My Trip to New Orl....Mississippi
The trip to the New Orleans area was good. We didn't actually go to New Orleans though. I guess it just shows how one area gets all the attention and the other areas get bypassed. We spend most of our time in Boluxi, Miss. and Gulfport, Miss.. There were many many areas completely destroyed by Katrina that never got noticed. This is one reason why recovering is so hard for them. Who's going to send you help if they don't know your in need? The day I arrived we set up camp in our pods, which weren't that bad. Then we just waitied for everyone else to arrive. I was one of the first three to arrive. I did get to help put the food away, set up tables, try fixing the AC on the pods.
Monday we visited the volunteer villages where we might stay and work, depending on what job we select. There are several sites set up where 100-150 volunteers can stay at one time. Some of the villages are located on-site where the work is done. Some others are located close enough for a quick drive in a car.
We drove along the Gulf of Mexico itself and got to see how vast the affected area is. The whole Mississippi coast was hit, along with Louisiana. Someone mentioned over 100 miles of coastline in Miss. alone were completely obliterated. Any time we drove anywhere there was destruction. Even when we drove miles inland, we still saw more destruction. Ok, maybe you're like, "Enough with all this Katrina talk already. It's been almost a year now. Things are getting better." Well, after seeing the vastness or it all. I realize that even though this is now the largest volunteer effort ever to occur in the history of the U.S., it's still going to take a decade or two to finish the work. I just can't get over it.
Anyway, the next day they presented the needs they had for specific tasks that needed to be completed. Most of their volunteers stayed for a couple months at the most and there was a constant change of leadership. There was alot of time lost in training new people every so often to complete the same job that had not been finished yet. So we were there to interview for a job that we will hold for at least a year. That way we can make some headway and get into a good flow of work. It sucks to have to change from person to person and have to constantly adjust to different leadership. This way we hope to set up a routine/schedule that new leaders can follow. Hopefully it will allow for continuity and improved productivity.
As I listened to the different jobs available and the skills they required I realized that they weren't what I expected. I thought I would be doing more physical labor and hands-on work. But what's needed are leadership positions. They have plenty of volunteers flowing in and people to do the work. What they needed was people to organize the resources and workers and get things flowing smoothly. At first I resisted too. I even got defensive in writing my initial responce (They asked us to respond to their discussions with us on flash cards). But I realized that God wanted me to be available to anything. Whatever need they had I was there to fill it. And when it came time for the actual interviewing to determine my abilities and qualities and match them with a specific job, that's what I told them. I am available to do whatever they ask.
They told me they thought I would do well as a Work Site Assignment Manager. I accepted the position immediately. (I'll explain the job more later. I got to get to a prayer meeting.)
The trip to the New Orleans area was good. We didn't actually go to New Orleans though. I guess it just shows how one area gets all the attention and the other areas get bypassed. We spend most of our time in Boluxi, Miss. and Gulfport, Miss.. There were many many areas completely destroyed by Katrina that never got noticed. This is one reason why recovering is so hard for them. Who's going to send you help if they don't know your in need? The day I arrived we set up camp in our pods, which weren't that bad. Then we just waitied for everyone else to arrive. I was one of the first three to arrive. I did get to help put the food away, set up tables, try fixing the AC on the pods.
Monday we visited the volunteer villages where we might stay and work, depending on what job we select. There are several sites set up where 100-150 volunteers can stay at one time. Some of the villages are located on-site where the work is done. Some others are located close enough for a quick drive in a car.
We drove along the Gulf of Mexico itself and got to see how vast the affected area is. The whole Mississippi coast was hit, along with Louisiana. Someone mentioned over 100 miles of coastline in Miss. alone were completely obliterated. Any time we drove anywhere there was destruction. Even when we drove miles inland, we still saw more destruction. Ok, maybe you're like, "Enough with all this Katrina talk already. It's been almost a year now. Things are getting better." Well, after seeing the vastness or it all. I realize that even though this is now the largest volunteer effort ever to occur in the history of the U.S., it's still going to take a decade or two to finish the work. I just can't get over it.
Anyway, the next day they presented the needs they had for specific tasks that needed to be completed. Most of their volunteers stayed for a couple months at the most and there was a constant change of leadership. There was alot of time lost in training new people every so often to complete the same job that had not been finished yet. So we were there to interview for a job that we will hold for at least a year. That way we can make some headway and get into a good flow of work. It sucks to have to change from person to person and have to constantly adjust to different leadership. This way we hope to set up a routine/schedule that new leaders can follow. Hopefully it will allow for continuity and improved productivity.
As I listened to the different jobs available and the skills they required I realized that they weren't what I expected. I thought I would be doing more physical labor and hands-on work. But what's needed are leadership positions. They have plenty of volunteers flowing in and people to do the work. What they needed was people to organize the resources and workers and get things flowing smoothly. At first I resisted too. I even got defensive in writing my initial responce (They asked us to respond to their discussions with us on flash cards). But I realized that God wanted me to be available to anything. Whatever need they had I was there to fill it. And when it came time for the actual interviewing to determine my abilities and qualities and match them with a specific job, that's what I told them. I am available to do whatever they ask.
They told me they thought I would do well as a Work Site Assignment Manager. I accepted the position immediately. (I'll explain the job more later. I got to get to a prayer meeting.)
posted by bigD at Sunday, June 11, 2006
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