More than a year after Hurricane Katrina, and more than 5 months since contacting an organization that would let my company get involved with a relief effort, we are here. This is, I remind myself, a major bit of progress.
I had myself a pretty good “freak-out” moment a couple of days ago. I believe it went something like “how could I have signed up for 3 different weeks of doing work I've never done in a state I've never been to with people I've never met without even knowing what 1 week was gonna be like?” I am, by nature and profession, a scheduler/planner of small and large-scale events. If I let myself down during the week, that’s alright – but I don’t want to let anyone else down. I hope that I haven’t over-committed on this. It’s too important.
All 4 of the the volunteers this week (myself included) are flying in and out of New Orleans Airport so after we’ve collected our bags, we drive the 90 or so miles into Biloxi. We don't have any "before" photos to go on, so we don't know what "hurricane aftermath" to look out for ... or even if it hit where we are. We do see FEMA trailers outside some homes and wonder how many we'll see while we're here. It’s dark by the time we arrive at our quarters.
We arrive at our camp/dorm/frat house and get the two cent tour.
I realize - QUICKLY - that I have underestimated how much organization must be required to even begin an effort like this.
Lights out at 10PM and I fall asleep hoping I'll be ready for tomorrow, doubting that I will be.
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