PDA Camp at New Gautier Dec 28

We are now at the new campsite at Gautier that was built last week. I moved over on Mon with a new camp manager named Brian. He was here to get the camp set up last week but he left early this morning. David came Tues to help thru Wed. Today Lori camewho will be the manager so I've worked with 3 different people this week already. Our first group came on Mon afternoon and 3 more by evening. Tues I assigned people out on assignments to jobs in the community. Most of them are replacing sheetrock, taping and mudding, then sanding as they get ready to paint soon. Most of the groups will be at the same house all week. Once they start a job, they stay until that portion is finished or the group goes home. We have one group here for only 2 days but they are heating or air conditioning, electrical and plumbing which are needed.

Weather has been great the last 3 days, temps up to 60 - 70 degrees. But the nights are cold like tonite when it is clear and full of stars. One advantage of being in the country is seeing the stars. We did a lot to get this place ready and still working on it. We put up sensor lights, several canopies with tarps along the sides to make a shelter. One gal came that has catering experience who set up the kitchen so we started cooking meals for the group on Tues. The meals are delicious and a treat. Tues we got several groups in so our campsite is up to 90 people right now. Then tomorrow some groups will start leaving again so a constant flow of people. Today we finally got the office much better organized since I had 2 ladies to help contact people that have requested assistance. Some of these people have been waiting for weeks with partial jobs completed. Even after all the wait, they are so thankful for whatever help they receive. Enough for today. Take care.

Christmas Day at Gautier Dec 25

I'm having a great day here in MS. We (Steve, Bill and I)went to church this morning and then Steve and I were invited to a member's home for dinner and the day. It was so nice and I was just to relax and not help. For dinner we had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, dressing, corn casserole, sweet potato casserole (got this recipe as was delicious), green bean casserole, peas and rolls. There was a couple from Iowa who are working at the church and living in their motor home there who were also invited for dinner - 10 of us all together. Too much food and I have a bunch of leftovers to take back with me. I won't have to go out for a meal for the next day or two. Then we had several desserts later in the afternoon. Another good part of today is that Gerry Ann allowed me to bring my laundry over. It's hard to find a laundrymat and when you do, people stand in line as so many lost their washers and dryers. So this is a blessing for me. These people are so accepting of us as volunteers and hear many thank you's.

It was special to talk to many of you this morning after church. I wasn't expecting that at all. I think of you back there and hope all is going well. We had quite a thunderstorm last night during the service at 5 pm. So the camp sites are really flooded. I don't know what they will do to keep us dry in the tents as most of them leak. It has been an experience living in a tent city. On the other half of the baseball field, separated with a fence, are many of the local families living in the Army green tents. FEMA built them a nice shower building, provide their meals in the nice big heated tent but we don't mix much with them.

Thanks to Wes and Joan Carter, I'm really enjoying staying in their RV for a couple days. I will stay tonite yet and then move over to the camp site Mon. There will be 34 people coming in the afternoon for the week. Most of the jobs now are doing sheetrock, taping, mudding getting walls ready to paint. Some days it gets harder to buy sheetrock and the process has only begun.

Merry Christmas from PDA Camp One Dec 24

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas that I'm not seeing this holiday season. It is raining this afternoon but we quit work about noon. Some had to take showers so had to get to the Y before 12. I had the privilege of staying in Wes Carter's RV last night as there are so few in camp. We didn't want to start a kerosene heater for my one tent. It was so neat to turn on lights, read by electric lights instead of a flash light. I got to take a hot shower this morning. I will stay there again tonite as the Carters went to Jacksonville FL for several days. You could say I'm house sitting for them.

We will be going to services tonite at Gautier Presby at 5 pm, then to dinner. See you soon.

A Day in the Life of a PDA Disaster Camp

We live in a tent city which is interesting. We’re up about 7AM as devotions are at 7:30 in an open tent – no heat and the weather has stayed cold here and many mornings are frosty. There are rows of pallets leading to the port-a-potties, rows between the groups of tents, which get slick when frosty. We wear many layers and stocking caps to keep warm. The Florida volunteers are especially cold.

