New blog: Mississippi5.blogspot

This was last December's so new one is at Mississippi5.blogspot.com

Reflections After Returning Home

Reflections after returning home:

· It was heartbreaking to see how much still needs to be done.

· It is unreasonable for there to be deadlines for folks to be out of their “Katrina cottages” by the end of February or March.

· It was frustrating to not have money for necessary materials to complete some of the jobs.

· It was heartwarming to see the spirit of the friends we have made there.

· It was maddening to feel as though the whole country is ignoring their plight.

· It was good to be able to help some people actually get into their homes again.

· It is difficult to fundraise and to deal with the expense each time we go

· It was hard to leave knowing how much more there is to do.

· It is good to know that our next trip is already being planned.

The Cats---Dewey & Chester

We left our two cats home alone and asked a friend, Justine, to check on them for us in the middle of the week. When she arrived at our house she had trouble with the front door and called Douglas for help. He was on the very top of an extension ladder at Miss Anna's at the time--she had called me first and I couldn't remember whether the key turned left, right, etc. He had her go in the back door and run to the alarm panel--which worked fine. Dewey however, had somehow managed to go into our bedroom and close the door. No telling if he was locked in there immediately after we left or just before Justine arrived. Both cats were very happy to see her.

When we got home, we were greeted warmly by both of them. When Bill and I were in our bedroom however, we could smell that faint odor of cat urine but couldn't find it and figured we'd leave it til today. I turned on the electric blanket and climbed into bed--only to find that the smell was coming from my pillow and the sheets!!! We slept in the spare bedroom and today I'm in the process of tossing things and washing things to see what can be salvaged--obviously he'd been in there a while and for some unknown reason chose not to use the bathroom...or the floor....or the papers on the floor....

The saga continues. I thought it strange that the cats didn't come join us on the bed as they usually do but figured they were with Douglas. Unfortunately, when Douglas went to pack his car this morning he found them both locked out on the front porch. They were once again, very glad to see us....and very cold!! Evidently when Bill and Douglas were bringing in the luggage the cats got out onto the porch!! If we hadn't been so distracted by the bed situation and just overall exhaustion in general we probably would have looked for them. They are fine which is the bottom line although I doubt either one has learned a lesson!

The rest of Friday....

We had to go back to Pearlington before heading to New Orleans to drop off some tools at Miss Maria's and at Ben's and we dropped off our extra food at the church.
We then took a quick trip to some of the places that people had worked that the rest of us hadn't seen.
Craig is demonstrating the lift he fixed so that Miss Sue's husband could finally see his new home. Jeff is standing beneath the Katrina watermark on the pole. The house is Mr. Lee's where the crews worked on leveling, the roof, the yard, and packing the vase collection.








The next photos show the Pearl River which is the boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana. Then, as we crossed Lake Ponchatraine (sp?) you can see where the barrier is next to the parts of the side that are gone from the storm.















Finally, the photos below are just some of the pictures from New Orleans. We arrived home after midnight and were all too tired to do anything other than head for bed.

Friday Morning--Jan. 2, 2009

It's sunny and warm here today with a 40% chance of showers later as we pack up and get ready to head to New Orleans. We have a quick stop to make in Pearlington first and then we'll be on our way around 10:30. We fly out around dinner time and get in around 10PM tonight. We'll have a couple of hours to have beignets at Cafe Du Monde and then do a little shopping and eat lunch--although after all those thank you meals yesterday food doesn't really appeal to me right now. My disclaimer by the way is that every post was done close to midnight after a full day of work and an evening of singing, sharing, and discussing. For some reason the time on my computer holds the west coast time so add 2 hours to each post.
Later today or when I get back home I intend to add a link that will take you to stories that we heard this week so my blog won't end here. Hoping for good weather for flying and safe travel this will be my last post from Mississippi.

Our last day: Food & Back to Connections

It has become a trip custom to wear our latest Pearlington shirts and pose at the Welcome to Pearlington sign. Here we are--all 20 of us and then various combinations are shown below.





Today was our last day in Pearlington. It was really cold and we were anxious to get to work quickly. A large contingent headed to the swamp to work on the foundation for Captain Jack. They had tried putting in pilings in one location and had to switch to another part of the property due to the water filling in the holes. The boat above is the one some of you will remember from our first trip--it's the one that ended up on top of a house. We found out today that two people (with only 1 life vest) actually were on the boat during the hurricane--they live on it. The guys had built the boxes and were able to fill them with concrete but were not able to get the heavy equipment to place them so some of the guys returned to their original work sites.

