Monday, January 15, 2007
I know, I know...
I haven't posted anything in forever. But now I have something to write about.
I just spent a week along the southern coast of Mississippi. I had the opportunity to go down there as a chaperone with a group from Fontbonne University (where I'm doing my practicum) on their service trip. We stayed in a retreat center close to Pass Christian (pronounced Christy Ann) where about 150 other volunteers were also staying.
Our group was split up into various work crews throughout the week. My group did a bunch of different things. Our first work day (Tuesday) we went to a Naval Retirement Home that actually withstood Katrina pretty well, but it is going to be imploded before a new building goes up. There was tons of furniture inside, so we were loading up a truck with some of it and then unloading it at a werehouse so that the Catholic Disaster Response Team people can distribute it to people in need.
On Wednesday, we painted the inside of a house in Biloxi for a gentleman who is mostly rebuilt. Biloxi used to have casino barges right on the water, but after the storm, these giant barges were actually on the other side of the highway that runs right along the beach. Some casinos have been rebuilt (on land), which blocks the beautiful view a lot of people had of the ocean. It's such a contrast to see brand new parking garages just blocks from people living in FEMA trailers where their houses used to be. We also cleared the surrounding yard of the house of some of the junk. People just put all the debris they move out on the curbs and apparently, if you keep calling for it to be picked up, it will be eventually.
Thursday, we went out to another house in Pearlington. We emptied out and demolished a garage that was literally just the top part of a garage sitting on supports. The homeowner wasn't there, but his neighbor across the street had done an amazing job rebuilding most of his house and he helped us out and told us his story, which we were so grateful for! Pearlington is in Hancock County, which was the hardest hit county. They were pounded by Katrina for 10 hours straight. The eye of the storm went right over it. We were reminded that New Orleans wasn't actually hit like they were, their levees just couldn't handle all the water. One of the main messages we heard (and saw) from the people down there is not to forget the Mississippi Gulf Coast!
On Friday, my group spent the morning helping tear out part of a chain link fence and hauling debris to a drainage ditch across the street. This area of Bay St. Louis was the worst I saw all week. There were very few houses left on this street and there was trash and debris everywhere. We drove down to the beach in nearby Waveland, and it was incredible how much worse the devastation got the closer you got to the water. There is a lot of work to be done.
On Saturday, a bunch of our groups went together to a house in Bay St. Louis and finished tearing out the 1st story floor of a house up on concrete stilts. It was hard work, and I have the bruises to prove it, but I think the students felt great about finishing the job and meeting the home's owner, Rudolph.
Finally, we left on Sunday at 6 a.m. hoping to avoid bad weather and made it back in great time with no problems.
I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have seen what I did and to meet the people still living with reminders of Hurricane Katrina, especially those who are still in FEMA trailers a year and a half after. If you have time and energy, I would encourage anybody to go down there and help with the rebuilding process. The volunteer coordinator who worked with us told us that without volunteers coming down, there is no end in sight. After seeing how much we accomplished, just as one little group in the grand scheme of things, I definitely believe it. There is just too much to be done for those who live there to accomplish it all. But the people we met were strong and dealing with devastation better than I could ever imagine doing. Go Mississippi! That's just the tip of the iceberg, so if you want to hear more about my trip, give me a call.
I haven't posted anything in forever. But now I have something to write about.
I just spent a week along the southern coast of Mississippi. I had the opportunity to go down there as a chaperone with a group from Fontbonne University (where I'm doing my practicum) on their service trip. We stayed in a retreat center close to Pass Christian (pronounced Christy Ann) where about 150 other volunteers were also staying.
Our group was split up into various work crews throughout the week. My group did a bunch of different things. Our first work day (Tuesday) we went to a Naval Retirement Home that actually withstood Katrina pretty well, but it is going to be imploded before a new building goes up. There was tons of furniture inside, so we were loading up a truck with some of it and then unloading it at a werehouse so that the Catholic Disaster Response Team people can distribute it to people in need.
On Wednesday, we painted the inside of a house in Biloxi for a gentleman who is mostly rebuilt. Biloxi used to have casino barges right on the water, but after the storm, these giant barges were actually on the other side of the highway that runs right along the beach. Some casinos have been rebuilt (on land), which blocks the beautiful view a lot of people had of the ocean. It's such a contrast to see brand new parking garages just blocks from people living in FEMA trailers where their houses used to be. We also cleared the surrounding yard of the house of some of the junk. People just put all the debris they move out on the curbs and apparently, if you keep calling for it to be picked up, it will be eventually.
Thursday, we went out to another house in Pearlington. We emptied out and demolished a garage that was literally just the top part of a garage sitting on supports. The homeowner wasn't there, but his neighbor across the street had done an amazing job rebuilding most of his house and he helped us out and told us his story, which we were so grateful for! Pearlington is in Hancock County, which was the hardest hit county. They were pounded by Katrina for 10 hours straight. The eye of the storm went right over it. We were reminded that New Orleans wasn't actually hit like they were, their levees just couldn't handle all the water. One of the main messages we heard (and saw) from the people down there is not to forget the Mississippi Gulf Coast!
On Friday, my group spent the morning helping tear out part of a chain link fence and hauling debris to a drainage ditch across the street. This area of Bay St. Louis was the worst I saw all week. There were very few houses left on this street and there was trash and debris everywhere. We drove down to the beach in nearby Waveland, and it was incredible how much worse the devastation got the closer you got to the water. There is a lot of work to be done.
On Saturday, a bunch of our groups went together to a house in Bay St. Louis and finished tearing out the 1st story floor of a house up on concrete stilts. It was hard work, and I have the bruises to prove it, but I think the students felt great about finishing the job and meeting the home's owner, Rudolph.
Finally, we left on Sunday at 6 a.m. hoping to avoid bad weather and made it back in great time with no problems.
I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have seen what I did and to meet the people still living with reminders of Hurricane Katrina, especially those who are still in FEMA trailers a year and a half after. If you have time and energy, I would encourage anybody to go down there and help with the rebuilding process. The volunteer coordinator who worked with us told us that without volunteers coming down, there is no end in sight. After seeing how much we accomplished, just as one little group in the grand scheme of things, I definitely believe it. There is just too much to be done for those who live there to accomplish it all. But the people we met were strong and dealing with devastation better than I could ever imagine doing. Go Mississippi! That's just the tip of the iceberg, so if you want to hear more about my trip, give me a call.
