Gulf Coast Trip Reflection

Bill Macmillan 7/1/07

I left for the Gulf Coast with some reservations and a lot of anxiety. I wondered what kind of “impact” one person could have on a devastated community. How much can I really do? Do these people really need me? How can I contribute? Would it be better to donate the money to be spent on travel expenses?

A few months ago, I asked my Dad, Bill, a general contractor and skilled tradesman, to come along with our group and offer some direction and maybe help us accomplish a little more than we might otherwise be able to do. I was pretty sure that he’d site his lack of connection to my church community as a reason why he would not, but his response surprised me. He said “maybe” and told me he’d check on his work schedule and with my mother and get back to me. A couple of hours later, he called back and said “Ah, ah, yeah, I’m going”. I was thrilled at the moment but my excitement quickly turned to doubt about whether this was a good idea. He’d be going with 17 strangers and me, and after all, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to be there.

On the Friday night before the trip, I called him to go over some itinerary details, the tools list and some last minute packing advice. As usual our conversation quickly turned to politics and then to a book he’d just finished, 1776, an account of the revolutionary war in that year and I’d just begun reading it. My Dad quipped that he “doubted whether Americans were capable of making such a sacrifice in the face of an incredible challenge like that.” Cynically, but with my usual hopeful caveats, I conceded there is some question as to American fortitude.

Fast forward to our arrival at Camp Coastal Outpost in Kiln, Mississippi.
It was plain to see that Americans are up to great challenges, surviving, of making sacrifice while staring down adversity by coming together to help others. Of the 300 or so people inhabiting camp coastal that day, at least 200 of them were under 25 years old. It was astounding and inspiring. The place was bustling with life, so many people happy to be there, to serve people in need and take part in something bigger than themselves. They were thrilled to be there and I was proud to be among them. I think everyone in our party knew immediately that they were about to do something very important that would further shape who they are –who we are.

After settling in and getting my bearings, I realized that the rest of the group was missing so I went looking for them. They were seemingly nowhere to be found until Jay Beaulieu and Pat Gallivan caught my eye, they were in the kitchen with the rest of the crew. They’d apparently asked how they could be of help and were enlisted to make sandwiches for the next day’s bagged lunches. I welled up and kept my distance sitting on a picnic table for a minute until my eyes dried. I approached the kitchen with an unprecedented feeling of pride to be with them. These were my people, a bunch of doers. It was truly a moment among moments. The momentum was building for something extraordinary. The combination of the First Parish Milton gang in the kitchen and the selfless volunteerism of so many young people had mooted my feelings of doubt about American’s willingness to pull it together in a time of need.

As our week progressed, everyone weathered the slow morning starts and their job assignments with grace. We completed some work on a few homes, a school bathroom and some even worked sorting through x-rays in a hospital that was decimated by the storm. We met the folks whose homes we worked on and received emotional gestures of appreciation from them. One woman told another in our group that she’s “sure glad [you] Yankees won the war.” Kent, a Deputy Sheriff in Hancock County MS, and the homeowner of the house we were re-siding fought back tears of appreciation every time we were with him. It was moving to be in his presence.

Throughout the trip there were a lot of laughs. Our evenings were spent in community and whether it was a car ride to the beach, a meal in the mess tent or a beer at the bar next door, we were receiving another benefit of such a trip, forming bonds with like-hearted people that will be remembered for a lifetime.

For me, the trip began being all about what I could do, a need to fulfill my responsibility to others, but as the week progressed, I learned that it was really about a need to affirm faith in myself and others, to see evidence that individuals can come together and facilitate change and know that others will follow and keep progress alive. We return with good stories, memories, new perspectives and pride. We return hoping to inspire others to go, as they are, to bear witness, make an effort and get more in return than they can ever imagine.

Returning Home

Ike Oliver's newly painted house.

The crew with Ike celebrating the job's completion.

Ending
by Jim Kelly

A week’s work
Two projects completed
We feel …what?
It’s hard to say
Satisfied, exhausted, numbed?

We saw so much need
Heard so many stories
Felt their pain and anger
Felt their joy and appreciation

A week’s work
Was it worth it?
Did we have an impact?
Kent Malley thinks so
And so does Ike Oliver
As their new homes take another step forward

A week’s work
Nineteen friends return home
Satisfied, exhausted, numbed
A bit numbed by what we saw
A bit exhausted from the work and heat
Very satisfied that we went

Pat and our new sign on the Camp Coastal sign post.

Click here for more pictures

July 28th - The work continues

(Blogger and Poet: Jim Kelly)

Hey everyone. It’s the crew at coastal again. Having trouble finding an internet connection but we’ll record our thoughts and post them sometime.

