Hurricane Katrina news for Shambhala Community and appeal for help

ik - just received from the Shambhala membership list. Please read.

31 Aug 2005 - Hurricane Katrina news for Shambhala Community and appeal for help

On behalf of the entire Shambhala mandala, the Kalapa Court has been in direct contact with Ms Sharon Doucet, Coordinator of the Acadiana Shambhala Meditation Group in Lafayette, Louisiana, two hours west of New Orleans. She is not reachable by telephone, but is accessible by email. In response to questions about the situation in the region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the safety of Shambhala members there and any ways in which people can be of help, the court received the following message at approximately noon Central Daylight Time,

Wednesday 31 August 2005:

Dear Richard,

I'm mostly attuned to the news from Louisiana since that's what the local news is covering round the clock. Briefly, the situation in New Orleans is already close to worst-case scenario and continues to worsen today because the waters continue to rise, and attempts to block up the levee breaches have been wildly unsuccessful. This leaves people who are still in their homes climbing into their attics and, if possible, breaking through to await rescue on their roofs. They have no water, food, electricity, or means of communication. Dry ground is getting more scarce, the city is becoming septic, and disease is a developing threat given the lack of drinking water and sanitation. The people refuged in the Super Dome are going to be evacuated, last I heard, to the Astrodome in Houston. No one knows how high the death toll on the entire Gulf Coast will go, but there are many reports of bodies floating in the flood waters. Hurricane Katrina is officially now the worst disaster in! American history.

Re: Shambhala sangha: I have tried to contact Cathy Keddy at the Hammond Meditation Group (just north of Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans) via phone and email with no success, as well as sangha members Jon Layton and Rusty Gaude. However, many people who evacuated are safe and sound but without cell phone service. So lack of contact does not necessarily mean bad news. Whether they evacuated before the hurricane or are escaping now, many thousands are now homeless and are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. So all the necessities of life are needed for all the shelters.

Here in Lafayette, two hours west of New Orleans, people are being housed in municipal buildings, churches, and civic centers. Children are being enrolled in the local schools. Local officials say that the best way to help is to donate money (see below), and that there are certain skills that are desperately needed, namely:

1) medical skills of any kind--doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, medics, etc.
2) cooks, i.e. people who have experience cooking for large numbers
3) people with skills dealing with children and the physically and mentally handicapped
4) people with boats to help in the rescue services

People can contact their local United Way or Red Cross (866/438-4636--a hurricane relief number). However, the agency here said that those numbers are usually busy, and if anyone wants to volunteer these or other services, they can contact me, Sharon Doucet, at SADosay@aol.com. Then I can forward these on. The local representative said that would be "heaven-sent."

If you want to volunteer to go into the hurricane-ravaged areas with a disaster relief organization, you can call the Lafayette Red Cross at 337/234-7371 or United Way at 337/233-8302, x0.

Money can be donated to: American Red Cross Disaster Relief POBox 62419 Lafayette, LA 70596 or online at www.redcross.org Salvation Army www.salvationarmy.org, click "Hurricane Relief" or 800-SAL-ARMY Blood donations: all types needed by United Blood Services.

Of course, the Shambhala sangha is able to offer the practice of tonglen, which feels uniquely potent right now. Doria Cross said today's practice at Shambhala Mountain Center will be dedicated to the hurricane victims.

Yours in the dharma, Sharon Doucet

(This announcement was from the Shambhala News Service)

ik again - apparently these people are former Ottawa sangha. This from the Ottawa Centre:

For those of you who don't know them, Paul and Cathy Keddy were long-time members of the Ottawa sangha who moved to Ponchatoula, Louisiana just outside New Orleans several years ago. The notice that just came from the Shambhala News Service about Hurricane Katrina mentioned that Sharon Doucet, Coordinator of the Acadiana Shambhala Meditation Group in Lafayette, had attempted to reach Cathy but with no success. I have likewise been trying to reach them by phone since the hurricane hit but, not surprisingly, have not been able to contact them. Hopefully they were able to leave the area before the storm and flooding hit.