Flooded homes need to be cleaned up to become liveable again, and many of them also need repairs, but the work may be too much for householders who do not have domestic staff to help them.
There are many popular sayings associated with home -- “Home sweet home”, “There is no place like home”, "Peace – that was the other name for home”, "Life’s voyage, which is homeward bound” and “Home is paradise” to give just a few.
But the current great flood has turned many homes upside down, making them unlivable and forcing tens of thousands of affected families to take refuge in temporary shelters provided by the government or charitable organizations.
The damage done to these properties varies from house to house, depending on how long they were flooded and how deep the water. In money terms the true cost may never be known, but it is certainly astronomical.
The 5,000 baht handout promised by the government for each flooded household is nowhere near the real cost to those households flooded for a long time.
The families will have to dig deep into their pockets to pay the bills incurred in making their homes livable again. Many will have to seek loans from a bank or from a loan shark if they don’t have credit worthiness.
But the first priority for all affected residents is to clean up their flooded houses to make them livable, at the least, even if they cannot restore all the comforts and conveniences they used to enjoy.
The immediate cleanup includes washing away all the dirt that came with the floodwater, mopping or scrubbing the floor, scrubbing the walls, moving furniture and appliances such as refrigerators outside so they can dry out in the sun, and hopefully be usable again.
It's a daunting undertaking which may take more than just a few days.
Large families and those with maids and other household help will find the job less taxing, but for singles or married couples without any helpers it will be a very demanding task.
Outside help would make the job easier, but the problem is that few people would trust strangers into their homes to do the cleanup.
The extraordinary volunteer spirit shown by many young men and women during the flood - in the ways they helped fill and place sandbags, package and distribute relief supplies to flood victims could also play a role in the cleanup effort after the flood has receded.
It would be a great pity that this spirit is also allowed to flow away as the water recedes, because the hardship is not over for the flood victims.
Obviously, the government and state agencies have thought about helping in the cleanup, but they appear to be far more concerned with other rehabilitation and reconstruction jobs which are deemed more important. That does not mean that they cannot offer a helping hand.
It is an additional but very rewarding job which would be greatly appreciated by the affected households. The question is, which agency is going to organize the effort?
At a less complicated level, this can be done by employers as part of the corporate social responsibility programmer, and there must surely be several employees whose houses are flooded in each company.
It could be given a name like “friends help friends” - a programmer under which office workers who escaped the ravages of the flood could help their affected fellow workers in the cleanup of their homes.
This would provide a good opportunity for employees to get closer to one another and to become friends instead of just being office colleagues.
The goodness of ordinary Thais, which was shown in their spontaneous outpouring of compassion and willingness to pitch in a help, should be kept alive a bit longer.
They have yet another undertaking to fulfill – to help with the cleanup, so our less fortunate compatriots can once again enjoy going "home".
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