Monday March 7, 2011
Alright, well, today had an early start to say the least. After a long day of driving and searching among all the Mardi Gras festivities for a parking spot, we were all wiped out. And yet we had breakfast bar at 7am with a meeting following at 8am.
Now let me just fill you in on what the house set up is and how well we all worked through our first morning. We have three bedrooms, a ton of bunk beds, a kitchen area, fourteen people and ONE bathroom. Yes, I sad one bathroom; with one toilet, one shower, and one mirror. We actually handled the shower issue fairly well and got to the breakfast on time. Afterwards, we all met in the same room with the United Saints staff and the other volunteer groups that have come out to help. We were given a rundown of how the week will go and how United Saints began etc. Then another man was introduced to tell us about the houses and families we would be helping this week. I have to say that it was truly shocking how cruel and animalistic people were after the flood. There are families we are helping re-build their homes that were swindled, tricked, and flat out robbed of thousand of dollars. This was heart breaking to hear of these cases.
One house’s owner was a victim of fraud from a fake contractor, and when the criminal was caught, the man was told to stop re-building his house. The DA said it was evidence. However, because of that, he has now been fined thousands of dollars for not getting his house fixed. That is just horrible. Another woman was robbed of all of her government aid, and that man was never caught. These cases went on and on and I’m sure there are so many more that I could easily lose count. Hearing all of this was just fuel for my fire. It made me want to get to work immediately. I love how many people are willing to give up their spring break to help. It’s wonderful!
After the meeting we went out front to take a group picture and have a tutorial on how to use the ladders. I was pretty proud of Memphis because of how many people were eager to volunteer to help. The people chosen alongside me for this trip are amazing! I only knew one other person going into this trip and now, two days into the trip, I’ve made such great new friends. Everyone is so considerate and kind. We all have the same level of responsibility and desire to help. At the same time we all have our own quirks to add to our mix.
I am loving every minute of this trip! We are supposed to go get some real Cajun food at a restaurant called Mother’s tonight. I’m so excited; I can almost smell the gumbo now! I hope to get some sleep and bonding time in somewhere too. Well, until next time, over and out! -Mandy Martin
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