At 8AM we can go to breakfast at the D’Iberville Recreational Center. All relief volunteers plus local victims can be fed there. Then about 8:30 to 9AM the groups head out to their projects for the day. Some are putting up sheetrock or taping and sanding. Some were helping set up tents for another tent city in nearby Gautier. Some head over to the POD (Point of Distribution, a storm-wrecked old grocery store) to give out clothes and food to the local storm survivors. This week the POD crew also helped children chose gifts for their parents and then wrapped them together. Some groups bought food and make their lunch while others return to the recreational center for the lunch.

Dinner is served from 5 to 6:30PM, and you don’t want to be late! Once in awhile groups go to the local restaurants but their hours are limited and service is slow. Every business has help wanted signs and most offer bonuses to try to get enough help. About every second or third day in the evening we go to the YMCA in downtown Ocean Sprints for a shower. After my first day here, I began leaving mornings with towel, clean clothes, and shower stuff just in case we were able to get to the showers. It is about six to seven miles away and its not efficient to come back to the D’Ibverville PDA camp for shower things.

The highlight of the day is in the evening when we gather for devotions and camp talk. This was first scheduled for 9PM but moved up an hour as the evenings grew colder. This week we’ve been gathering at the Carter’s RV around their portable campfire. We often share events of the day, someone gives a thought or scripture and we end with a Christmas carol. We take turns doing devotions but I haven’t yet. Most of the groups are going home Thursday or Friday so the weekend here will be most quiet. The camps are gearing up for about 100 people each who’ll arrive on December 26 or 27. This week we have about forty. Many are young folks out of school.

The heaters for the tents are turned on about 8-9PM as we don’t spend any time in them during the days. There are big baseball field lights which are turned off about 10PM, our usual bed time. Some sturdy folks stay up playing cards! There are still other lights around so it is never very dark. It is never quiet with all the generators running, but we need them for forcing the hot air into the tents from the kerosene heaters. During the night we seem to either get too warm or too cold, the two temperature settings here in Mississippi, but we do fall asleep. The next morning it all begins again.

We have groups here this week from Oregon, Jacksonville and Tampa, Illinois and South Carolina.

Wes Carter from Salem First Pres usually does the typing for this blog after I write it out as he can add pictures. He has a blog also – www.salemkatrina.blogspot.com . We may write about similar stuff but mine has the “Wright”stuff.

Please note: We need sewing machines, two camper trailers for the tent city managers to work from, a plumber and backhoe to help connect the drains at Gautier Presbyterian Church, and two volunteer drivers to bring two pickup trucks from Newberg's First Presbyterian Church down here for camp use. In case anybody is still not aware, this recovery effort will take years and years. This is not a one-mission program for your church but instead a situation which calls for long-term planning and assistance to be offered year after year. If you can't send a church team, send gift cards for Lowes or Home Depot, or arrange to be an individual volunteer (like I did) by contacting a team and joining them. And don't forget, please, that there was severe damage everywhere on the Gulf Coast, not just New Orleans. We also need household goods to replace what these folks have lost from their homes. Please...help.

Hillsboro Katrina Report for December 21

I’m to be helping with PDA Camp One at Gautier – which is still under construction in a fenced-off cow pasture. We’re currently based at the PDA’s camp in D’Iberville, about fifteen miles west of Gautier where teams are dispatched for work in that area. Several problems plus frequent rain set it back a few days. Consequently, I went out on a couple labor jobs on Friday, December 16, the day after my arrival.

The first job was to do sheetrock (or wallboard – same thing) in a mobile home. It had several feed of flood water and the owner removed all the old sheetrock and insulation right after the storm. Much of the new insulation was already installed so we started measuring and cutting new sheetrock in the bedroom. However – a major problem with the outlets and light switches caused us to stumble. The mobile home used self-contained units and light switches with wiring going through each terminal unit and on to the next. They were not wired into the outlets with a separate face plate. Brian, Larry (Steve’s dad) and I didn’t know how to allow for these outlets so we weren’t able to finish much more for this elderly gentleman.