The heat is on as our jobs progress in a satisfactory manner. Pat’s painting crew has made friends with Ike, a 77 year old man whose house they are working on. He’s grateful for their work and thanks them each day. They’ve also talked to neighbors and other groups working in the area and feel part of this community. The teenagers, under Pat’s command, have worked through the heat, slapping buckets of blue onto Ike’s new siding. We are all proud of the long days they have put in. Pat’s crew is looking forward to finishing their part of Ike’s new house as he moves closer to moving out of his trailer and into a new house.

Lauren at work

Emma at work.

The other group toils endlessly on the siding job they’ve undertaken. Three skilled workers have made this crew a streamlined machine, teamwork and skill building evident throughout the day as the work speedily progresses to it’s end, hopefully tomorrow. Kent Malley, the person whose house was destroyed in the storm, stops by to thank us for our help. He’s lived here with his 2 girls, mother, and grandson. The young teenage boys on this crew have done an amazing job and have impressed the veteran workers with their enthusiasm and stamina each day.

Kent's original house

and his new house.

Tom, Jim and Bill, Sr.

The Jobs…the Heat

Sunlight arrives each day
Gently it rises
Bathing the camp’s grounds
Smoothing its rough edges

We wander across the street
Coffee again
AHHH
Breakfast and talk
Collect our tools and head to the sites


Sunlight shines on our last day’s work
Highlighting our progress
And what’s left to do

As we start the work
The sun rises higher
And so does the temperature
Soon it beats on our heads
Beats on our backs
Beats and beats again

Sweat streams down
Soaked through
We work on
And work on
And on

The sun
The work
The effort
It somehow becomes
What we are here for
It’s not easy
It’s not supposed to be
Somehow our struggle seems necessary
Appropriate

The sun set
Our work complete
But there is so much more to do
For so many.

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The kids on the beach during our tour of the coastline.

Hacky sack -- downtime entertainment

Wednesday...

(Blogger: Dianna Wilson)

Wednesday 6/xx/07

What is the date today? I don’t know anymore…

7:00 Reveille (internal) for the women. We whisper, wash, etc

7:30 Reveille for the girls. Normal talking just doesn’t do it. A 2 inch palmetto bug (a.k.a. cockroach) crawling across the wall did the trick.

7:50 Breakfast: cold cereal, cold toast, no cold juice. Most adults tank up on coffee.

8 am- assignment given out. Same as yesterday for the Deputy’s house – vinyl siding.

Other group- New painting job.

9:30 vinyl gang take off

Hot, Hot, Hot

Because one of us got sun poisoning on yesterday, we work with Mother Nature today. Left side of house in shade-morning, Right side for afternoon.

One of our enthusiastic boys says in reference to the black widow we let walk away yesterday- “Today the black widow dies.” (As they pointed out, it could kill us, why let it go.)

By lunch, we’ve pulled off all left side and are done with 2/3 of putting back on. It too hot inside the house to eat lunch, so we eat outside, still exposed to the sun.

By the end of the day, we had the 2/3 of the front and right side done.

Sweaty and gross, we hit the beach. Beautiful warm bath. Very shallow. Not too salty. Nice .

Burgers at Sonic to top it off.

Good Day.

Work Day #1

(Blogger and Poet: Jim Kelly)

Hey ! It’s the First Parish crew down here in Kiln, Mississippi and the weather is warm and so are the people we are sharing the camp with. Last night the First Parish crew took over the kitchen for a marathon peanut butter and jelly sandwich session with a bunch of young, enthusiastic AmeriCorps teenagers. We lathered bread and stuffed sandwiches for the 283 fellow Camp Coastal workers. We totaled 400 ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly by the time we were through but mostly we had a blast chatting it up with the Camp Coastal workers. We learned the secret of turning the heel inside out to trick the youngsters into eating the end pieces, a skill we shall use on our own children when we return.

Here’s a little something about our first day’s work.

Work Day #1

Rolling out to face the day
It’s cool inside
Opening the door heat smacks us
Gently at first but…
It builds

A quick breakfast
No coffee!!
We dash across the street
Find the brew
AHHH
Assignment time
One crew paints
The other heads out to fix a botched siding job

Slowly we find our way
Figuring out steps to take
Jobs progress
Teams form
Slowly… so slowly something begins to happen
At first it seems unlikely we will have an impact
Then things begin to take shape
Everyone is working
Sweating in the sun
Or shivering in the AC schoolhouse

At the end of the day we are a team
Together we have accomplished
Something…
Tomorrow we’ll be back
Working together
Making a difference
Together.