small place. It's hard to believe how the gas in my car could be helping support the Burmese junta, causing so much injustice happen and creating so many refugees. That the gas in my car could led those refugees to flee to Malaysia to hide in the jungles, whom I just so happened to have the opportunity and the honor to meet and to work with. And that those refugees who were oppressed by the Burmese military who were funded by my road-trip vacation happened to be resettled in Washington and happened to come to Yakima to pick fruit and happened to come to my church. Whew, that's a lot of connections.
The world's not such a simple and easy place anymore. Everything's connected, whether we realize it or not. Remember 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon?

In the Wilderness

I just finished 20 hours of wilderness first aid training. My brain is so fried. I just spent the last 48 hours what to do if someone gets struck by lightning or gets hypothermia. I learned how to irrigate a wound and put fractured bones back into place. If your eyeball gets impailed by a hummingbird, use your hand to squeeze the poor thing to death and leave it in there. If you lose a finger, I'll wrap it up nice and neat for you. I'll take care of your abrasions, lacerations, avulsions, punctures, and impaled objects. I will stabilize your C-spine whether you need it or not, and give you a full head to toe body check. I can do almost anything with ace bandages and a bandana. I had to roleplay a patient that had been in a terrible chain saw accident. I had fake blood splattered all over me yesterday.

So someday you might have your arm crushed by a fallen tree or perhaps a cougar chewed your arm off. You'll be glad to have me with you. "My name's Erin and I'm trained in Wilderness First Aid and I'm here to help you!" (p.s. all I could do for those two cases is stabilize you and wait for you to be evacuated)