Empowerment Camps
The Hero project offers Empowerment Camps which brings together elements of Epic Days, CERT programs and other cultural and adventure-based activities. The result is a powerful experience that creates deep bonds between participants. The camp atmosphere also allows participants to receive lots of opportunities to interact with each other and practice core CERT skills in multiple environments, including backcountry locations.
The Oneida Tribe of Indians located in Green Bay, WI has scheduled its second annual Oneida Youth Empowerment Camp. The camp is hosted by the Oneida Nation High School, but invites tribal students who attend schools off the reservation in order to spread the ideas throughout the region. The camp uses certified Adult CERT trainers and Teen CERT mentors to lead the week-long camp. The mentors help to train up to 50 of their peers as Teen CERT members through experiential games and activities. Although the camp focuses on emergency management, CERT training and a disaster scenarios, it also includes cultural elements such as storytelling, native farming and food production, as well as tribal beliefs related to natural disasters and resiliency.
The Hero project offers Empowerment Camps which brings together elements of Epic Days, CERT programs and other cultural and adventure-based activities. The result is a powerful experience that creates deep bonds between participants. The camp atmosphere also allows participants to receive lots of opportunities to interact with each other and practice core CERT skills in multiple environments, including backcountry locations.
The Oneida Tribe of Indians located in Green Bay, WI has scheduled its second annual Oneida Youth Empowerment Camp. The camp is hosted by the Oneida Nation High School, but invites tribal students who attend schools off the reservation in order to spread the ideas throughout the region. The camp uses certified Adult CERT trainers and Teen CERT mentors to lead the week-long camp. The mentors help to train up to 50 of their peers as Teen CERT members through experiential games and activities. Although the camp focuses on emergency management, CERT training and a disaster scenarios, it also includes cultural elements such as storytelling, native farming and food production, as well as tribal beliefs related to natural disasters and resiliency.
2015 Oneida Youth Empowerment Camp
5-Day, Teen CERT & Disaster Simulation
Day 1 How to create a plan
Using the true colors exercise the youth have the opportunity to recognize the strengths in their personalities and the way they see the world to address the potential way they would react to a disaster. Through the use of a provided scenario each color group will be asked to conduct PLANNING that could be used in the PREVENTION of the effects of a disaster. Discussing the specific disasters that are prone to this area the youth will develop a plan to keep themselves and their community safe. Each group discusses the ways they think to prepare for a potential disaster. Through discussion the groups learn how their personalities can be helpful when developing plans. Since we all see the world differently recognizing each other's perspective helps to ensure all areas of the planning phase of Emergency Management are taken into consideration. Day 4 AN EPIC DAY
Provides youth the opportunity to learn from one another through discussion of the emotional and psychological effects of experiencing a disaster. Through the relation of how disaster effect each and everyone of us in our lives on a regular basis relative to the emotions we experience and the way we each handle those emotions youth are provided the ability to learn to think critically about how to handle psychological trauma. Through the practical discussion of emotional effects youth are provided the opportunity to focus on the RECOVERY aspect of Emergency Management. |
Day 2-3 Medical Operations
Learning and developing skills centered around medical triage/treatment/response focuses on both the MITIGATION and RESPONSE portion of Emergency Management. Mitigation is developed through proper training and practice of differing degrees of medical training. Learning what types of resources are needed when responding to an area that has been affected by a disaster as well as learning how to develop a disaster response kits are all parts of mitigation. Response skills are developed when mitigation activities are practiced in a hands on scenario. Using the practical skills learned during training (mitigation) provides youth the opportunity to further develop these skills in a controlled environment (response). Day 5 Disaster Scenario
Youth are provided the opportunity to use the planning, mitigation, response and recovery functions of Emergency Management in a controlled scenario where they put into use the skills learned during the week to react to the effects of a fictional disaster that has impacted their community. The disaster scenario for this years camp will incorporate a day-long canoe trip where Teen CERT Teams will address various aspects of their recent training while under the stress of the "River of Life." |