CERMT and UAE relief efforts in New York- continued -

"NY has a really different feeling to me- everyone smiles more than before, they are helpful to strangers (maybe it was because of those chairs on our backs and they felt sorry!!) and they are SO grateful for all help now. 

They may have been tough in the beginning, but they are now welcoming any help, visitors, etc. They are hurting though they hardly show it. Really it was an incredible feeling--Our team was tight, we all had our jobs and did them as if we'd practiced! New Yorkers loved the southern accents, we laughed a LOT, they enjoyed us and we them so much."

The next trip to New York took place from December 22nd 2001 to January 6th 2002. Nineteen team members from CERMT and the UAE gave up their holidays to give over one thousand Chair Massages to firefighters, and police as well as other rescue/relief workers at fire and police stations, including Port Authority LGA and JFK, St. Paul's chapel at Ground Zero, the Staten Island Landfill, counseling centers and to social workers and psychologists thru Safe Horizons agency offices.

Sylla describes trip two:

"This was the most emotionally and spiritually charged time of giving and receiving that I have ever experienced in and the most love-ing I have ever given or received in my life. T

The reward of giving hands-on love to these workers, and having them be so appreciative was incredible and quite addictive. 

Working in St. Paul's, the landfill, fire stations- we got to be an integral part of the relief effort. 

We made new friends from workers and volunteers. We found out first hand how it is working 12 hour shifts in the pit, or landfill. 

We saw how firemen live as a brotherhood/ family in these stations, and how they now have other families to take care of besides their own. 

We heard them say "when this is over" as they continue to do their tours, build houses and provide for the families of the lost ones, while trying to get back to normal.  

But it will never be normal. Things have changed. And things will continue to change. Emotions are high, grieving and anger come out in many ways.

My last day of work at St.Pauls, I had chosen to work the night shift-2am to 8 am, yet when it was over I could not leave. 

At night the operation continues, yet in the church, the lights are dim, candles are lit so those that need it, can sleep. It was less busy than the day but operations continued.

In the morning, I got a private tour of the newly opened ramp, and still I couldn't leave. I stayed on hoping to see friends I'd met earlier in the week, to say goodbye till next time. 

I decided to lay down on a cot for a quick rest as I had been up all night. All the cots and the pews have blankets and a stuffed animal (donated), so I chose one near the end of a row. 

Three times some papers fell on me (I had picked them up to lay down and placed on a box beside me), and two times I brushed them away. The third time I looked at them, miscellaneous two page WTC FDNY orders, with a separate sheet on de-toxing from PCB, asbestos, etc. 

As I looked at it, it clearly said among other stuff, to use the vaporizer with eucalyptus!! I got so excited, I went up to three guys putting their jackets on to go back to work, and asked if they had seen this. They said yes, they had seen the orders, but not the detox paper. No one had  addressed this, or brought to their attention the desperate need. 

They agreed they had not worn respirators in those first 3 months, and many now suffer from chronic irritation. They understood that if they don't clean out, they all will be suffering later. One pulled out from his pocket his "sniffee" and spray we had given days before, and said he goes no where without those!!"

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