Last weekend, June 15 and 16, Team Oger SARdogs experienced a team building weekend at the Mariahoeve estate.
The goal of the weekend was to get to know our new ‘equipment for disaster area deployment’. Equipment that allows us to be as self-sufficient as possible during a deployment, so that we do not have to rely on the scarce resources of the local population. An instructive lesson from our deployment during the earthquake in Turkey in 2023.
Our new tents, with dark sleeping cabins (in case of shift work), offer sufficient space for people, dogs and all necessary equipment. Our 5×5 meter tarp offers shelter for the entire team, because it was a weekend with a bit of sun and a few more rain showers. Nevertheless, we were able to practice well with the tools such as the generator and the reciprocating saw. With enough wood as a by-catch for the cozy campfire in the evening.
After breakfast on Sunday it was time to fold up the tents, which are now fortunately almost dry again. The rest of the morning and afternoon we spent setting up the transport crates and recording the contents on inventory lists per crate. Finally, we placed all the crates in our new deployment trailer. Ready for deployment in a disaster area.
It was a beautiful, educational, fun and humorous weekend with this wonderful team. A team that feels supported by the many sponsors who make all this possible. Or as a team member put it so beautifully in our group app on Sunday evening: “We feel rich in many ways.”
