Aid Worker Among the Displaced

Eileen Ihrig. Photo: Mercy Corps

Two years ago, Eileen Ihrig was living in Pakistan, overseeing health services and ensuring the availability of clean water for thousands of Afghan refugees who had fled Kabul in the aftermath of U.S. military action there in 2001.

Today, she's preparing to help another set of people displaced from their homes, those from Hurricane Katrina. But in this case, she's also one of them.

Ihrig moved to New Orleans last month to start a new job developing an international component to the master's-level program at the Tulane University School of Social Work. Only two weeks ago, she had moved into an apartment, a second-floor unit in the city's Uptown neighborhood.

"I'm not even unpacked yet, and I'm displaced," she said good-humoredly.

Ihrig is currently working with Mercy Corps to assess how the agency can best assist hurricane survivors.

Beginning in 2002, she spent two-and-a-half years as a Mercy Corps program officer in various parts of Asia. She wrote a grant application for a Russian orphan-assistance program and helped a disability nonprofit strengthen its advocacy skills. And she oversaw health, water and sanitation programs for Mercy Corps' refugee settlement in Pakistan.

"It's certainly ironic. While I was working in Pakistan, I could grasp intellectually what it meant to be a refugee, but now I can empathize on a much more intimate level," says Ihrig.

Last Saturday afternoon, Ihrig packed up her Suburu wagon and joined the convoy of cars heading west along I-10. She and a friend intended to drop off her car at a cousin's house in Baton Rouge, then continue on another 270 miles to a Houston hotel - the closest lodging they could find. But her relatives insisted that she and her friend stay at their house, and she's been there ever since.

With power out in Baton Rouge on Monday and Tuesday, Ihrig's household was glued to the battery-powered radio she brought along, listening to news of Katrina's devastation. When power was restored, she was jarred by the television images of New Orleans under water. Scenes of homes ripped apart by water and wind reminded her of the tsunami-battered coastline of Sri Lanka, where she spent the first six months of this year organizing youth programs for Christian Children's Fund.

"The similarities to the tsunami are eerie - not in terms of the number of people killed, but the level of destruction and the rebuilding effort required and the massive numbers of people displaced. There are about one million people, from the wealthy to the incredibly vulnerable, who are going to need temporary housing for an extended period."

Ihrig has very little information about her own housing situation. "From what I've heard about my neighborhood, it's mostly tree damage. I also heard the water crested at nine feet."

With New Orleans evacuated, Baton Rouge, 80 miles west, has swelled with refugees. Ihrig says city streets are clogged with traffic, the hotels are booked and coffee shops with wireless Internet connections are full of people pecking away at their laptops. The local Gap outlet even gave her a 10 percent "refugee discount" on two shirts she purchased on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Ihrig worked a 4-8 a.m. volunteer shift at a shelter set up at Louisiana State University, helping people register and get food and blankets.

"I heard stories of individuals losing everything," she said. "There were people talking about how quickly the water rose, being rescued by helicopters. There was one guy who lost his wife in the water. I think he knew she didn't make it."

Today Ihrig will participate in meetings with other national, state and local relief agencies and continue coordinating Mercy Corps' response team.

"I think there's a number of areas where Mercy Corps could help," she says. "That could include helping coordinate immediate relief efforts and initiating support programs for kids younger than five. I'll start by calling the emergency operations center, the Red Cross, and other organizations to get a better idea of who's doing what and what the ongoing needs are. It's a start."