Help is Still Needed

For my service hours, I went on a Marist mission trip to Pass Christian, Mississippi. We helped many people physically and mentally. We saw much destruction and we realized that even though it has been a year since Hurricane Katrina hit, all the towns and cities on the coast still need tons of help. After the eight hour bus ride there, we saw our living place for the weekend. It was a house that looked fine on the outside, but on the inside, it had been completely gutted and was being rebuilt. The walls were still not painted and the countertops were not grouted yet. All the girls stayed in a small room with bunk beds. We met the team who we were living with, AmeriCorps. The next day, we all went to a big field where big wooden tents had been assembled last year for volunteers and victims of the hurricane. We helped to tear these down and put them into a large "burn pile". Even though these had been empty for a while, it would mentally help the victims see progress in the community. These were their kids' soccer fields. We then went and toured the area. The next day we worked at the library where we helped re-arrange books on the shelves. We really made the head librarian happy; in fact, she was so happy, she took our picture for the newspaper. The next day was our last workday and we painted a shed for a nice man named Mr. Skip. The shed was to hold his washer, dryer, and his refrigerator. We also help put up a shelf and blinds in Mr. and Mrs. Jordan's home. We visited an elder lady, Ms. Florence, and her daughter, Ms. Loren. They told us some sad stories of the hurricanes. I think it helped them to let out their feelings to new people. The whole experience was a blessing for it taught me that even some places in our own country are like third world countries, and they need our help.



Callie
Atlanta, GA
October 2006