Miss Anna had fixed lunch (unbeknownst to us) but we had left to go to the church for lunch and then to the sign for our picture. She served us an afternoon snack at 3PM--cabbage and sausage, black eyed peas, warm rolls, potato salad, etc. It was a traditional New Year's Day meal.
We were very close to finishing the first coat of paint but just couldn't get it done. Scaffolding will be needed for the upper peaks--but we got lots further than we had anticipated. It turns out that she only wanted us to do the garage because she felt there were others that needed us more. It was through her however that we found Maria and Mr. Lee's families both needing help.
Maria and her sister Alicia fixed a special dinner for those of us that had worked on her house. They had set up tables and chairs in their new home even though the power isn't hooked up and they aren't in yet.
We also had lunch at the church again--black eyed peas, turkey, dressing, corn, green beans, cornbread, cake, etc. Today was filled with Pearlington folks expressing their appreciation by serving us wonderful food.

During this entire trip, the word "connection" has resonated with me. It was through our connection with Sam that we found Miss Caroline (the cat lady) and it was through Miss Anna that we found Maria and then through her that we found Mr. Lee. It has also been about connections with our own group of 20 and our work with Sue's group of 7.

We have strengthened connections with those we knew prior to the trip, made new connections with other workers, and most importantly, we have made new connections and new friends here in Pearlington. We already are talking about when we come back ..... Pearlington is in our hearts and we will keep coming back as long as there are people that have this heartbreaking need for help.

That this lack of help can exist in our country is truly appalling. It is so hard to leave tomorrow knowing that if we could stay we could ensure that Maria gets in to her home by the deadline for removal of her Katrina cottage. If we stayed we could give more hope and assistance to Mr. Lee and just might be able to pull off getting him ready to meet his deadline. If we stayed we might be able to help Sam and Lyn....the list is heartbreakingly endless!!

We have established connections that won't be broken and we have provided some hope and some help and for now that has to be enough. Once again we take away the feeling that we got more from the people here than we were able to give. We have seen the elephant and we can only hope that as we return home we can make the people that have the power to effect real change, see the elephant as well. Good night and happy new year from Pearlington, Mississippi.

New Years Eve--Happy New Year!

Today seemed much better than yesterday. We have made amazing progress on Miss Anna's house--we have it all primed except for the highest peak and have the first coat of the final blue well on its way. Miss Anna's family has started to arrive for their big New Year's celebration--her grandchildren arrive tonight. She still stopped in the middle of her preparations to bring us our Mexican coffee and treats. She also gave me seeds to distribute from her Confederate Roses which are a multi color rose that she especially treasures.
The connections that came through her have now all received quite a bit of help. Maria's house has a room framed, lots of outlets, fans, chandeliers, smoke detectors wired, etc. Lee was thrilled with the crew that showed up there (Maria's neighbor) ---one group worked on levelling the house with him and others worked on packing up the vase collection from the house to move it into boxes and out to the garage. Tomorrow a big crew will be going to pour the foundation over at the swamp at Captain Jack's. We are all feeling an urgency with only one more day to go.
We had lunch at the Baptist Church and it was good to see Rev. Rawls and his wife--she gave me a big hug as I entered. Saw the team from WVa that we've seen at this time on other trips. Met a retired couple that sold their home and live in an RV, travelling around the country to locations where there is a need coordinated by an organization in Illinois. They have been here for a couple of months and will stay til Feb. 1st. I suggested to Bill that we retire early and stay here for a while but he pointed out neither of us could tolerate the bugs. (Of course there are a few other considerations :) )Those gnats aren't supposed to be out now but they haven't gotten the news and we're all covered with bites. The weather was in the 70's yesterday but cooler today--which was good because the breeze kept the bugs away.
One of the families that we've worked with before is close to being in their home but there is no money to finish--I'm thinking of trying to get a figure as to what is needed and then see if we can't do some fundraising. I'll keep trying to get a response from Ellen (Degeneres) :)'s
It's almost time for our meeting to start so will stop here--I just have a few photos from today so will upload those tomorrow. I hope that this year, with a new administration, will bring some more focus on the plight of people along the Gulf Coast. It is horrendous that there is so much need so long after the hurricane. Volunteers continue to help but that has slowed somewhat--Ben's next group isn't coming for 6 weeks. It is so frustrating to be here and see what is needed and to hear the stories of the abuse of funds allocated for relief and to hear about the lack of help from our government. Personally it is frustrating that this is all we can do--our expenses for these 6 trips and our time are what we have to give and will continue to give until the job in this town is done---but that committment is not enough for all that there is to do. I pray that as this year and our time here come to an end, the work that we've done and the lives that we have touched will help to give at least some of these people hope for the New Year. Happy New Year to all of you and thanks for all of your support throughout our endeavors in Pearlington whether financial or otherwise.
PS Heard at our meeting that Craig, our electrician, diagnosed the problem, got the part, and fixed the man lift for this couple whose home had been completed 6 weeks ago. He was unable to see the inside of his new home because they had installed steps instead of a ramp and because the new lift wouldn't work. Craig and his crew stopped by today just in time to see them use it so that he could enter his new home for the first time. Certainly that made for a happy new year for all concerned.