Professional Documents
Culture Documents
In this issue
Executive Directors Log
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Breaking Bulk
In the shipping industry, the term break bulk refers to cargo that must be loaded and unloaded individually from a vessel. Until the advent of containerization in the 1960s, most vessels carried cargo this wayin crates, boxes or barrels. Old-fashioned manpower shifted the goods in portbit by bit. Today, the term break bulk refers most often to oversized and heavyweight cargo that does not fit into intermodal containersthings like luxury yachts, construction equipment, windmill turbines and locomotive engines. These big-ticket items might seem impossible to ship, but specialized break bulk equipment can manage the most unwieldy cargo safely and efficiently. Breaking bulk makes possible the shipment of things that seem un-shippable to even the most challenging locations. People can employ break bulk principles in philanthropy to make possible contributions that, as one-time gifts, might also seem impossible. Recurring gifts split a large contribution into manageable bits and, like the heavy-lift cranes used in break bulk shipping, organizations like the Seamens Church Institute (SCI) offer specialized tools to enable a simple way of doing it. (See How to Make a Recurring Gift.) Used in parts of the globe where ports have minimal shore facilities, break bulk shipping allows the expansion of developing countries infrastructure with advances like wind farms, power plants and highways. Breaking bulk with your financial gift to SCI has the potential to do a lot of good, too. Dividing a gift into installmentsthrough automatic payments on your credit card provides a steady stream of vital income to the organization that supports mariners. Regular cash flow allows SCI to accurately plan and efficiently manage resources over the course of a fiscal year. Monthly or weekly contributions of seemingly small amounts add up. Look at what your gift, broken up into installments, can provide for mariners.
A Test of Endurance
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Positive Change
Why I Give
Founded in 1834, the Institute is a voluntary, ecumenical agency affiliated with the Episcopal Church that provides pastoral care, maritime education, and legal and advocacy services for mariners.
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This year at SCI, we have chosen the theme Take a Closer Look, asking folks to survey our complex and varied workto discover things unknown and unseen, to reassess assumptions about the Institute and to find further opportunities for partnership. We as an Institute have asked for your support because it helps us remain open to sea changes. In order to provide effectively for mariners needs, SCIs chaplains, educators and attorneys must keep their ears to the ground (or the water), connected and responsive to the lives of men and women faced with challenges in the maritime workplace. I ask that you reaffirm your commitment to examine closely your connection with mariners and the Institute that serves them. I invite you into deeper collaboration and dialogue. Come to one of our centers, invite SCI to speak to your group or explore our websites news feed. As you Take a Closer Look, I hope you discover something that interests, inspires and perhaps even surprises you. Yours faithfully,
Spring 2013 Volume 105, Number 1 Published by The Seamens Church Institute seamenschurch.org 212-349-9090 fax: 212-349-8342 sci@seamenschurch.org Richard T. du Moulin Chairman, Board of Trustees The Rev. David M. Rider President and Executive Director Editor, Oliver Brewer Assistant Editor, Susannah Skiver Barton Design & Production, Bliss Design The Lookout is printed on recycledpaper.
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While life at sea is mysterious and unknown to many, it most certainly is not a thing of the past. Today, seafaring men and women play an important part in the lives of ordinary people. The first word in SCIs namecoined over a century agorefers to people who, by any name, deserve our respect and support.
The sea conjures up a lot of images tall-masted battleships, mythical monsters, a novel by Hemingway mostly things reminiscent of days gone by. And terms like sailorfrom the time when ships were powered by sailsand seamanwhen all seafarers were mensound like old-fashioned words.
Did you know that most mentions of the word church in the Bible refer to faith communitiesnot physical buildings? When Paul, an early apostle, calls the church the Body of Christ,
Some folks may wonder if this is a means of recruiting new members, but SCI supports maritime workers regardless of their background or religion, taking Saint Pauls appeal
If someone talks about an institute, you might imagine a place like this ...
to heart: When Gods people are in need, be ready to help them. (Romans 12:13) SCIs name celebrates its history and unbroken service to mariners since 1834. Mariners are the backbone of global commerce, and the Seamens Church Institute proudly supports hardworking people who make our modern way of life possible. Our mission would not be possible without the help of individuals, churches, corporations and foundations that work with us to serve the needs of mariners, present and future.
Take a Closer Look Illustrations 2013 Lisa Lavoie. Design by BlissDesign.com
To some, the word institute implies a sterile laboratory, its scientists disconnected from civilization as they conduct experiments. But there is another kind of institute.
providing professional legal services free of charge. SCI understands the challenges mariners face and speaks out for their rights. Throughout its historyas well as todaySCI has helped shape legislation making the world a better place for mariners.
Take a closer look and discover the Seamens Church Institute. Learn more about us online or by getting in touch.
SCI engages with the world and incorporates real-life experience into its missionalways ahead of the trends that shape life on the water. SCI uses seafarer centers and trusted, one-on-one relationships with mariners to anticipate and meet their evolving needs. The many facets of SCIs institutional work include adult education tailored specifically for professional mariners and advocacy for mariners welfare,
Explore SCIs website at seamenschurch.org Send us email at sci@seamenschurch.org Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/seamenschurch Follow us on Twitter @seamenschurch
How does all that stuff get here? Watch this short video at http://smschur.ch/mcshort The Lookout Spring 2013 5
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SCIs Clinical Researcher discusses how seafarers respond to the experience of a pirate attack, examining how resilience may ameliorate long-term effects of trauma.
