Salem Katrina Team Report from Gautier, Mississippi - November 15

Today’s blog entry is offered by Joan Carter, the lady with whom I share a marriage and four great kids. I’m always amazed at her day here, with kitchen chores, straightening out bathrooms, running errands for Morella, playing the piano for Sunday services, mucking out homes, doing estimates for work to be done, and then worrying about how I’m doing.

Joan’s note. Working in Gautier ~~

Volunteer teams at Gautier Presbyterian’s Tent City last week rotated out last weekend— it amazed me how quickly we became ‘family’ as we tackled job after job of getting residents’ homes back into livable condition. New teams are here from Pittsburgh and Brevard County, North Carolina. We have especially enjoyed working in the homes with air conditioning, as the muggy weather has lingered on a month later and temps 25° higher than normal.

I am in awe of the resiliency of this congregation and the residents of this region. They put into perspective the most important needs, one’s inner spirit chief among them. As a musician, I want the keyboard to be in tune and worry when its not; the organist here awaits a piano after hers sat in a flooded room for three hours…. I lose patience when I can’t find my keys; here, they’ve lost not just the keys but the car as well; At home, I enjoy an orderly room, but here, disorder and disarray are the norm because floodwaters or a storm surge tore everything apart in less than one hour. The picture is of the church's organ, useless, left for FEMA's trucks to remove. Numerous tales abound of boats that floated within reach of a stranded family, allowing them to escape certain tragedy. Residents are patiently piecing together the scattered remnants of their formerly serene lives on a formerly lovely stretch of coastline, now littered with shattered skeletons of homes.

Our volunteers fan out across a large grid each and every day. Everyone returns with a story to tell, of a homeowner who is not only deeply grateful of the assistance but also of the energy that has a momentum of its own. We know we are just a few of what will be many volunteers appearing over the next many months, and that our combined effort will help these fine people to get back on their feet. We hand out cards with the church’s contact person’s number. They are eager to pass the word along so that their neighbors can be assisted by the church teams that are heading here weekly.

We’ve been most fortunate to be part of the rebuilding of this small part of the country. So much more work is needed. So many willing hands are essential. Our perspective has changed markedly since arriving –we’re glad to be part of this process!

Thanks, Joan, for this insight to your day.

A word to other teams heading here. Don’t bring clothes to donate or heavy tools...already here. There is plenty of bottled water to purchase locally and we need it, but don't waste money hauling it all the way down here. Instead, buy it here on the Gulf Coast for your use or for donation...if you're bringing one, use your U-Haul for more vital items like furniture, your work tools, wallboard and the like. Don’t bring kitchen items…already here but if you’ve packed them they can help out elsewhere in the area. The tents we live in are being replaced next week with ones better able to handle the weather, and tall enough to stand up in. There are cots provided but the next few crews should bring and leave their pillows and pillowcases for the next guy. You can hand-wash clothes but they’ll take a long time to dry.

We need a military GP Medium or GP Large tent, and the troops to put it up. We cannot get by with the flimsy summer-weight unit we're using now. If you have such a military or large civilian tent, get it here, please.

If you’re sick don’t come…you won’t get better down here!!! There is usually room for two or three RVs and there are three on site now. The tents have no electricity in them so plan on reading by battery lamps. Too many crews are showing up to work without sturdy work boots…bring ‘em! Get your tetanus and flu shots if possible. If you can handle it on your budget, plan on slipping the camp mayor a few hundred…she needs the discretionary spending power to meet hundreds of needs. Gift cards to Lowes or Home Depot work super! Bring some cash for meals…we’ve been running a camp hot breakfast every day buy cooking in the fellowship hall and also putting out fixings for lunch, and we ask teams to toss about $2 or $3 a meal per member into the basket to cover costs. We ask the teams to take turns slapping dinner together, and you can always take the easy road by using one of the many, many casseroles which have been stored in the three freezers. There are many places to eat in the area but service is slow with the herds of relief workers seeking meals at the same time. Hospital and clinics are up and running as are the usual stores you will need. The post office is a mile or so away.

This is important. The big coffee machine takes three half-cup scoops of coffee and use bottled water, please. The tap stuff is a little brown…safe but why chance it? Another important thing…do not get the sugar and the salt mixed up when your team makes grits. Gets everybody nuts! They want to kill the cook! We've been fixing scrambed eggs, grits, frozen biscuits which take 20 minutes to bake, sliced ham, juice, coffee and cold cereals. Cooks start breakfast about 5:30AM each morning and serve at 7AM.

We are helping all comers. The church has put forward its membership needing help with their homes and we are also eager to respond to anyone seeking assistance from our teams. In fact, we love requests from outside the church.

We usually have a nurse here, somehow, and now and then a doc. There is a camp first aid kit but it is only that…first aid. Consider stress when you plan your trip. We planned two weeks given the distance we had to come, but stress does add up. Maybe a couple one-week trips every other month works better. Fuel here is down to $2.26 for regular self-serve, higher at the freeway exit stations. Plenty of diesel and propane available. Plenty of building supplies at Lowes or Home Depot, but we’ve had difficulty getting the right vehicles to pick up and deliver to our homes. If you have a large truck or trailer able to move sheetrock, bring it if you can.

Church members have lost stuff that you’d expect to be on the first floor of most homes. Kitchen items, living room and dining room, washers and dryers, radios, televisions and the like. If you have household items and can bring them, please coordinate with Rev. Chris Bullock at Gautier Pres so they can have residents here to unload your vehicle or guide your vehicle to their homes for delivery.