Welcome to Deseret Guides
Welcome to Deseret Guides were small booklets originally created to help refugees from Brahmaputra assimilate well into their new home. They contained basic vocabulary and phrases, maps, and contact information for basic services. The guides also provided photographs and names of important figures in their new community like policemen or elected representatives, and non governmental support groups like the Relief Society and the Bishop's Storehouse.
Need
In XXX DE disaster struck Brahmaputra Prime. An asteroid over 2 kilometers wide and locally known as the Hand of Shiva , struck the planet. The resulting shock-wave leveled ecosystems planet-wide and destroyed critical systems and equipment necessary to the survival of the colony. Colony leadership enacted draconian food and water rationing, but it was readily apparent to everyone that unless something changed, and soon, the colony would die out. Around a year after Shiva's Comet the DDS Albatross arrived in system. A rough agreement would be established to move as many refugees as possible to Deseret.
Leaders on Deseret became concerned over how to adequately provide for and assimilate thousands of refugees, from a society that they had almost no frame of reference for. Although the Desereti government was mobilized under the leadership of President Gideon Caldwell, nothing of this scale had ever happened before. It was clear that the government was not prepared.
Creation Process
Responding to the need communicated by the Desereti Federal Government, the LDS church mobilized it's members to receive their new neighbors.
If you do not have an assignment from your leadership, there is a problem. If you are not finding ways on your own to be productively engaged, there is a problem. If you are not committing your hearts and souls to receiving your brothers and sisters in need, there is a problem. Fix it.
As the refugees were placed in temporary holding camps the LDS Relief Society created a system of crafting welcoming guides, specific to the needs of each family. At each station an individual or family was questioned over different skills or needs they possessed. Starting with a paper front and back cover containing the assigned housing, each station would print out relevant information and place them inside. At the final station the collection of papers would be bound together into a softcover book.
Information Provided
Each guide was roughly tailored to the needs of each individual and family. The information each guide provided covered a vast range of topics. Examples of topics covered are:
- Location of the nearest grocery stores and average prices for the most common goods
- Contact information for utility services
- Contact information for emergency services such as firefighters and police
- Contact information for non-governmental support groups such as the Relief Society and the Bishop's Storehouse
- List of career relevant companies and contact info to their hiring departments
- Photographs and names of each store owner or police officer that worked within 5 blocks of their new homes
- Contact information for their home's elected representatives
- Basic vocabulary and phrase dictionary for Burmese-English communication
Legacy
Shortly after the first few waves from Brahmaputra the development of digital tools led to the streamlining of the immigration process. An official "Welcome to Deseret" guidebook was created and the Federal Government no longer needed to rely on the volunteer work of the LDS church. Original "Welcome to Deseret" guides became cherished family heirlooms, though few remain in good condition because of how often they were used. In XXX DE Rivendell voted to include information kiosks in all blocks of the city in order to provide much of the information covered in the original guides. Within a decade all cities on Deseret had passed similar laws and federal funding was allocated for their construction.
Type
Guide, Generic
"Where are we supposed to go Daddy?"Khine Thu made sure to fix a smile on his face before looking down at his daughter. Yadanar stood shoulder to shoulder with her twin Thanda, each keeping a firm grip on one of the hands of their younger brother Kaung."We just need to follow the line here until we talk to one of the volunteers, and then-" Khine paused as the line moved and he shepherded his family along, "-and then we will learn where our new home will be."Yadanar looked like she had more questions, but instead of asking them she focused her attention on cleaning drool off her brother's face. Khine tried to make eye contact with Phyo, his wife, turning back around to the front when she gave no sign that she was aware of her surroundings. She remained in the same daze she had been in ever since the death of her elephant, Taungtaann. He clamped down hard on the temptation to sigh, and waited for the line to move.Eventually he found himself face to face with a woman sitting behind a desk, finishing up some final task on the paperwork in front of her. It was his first time being close to a Desereti, and he found himself slightly uncomfortable with the foreignness of her facial features. After a brief moment the woman looked up and smiled, saying something in a language he now knew to be English. After a moment a device on her desk roughly (very roughly) translated what she had said."-Have-information chip-with you?-" The device squawked. Khine inserted his chip into the device, following the instructions of a series of drawings on its surface. After a moment the device chirped in a successful tone and the woman behind the desk grabbed a sheet of paper from a printer, folded it in half, and handed it to him. On it, he saw in plain Burmese that their new home would be unit 35 in residential block 10. His fingers traced the letters and he felt himself relax. How long had he been carrying that tension with him? Lost in thought, he almost missed the woman's instructions to proceed to the next desk.He had a place to put his family, what more did he need? Khine walked to the next desk, unsure all over again.
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