SCI has prioritized developing a cohesive assessment and treatment approach for seafarers susceptible to pirate attacks and accompanying trauma. Maritime piracy represents the single greatest risk to the seafaring communitynot because of its prevalence, but because of the potential magnitude of traumatic experience. On January 25, 2013, I presented to the Mount Sinai Hospital World Trade Center Health Program on the issue of fostering resilienceboth generally and among those affected by trauma. I presented two complementary approaches to thinking of resilience: as a trait and as a process. persons temporary weakness due to difficult experience by fostering an environment that does not pathologize suffering, but rather sees expressions of pain as opportunities to render help. Current research investigates assessment measures and psychotherapeutic approaches to enhancing resilience as well as neuroscientific models to explain resilience in the brain (cf. the work of Dennis S. Charney at Mount Sinai). At present, few standardized assessments exist, though one that has had limited success is the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC, 2003), a 25-item self-report that determines whether resilience is increasing or decreasing in an individual over time.
Resilience describes how we get through the stressors of everyday life, how we survive tragedy and how we recover from traumatic experience. If we think of traumatic During my presentation, I also discussed different therapeutic experiences as those that interrupt our ability to think, techniques. Psychotherapy and neuroscience research disturb our feelings and make us feel overwhelmed, resilience point to the potential risk of using grief-counseling models is the counterforce that minimizes the impact of trauma. indiscriminately. Sometimes the instinctual helping response As a trait, resilience allows a person to maintain equilibrium is useful and sometimes not. I highlighted one approach, Complicated Grief Treatment (Shear et al.), as a good in the face of potentially traumatizing experience, to adapt compromise of grief counseling and an approach mindful to change and to cope with and recover from disasters. of research on limiting the extent of trauma. Making good As a process, resilience is possible at the individual and community level. An individual can be supported in coping, use of available resources is a key ingredient in improving in using available help from loved ones andprofessionals and seafarer mental health. Many seafarers come from supportive families and communities, and the literature on resilience in returning to purpose in life. At and surviving traumatic experience suggests that acceptance the communal level, groups by peers improves outcomes. can bond around troubles affecting the whole group Extensive trauma, both in terms of length and intensity, or members within it. especially tests resilience. Where there are direct threats This happens when to life, outcomes tend to be worse. The more the a group accepts a maritime industry and the international mental health community can accomplish in coordinating efforts to enhance resilience, identify resources and improve access to those resources, the less likely that most seafarers will suffer long-term effects of trauma.
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Charney DS (2004). Psychobiological mechanisms of resilience and vulnerability: Implications for successful adaptation to extreme stress. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 195216. Connor KM, Davidson JRT (2003). Development of a new resilience scale: The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Depression and Anxiety, 18, 7682. Shear K, Frank E, Houck PR, Reynolds III, CF (2005). Treatment of complicated grief: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 293(21), 26012608.
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Professional photographer Ethel Jimenez named SCI to receive part of the proceeds from the sale of her photographs at a special two-week show in San Francisco. SCIBay Area Director Adrienne Yee met with Ethel in February at the International Maritime Center and learned why she gives to SCI.
change, though, Ethel continues to affirm her connection to the sea. Ethel says, I give [to SCI] because my father spoke in glowing terms of the Institute and what its services mean to mariners. She continues the family tradition of caring for Sea fever runs deep. mariners, knowing that her Ethel Jimenezs grandmother visited ships. So did her mother. donation provides services for a new generation. All of this time working with mariners led Ethels mom to meet Ethels dad, Victor A. Jimenez. Want to share your story of As a marine engineer, Ethels dad was called away on voyages SCIs ministry? Email us at sci@seamenschurch.org Your for weeks at a time. The family missed him, and he missed support makes a difference in thema familiar refrain for mariners. Later, he switched to the lives of the mariners we serve. working aboard ships in port. This allowed him to stay on land to be with his family while continuing to use his skills and devotion to the sea. Growing up in Brooklyn, Ethel remembers the former SCI location nearthe South Street Seaport. Twelve years ago, Ethel moved west, seduced by San Francisco. Through that
U se the envelope in this edition of The Lookout or mail Support the people who deliver the your check to TheSeamens goods that make our modern way Church Institute, 74 Trinity of life possible. Place, Suite 1414, New York, NY 10006.
Volunteer
SCI offers many ways volunteers can contribute to the work of the Institute. Call one of our centers or email volunteer@ seamenschurch.org.
Follow
Go to http://facebook.com/ seamenschurch and clicklike. Follow @seamenschurch on Twitter Check out our photos at http://www.flickr.com/ photos/seamenschurch/ And, watch videos from our work at http://vimeo.com/ channels/scitv Remember SCI in your estate plans. Email legacygiving@ seamenschurch.org for more information.
Donate
Call 212-349-9090 and make a contribution over the phone with your credit card.
Collect
In addition to handknit scarves and hats, SCIs Christmastime gift to mariners includes items found at most ordinary supermarkets donated by people like you. To find out more, contact cas@ seamenschurch.org or visit ourwebsite.
Sponsor
SCI provides prominent recognition to its underwriters. Become a corporate sponsor and link your companys philanthropy with North Americas largest and most comprehensive mariners serviceagency.