Well, it’s time again to head south. Our church is sending a group of us back to Pearlington, MS – a little town 30 miles or so northeast of New Orleans. I have such mixed emotions about this trip. I am really disheartened that the trip is still needed after two years of time to rebuild an area. Last time I went down there we built the house in the picture. We also took a little trip on 90 east to Gulfport. I was pretty floored by the number of structures that still haven’t even gone through the initial triage stage of fix it or tear it down and start over. There are also an astonishing number of homes out there that have “don’t tear me down, I will be repaired” painted on them, most of them look so far beyond repair that it is difficult to imagine how one could even attempt to “fix” such a structure. It’s heart wrenching to see that. It looks as though the government has abandoned these people. the only work that we saw happening – at least in the more rural area of Pearlington and out into Gulfport – was being done by volunteers and their organizations, or by those that could afford to pay someone top dollar to repair or rebuild their homes. It makes me sad and angry that people need to wait so long to have the chaos in their lives attended to by the wealthiest nation in the world.

That brings me to the other emotion I get about this trip – hope, or something like it. I’m not sure that is the right word. I guess if one part of me is disheartened by the lack of governmental response to this disaster, the other part of me is heartened by the response from the private sector. The churches – of almost all denominations – the relief organizations such as the Salvation Army and The Red Cross, and then the other privately funded organizations and companies (foreign and domestic) that continue to send dollars and and people to aid in the relief effort – one house at a time. George Bush should be ashamed, even the Amish a group of people that don’t drive have responded better than the government – way better, those guys are amazing.

Anyway, I am off to build a house or some such thing. I will let you all know how it went when we get back. Wish us luck and send nice weather our way.