Street Roots • June 17-23, 2016
Page 9
Commentary
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Faust, center, discussing emergency response training with team members in
Haiti.
She felt like a caregiver.
I’m conflicted though. Without the VA’s help, I
would be on the streets.
I’ve spent seven to eight years seeing a mental
health therapist, and I have used the system through
the VA or the Returning Veterans Project
Given the resources to heal at their own pace -
heal isn’t the right word - but to make sense of it all
and to find their passion again? It might take some
guys or gals a year or two, or like me it might take a
decade. But once you find that passion, you continue
to support it and then organically you find the
capacity to live again.
S.Z.: Tell me about your trip to Haiti in January.
D.F.: I was there for about two weeks. I’ve been on
international and domestic disaster relief missions,
and I have stepped on the rubble of communities in
the aftermath. I had strong feelings in my heart
seeing how rough folks have it there.
I know we have issues with hunger and
homelessness and access to health care in vulnerable
populations in the states, in Portland. The thing
about Haiti is it is so much more rampant and in your
face. In the states, we’ve pushed our vulnerable
populations to the comers. In Haiti, you are walking
hand-in-hand with those populations.
S.Z.: What did you do there?
D.F.: I did a lot of training. The level of first-aid
knowledge in Haiti is subpar. There is no other way
to describe it; it is pretty much nonexistent. For
someone who is having a seizure, a portion of the
Haitian people believe that you should throw water
on them and slap them. I saw that firsthand. Just the
very base level of first aid is nonexistent
There is some curriculum, and they are certifying
folks, but you don’t see police stations and firehouses.
You don’t see your public service agents out there in
Haiti. It felt very lonely in that regard.
It’s a very lonely feeling to be in a country or
situation, and this would be similar to Iraq too, to be
in a developing country or a place where if you get
hurt and you need care, it is going to be hard to come
by.
Here in Portland, if I twisted my knee and fell
down and hit my head, there are countless medical
options to get me to care. It’s just not that way in
(other places).
S.Z.: You were kind of scouting too, right?
D.F.: The mission that we did in January was to
identify a role for our veterans from Post 134 in
Portland. And bring a group of them over to Haiti to
do similar training.
(Remote Emergency Training Solutions) has had
someone in Haiti since March 15. He has been
training Haitian EMTs in basic first aid and working
in an ambulance.
Haití is definitely full of missionaries and NGOs
and clean-water groups. I kept hearing that (Haiti) is
the NGOs’ paradise - you can’t toss a stone without
hitting a missionary group in Haiti.
S.Z.: How is it possible that there are all of these
people there giving aid and it doesn’t get any better?
D.F.: I only have the 15 days there or so, but there
are some theories that I’ve heard. One, in Port-Au-
Prince you have a whole culture, a whole society that
has PTSD from experiencing that earthquake, right?
There are folks still walking around shell-shocked.
Also, the Haitian people are very much for the
present and living today. I met some groups in the
orphanages over there. If a mother has a family of
three, not all of those kiddos are going to eat every
day. They will rotate.
There is this cultural norm of “if we are breathing
right now, then things are good.” There is no
expectation of breathing tomorrow. It’s hard.
S.Z.: For a person who is experiencing PTSD, how
does surrounding yourself with people in crisis help?
D.F.: I think that is what it’s about The long and
short of it. Why would I put myself in an environment
where I would be exposed to more trauma when I am
struggling with my own trauma?
I am one of the better versions of myself when I
am immersed in a community or a situation where
there is a need for me. I’m able to snap back to this
higher functioning to where I’m very aware of
everything that is going on around me - situational
awareness. I’m very empathetic to other folks’ needs,
and I read people a lot faster than most people can.
I’m good in a crisis. I know a lot of veterans who
will tell you the same thing. We function better in
those stressful situations where there is trauma or
danger or threats around us. The USA did a really
good job of training us to do that
S.Z.: And where do you find that when you are at
home?
D.F.: When I’m back in the states - when I am not
doing fires or disasters or hanging with my girls -
every second seems long or distorted. I’m not even
connected to all of them. I’m sweeping through most
of them. You know? I’m disengaged, watching
television, and I look up and four hours have gone by
compared to when I am in Haiti or Iraq, where I am
living every second.
There is this draw to connect to the present
moment because I believe I have lived in such a state
of mindfulness. In Iraq, I was mindful of every single
moment of every day. You had to be. The same thing
happens when I go to a place like Haiti. I become
very in tune into the world around me and into my
own self. My body. My mind.
Same thing happens when I go on wildland fires.
That version of me - he’s pretty cool. I really like that
guy. He does a lot of good work.
Now I am reidentifying or connecting with this
version of myself. It is putting others in front of me
and serving something that is bigger than me: my
community, the less fortunate. It makes me feel alive.
I struggle with, when I’m not (serving others), being
present and feeling connected to anything.
The crew this June, they want to “be in it” again, if
you will. They want to experience that part of
themselves.
S.Z.: A lot of people don’t do well in traumatic
situations. Thank you for doing it.
D.F.: That’s it right there. These skills we learned
while in the service can be utilized. Our situational
awareness is heightened. Our ability to defuse
situations is heightened. All those skills that don’t
transfer unless you become a cop. If you are working
at Hewlett-Packard, they don’t really care what your
situational awareness is. If you work at Nike, they
don’t really care that you can defuse a crowd of 30
people by your posture and your voice. So this is
trying to find places where veterans can use those
skills.
A lot of us veterans, we were put in situations
where we had to dial in really quickly and figure out
how to (survive). Now it is with us. It’s not going
anywhere. I think our goal, at the post (Post 134 in
Portland) is to find local mission here in Portland and
to spots like Haiti to where these veterans can use
those skills again. And do it through peaceful
mechanisms.
. .
*1 know we
have issues
with hunger
and home
lessness and
access to
health care
in vulnerable
populations
in the states,
in Portland.
The thing
about Haiti
is it is so
much more
rampant and
in your face.
In the states,
we've pushed
our vulner
able popula
tions to the
corners. In
Haiti, you
are walking
hand-in-hand
with those
populations."
DAMON FAUST