More Pictures are online

Moving Boards
Originally uploaded by FinanceProfessor

Almost 600 pictures now online from the Spring break trip!

We still have some more pictures coming from Pass Christian and Gassville, so stay tuned.

BTW I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend using Piclens to view the entire set. It is amazing! Worth the trouble of downloading it. (here is the Internet Explorer version that a few people were asking about.)

If you went on the trip, this one will bring back memories!

Just watch it. If you did not go on the trip, it will not mean much to you.

Very Good Day

Pearlington:

What a good day!

We really kept busy today and there was lots of work and the right tools so all got quite a bit done in Arkansas and in Pearlington. Jerry said their morning was great, but afternoon was spent on finding right tools and errands.

Today started for us here in Pearlington on the brisk side as there was a frost overnight. The main job today was to be taking down a tent from the Dupont site in Del Isle and taking back the tarp and all of the following and supports to camp.

But since the job would take many people and the bus was late, we decided to squeeze a paint job in. And so, in less than an hour, 4 rooms in two houses were primed. By then the bus made it back to camp.

Then we went to the Tent site and proceeded to rip apart the flooring and load it onto a trailer. While it sounds easy, it was actually really hard work. And the volunteers were excellent. Indeed, it was nothing short of a beehive of activity for much of the day.

By 4:40 when we left we had definitely gotten much more work done on it than I had anticipated under even rosy forecasts.

In the evening meeting we also learned that the other teams that had gone out had equally impressive days with much dry walling getting done and $5000 of lumber and supplies being delivered to a home under construction.

And with that successful day, the week came that much closer to an end. I am always sad when a BonaResponds' trip nears completion. Unfortunately the week is about to end. I am sure we will be back. I am sure we will respond to other disasters and to other local needs, but I am still sad. I don't know why, but it happens every time.

New pictures are online

Emily
Originally uploaded by FinanceProfessor

Some more pictures are online here.

More Pictures

Many more pictures from Pearlington.

After Dinner Talk

Pearlington: Tonight the Pearlington group went out to eat to Turtle Landing in Pearlington. While the food was good, the real highlight of the night was after dinner: Connie (a local resident who rode out the storm on her roof) and Glen (the leader of One house at a time) spoke for nearly an hour on storm and on the recovery effort.

Some of the highlights:

* The storm was unreal. 30 feet of water in most places. Houses splitting apart. Survival was close to impossible. Trees falling. Pure chaos.

* The hours after the storm were similarly harrowing with water ever where. Connie and her husband survived in a church.

* The days after the storm were drawn out episodes of trying to find friends, homes, and streets. It was terrifying.

* Many residents have had a long hard battle to recover. Some have not and have given up and committed suicide.

* Volunteering down here not only helps, but improves the morale of the residents.

Why we are in Pearlington's Elementary School

Like a Great Phoenix: "Many consider Pearlington to be the epicenter of Katrina’s destruction in Mississippi. The town was ripped apart by the ravages of the hurricane, flooding and some 37 tornadoes spawned devastating storm.

It seems the hardest hit by disasters are often those who can afford it the least. The town of Pearlington is no exception. The only building considered structurally sound in town was the Charles Murphy Elementary School [where we are staying]. It was here that its citizens converged to regroup and begin to put back the pieces of their shattered community."

Today the town has about 1000 residents or about 60% of the pre Katrina inhabitants.

Thanks to Emily for finding this!