This trip so far has been amazing. I don’t know what I would be doing at home right now… probably on he computer or eating. It feels so good to be here, especially with the purpose of helping other people.

Honestly, I imagined Bay St. Louis to be so much different than it really is. We stopped at a rest stop a few miles away from Bay St. Louis and everything was so organized. Every tree had leaves, whereas here, they are scattered all over the place.

When we left the rest stop, I noticed the trees and how they stood in the forests on the side of the road. As we got closer to the beach, more and more trees were down. We kept driving and came to a town that was completely destroyed. There were piles of debris on the sides of the road. There were clothes and sheets in the trees, as well as smashed houses and cars.

We got to the town of Waveland and most everything was destroyed. We drove past a Kmart that had been about 12-30 feet under water about 7 months ago. We stopped at a stoplight and I looked at an old man in his pickup truck. We had writing all over the windows of our van such as “www.icampuslife.com” and “To Bay St. Louis, MS from Downers Grove, IL.” The man was looking at the windows. He made the sign of the cross twice and began to cry. I immediately reacted to that and wanted to cry too, but I held back my tears. I could tell that this man was happy and even knew we had come to help.

Let me tell you about this town, Bay St. Louis. It is one of the most beautiful towns I have been to. I can imagine this town was even more stellar than it was before Katina hit We drove down Main St. to get to the church where we are staying. As you get closer to the beach, you see more and more houses that are collapsed and caved in. We pulled up to our church, which is still being repaired. Across the street from us are businesses and houses. In our area, there aren’t very many people at all. The houses have broken windows, One house/business I am looking at right now is a two-story yellow and white house. It has a small brick wall and garbage piled between it and the house. There is an American flag drooped across a light and a shutter on the house. Windows are still boarded and broken and there is only half of a roof. It doesn’t make sense that some houses are standing and others aren’t even there

It has been about 7 months and there is still garage everywhere. Allison and I walked down to the beach yesterday. There is so much garbage in the ocean and on the beach. We looked in the water and found lids to bins as well as broken plates on the beach. There were bottles and dolls and all sorts of debris. It was sad to see these things because they used to belong to someone.

Everyone here may have lost something or someone, but many have still come back to restore their house. We are working on a house on Gulfside Street that was affected by Katrina, big time. The woman whose house we are working was there the day Katrina hit. She said that they rode out the storm in a canoe stuck in a wall in the house. The water rose about five feet in their house, but across the street, their neighbors were forced to go on the roof. Today, everyone on the street, except one, has come back to go on with their lives or restore their houses. So far, this trip has really affected me. Helping other people is what I love to do so I do. The first day we worked on our house, the woman that lives in it went to see it. I loved when she smiled after seeing what we had done because it made me feel like I had accomplished something. I had touched her life and changed it, as well as my group and other groups had. The next day she brought her neighbor over to see everything. She smiled, her neighbor smiled, we smiled.

There definitely aren’t enough people down here to help these people. Residents are on the waiting lists to get their houses fixed and get help. I know that EVERYONE here is working to their ability. We are roofing, painting, dry-walling, etc. But it’s not enough, especially since we are only here for a week. More people need to come here, help, and talk to people. Some people here just wanted to be listened to and tell their own stories.

This is such a fun and great experience. I am bonding with so many people, including people I don’t know (awesome Campus Life from Elgin!!!) Everyone is working together & talking. This is the greatest experience for me so far in my life.
The End.

Jacqui E.