Day 6
Sorry, I couldn't think of a catchy title for this post. Now that I have a regular job in the afternoon making my run to Kiln, the mornings are random. I try and get to the kitchen early to come to the library and post to the blog, then try and make myself busy around the kitchen. Usually I help load and clean ERVs for the morning run.
Today I was able to go on a run with Paul to a local Baptist Church and elementary school. The Church was serving as a shelter for what seemed like 50 people or so. The school had apparently just started back up after being repaired from mostly water damage. On one of the walls I saw some drawings that some kids had made. Each drawing included a sentence beginning with "I didn't like ith when..." Needless to say, they all drew about something Katrina related. They said something like "I didn't like it when the tornado knocked my house over" or "... when my trees broke". It was sweet and sad at the same time. Talking to some of the people running the school, I got my first answer about why many people didn't leave the Gulf States when Katrina was approaching. Apparently many people had stayed during hurricane Camille, which I believe came last year. They figured that if they could make it through that one, where they recieved little damage, then they could handle Katrina as well. But apparently, Katrina proved them wrong, and left water in places most long-time residents never thought possible.
Not much to say about the run today, except that the old lady I had connected with the day before remembered me! I couldn't believe it, especially since she's like 86. She remembered my name and even that I came from California. I told her I liked her and walked her meals up to her house for her. That made my day.
Rumor around camp is that there are big changes coming. Wilma is set to rock Florida as you may have heard. Many of the people and resources are being re-routed there from here. Two ERVs from our kitchen will be taking off for there tomorrow morning. I wouldn't mind being sent there. The number of volunteers at camp has dropped from over 800 when I first got there to now under 500.
I'm starting to feel more exhausted by the day. I'm not sure what it is, but I suspect the change in diet combined with the air. I'm sleeping well, though.
Quote-of-the-day:
"Before you got here, one day we served barf for lunch"
- one lady from my kitchen commenting to me about the delicious spread we serve our clients. I'm hearing a lot of complaints from volunteers that the food we serve sucks. I also hear that the Baptists are scrambling with a lack of supplies to make food. I've yet to try a meal, since they're mostly meat dishes like hotdogs or beef ravioli or pork sandwiches. Yummy.
Tidbits:
-Today I had an interesting conversation about the shower lines at camp. There are two seperate shower stations, located on either end of camp out of sight from each other... one for men and the other for women. There is bunch of chairs set up for people waiting for one of 4 empty individual stalls to open up. The chairs are in no particular order. On the men's side, it's a "who's got last?" system. When you walk up you just ask out loud to the people sitting in the waiting area who the last person in line is. Asking this puts you at the end of the line behind the person who raised his hand. The women, on the other hand, set up a musical chairs system, where your place in line is determined by where you're sitting. So every time a person leaves to get in a shower, EVERY person in line has to get up and move to the next seat. What a horrible system. I have to say the dudes win on this one.
Today I was able to go on a run with Paul to a local Baptist Church and elementary school. The Church was serving as a shelter for what seemed like 50 people or so. The school had apparently just started back up after being repaired from mostly water damage. On one of the walls I saw some drawings that some kids had made. Each drawing included a sentence beginning with "I didn't like ith when..." Needless to say, they all drew about something Katrina related. They said something like "I didn't like it when the tornado knocked my house over" or "... when my trees broke". It was sweet and sad at the same time. Talking to some of the people running the school, I got my first answer about why many people didn't leave the Gulf States when Katrina was approaching. Apparently many people had stayed during hurricane Camille, which I believe came last year. They figured that if they could make it through that one, where they recieved little damage, then they could handle Katrina as well. But apparently, Katrina proved them wrong, and left water in places most long-time residents never thought possible.
Not much to say about the run today, except that the old lady I had connected with the day before remembered me! I couldn't believe it, especially since she's like 86. She remembered my name and even that I came from California. I told her I liked her and walked her meals up to her house for her. That made my day.
Rumor around camp is that there are big changes coming. Wilma is set to rock Florida as you may have heard. Many of the people and resources are being re-routed there from here. Two ERVs from our kitchen will be taking off for there tomorrow morning. I wouldn't mind being sent there. The number of volunteers at camp has dropped from over 800 when I first got there to now under 500.
I'm starting to feel more exhausted by the day. I'm not sure what it is, but I suspect the change in diet combined with the air. I'm sleeping well, though.
Quote-of-the-day:
"Before you got here, one day we served barf for lunch"
- one lady from my kitchen commenting to me about the delicious spread we serve our clients. I'm hearing a lot of complaints from volunteers that the food we serve sucks. I also hear that the Baptists are scrambling with a lack of supplies to make food. I've yet to try a meal, since they're mostly meat dishes like hotdogs or beef ravioli or pork sandwiches. Yummy.
Tidbits:
-Today I had an interesting conversation about the shower lines at camp. There are two seperate shower stations, located on either end of camp out of sight from each other... one for men and the other for women. There is bunch of chairs set up for people waiting for one of 4 empty individual stalls to open up. The chairs are in no particular order. On the men's side, it's a "who's got last?" system. When you walk up you just ask out loud to the people sitting in the waiting area who the last person in line is. Asking this puts you at the end of the line behind the person who raised his hand. The women, on the other hand, set up a musical chairs system, where your place in line is determined by where you're sitting. So every time a person leaves to get in a shower, EVERY person in line has to get up and move to the next seat. What a horrible system. I have to say the dudes win on this one.
posted by Neil Patel at 10:29 AM
1 Comments:
I just read the email about this blog today. Pretty amazing step you took to just head to Mississippi and help out. What was the thought process leading up to that decision?
Any reflections on the service you've been doing? Any change in thought or 'personal growth' occur in the week you've been out there?
Have you met any people who dedicate their lives to this stuff? It seems like it could be possible. There is always a need for helping hands, esp. in times of disaster. If they feed you and provide you shelter, then you don't have to worry about that. It would be a nomadic lifestyle though...We've met a few people here in India who done just that. Sold everything, dedicated their lives to service. I'd be interested to hear your take on that.
Pretty amazing trip...keep posting!
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