So, the three of us went to a painting job in the afternoon. This lady had only a few inches of water in her home, so all flooring, carpets, and baseboards had to be replaced. Her son was replacing the tile floor. We painted one room mustard yellow – only one coat plus the ceiling which had leaked. On Monday, a different crew went back to her house but repainted the same room in a different color! The owner had decided the mustard was too bright! She has become very overwhelmed by it all – she had trouble making decisions. She had to talk about it and we all listened as we painted. Everyone has a story here in Mississippi.

One of my earlier blog entries showed tents and by their sides kerosene heaters – “heat wagons”. One heater will warm six tents. Three heaters are powered by a generator so it is rather noisy all night. Each camp site has thirty small tents so numerous heaters and generators. They are run only at night as we’re not in our tents during the days. And we’ve had some cold days! Our current camp is built within a city’s baseball field with a concession stand. So there is a heated restroom plus the kitchen area where there’s coffee. No food preparation is done there, but people grab their coffee, play cards at night and generally go to warm up. Our camp manager here is a retired veterinarian from New York, and he’s blessed with a heated travel trailer donated by a church member. It gives him a place to sleep and is also the camp office to run things. He’s awakened during the nights by volunteers who need help with faulty heaters or generators which seem to need refueling every few hours.

I’m sleepy tonight after a hard day. Following dinner at the disaster feeding area, we had an interesting outdoor presentation by a teacher who has made a special study of old English literature (delivered in old English!), but trying to stay warm for this got me too fatigued to make it to devotions at nine, so off to my warm sleeping bag for a good night’s rest. Good night, Oregon!

P.S. – Wes Carter is typing this for me so I have to put in a good word for him, so here it is: WORD. There, he’s got his good word!

Hillsboro Katrina Report - December 19

I haven’t been able to get to this much since I got here. Schedules are very flexible and one never knows what we may do next. I went to church at Gautier Presby this morning and got to meet a few people. They are a small congregation. Tonight they were having their church family Christmas party with a potluck. So I attended to give out the things I had taken along. Most of the youth were not there but will receive their cards sometime. Kevin had chosen Courtney to do a card and letter. She was quite touched as she also is a foster child. God moves in mysterious ways. Then I presented four music books to Martha who is their pianist/organist who had lost all her music, her piano and organ in Katrina. She came up to me with tears and hugged me. She was overwhelmed as the top book was her favorite. Wait until she gets the two boxes that are being shipped to them.

Modern Romance? The young volunteers from our camp on the right are showing the proper way to kiss these days while mucking and mudding houses, here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Did you know that Mississippi alone lost 65,000 homes in Katrina?

It was nice and sunny today but the last few days have been cold and it rained all day Sat. It limits activities outside. So three of us rearranged the tent with all the tools, etc and got them off the floor as they were sitting in water. Out tents do leak when it rains but we’re managing. We just keep everything off the floor. I have a tent by myself so that is nice.

That's me on the right, wearing my First Sergeant's stripes to tease Wes Carter from Salem's First Pres. He's the guy who said I should work here as the camp's administative manager, or "first sergeant". We now have a lovely small Christmas tree to help celebrate. We make a joyful noise each morning and evening when, during devotions, we sing the popular Christmas songs. It is hard not to think of lonely GIs all around the world, like us, celebrating Christmas in a tent.

I need more time to think and I have only limited time on the laptop so will try to update later. We have people from many states and they keep coming and going. Take care up there.

Hillsboro Katrina Report for December 16

I arrived in camp Thursday morning after a good flight from Portland. We were an hour late getting into Gulfport since we had to de-ice the plane in Atlanta. They were having cold, heavy rain with icicles hanging on the outside of the walkway as we got off the plane. Poor Wes had to wait for me. The airport is functioning even though it had major damage from Katrina, so there is much construction going on.

I am assigned to PDA Camp One at Gautier Presby Church but it is in the process of being moved, so we’re being housed at PDA Camp Two at D’Iberville, a few miles northwest. We live in plastic tents, placed right on the muddy ground so naturally they flooded Wednesday night when heavy rain came through the area. We are situated on a town baseball field, and the ground is muddy so we have pallets for our walkways. It was determined we need to consider putting the tents on a platform of pallets to help keep us dry. So, my first assignment Thursday night was to calculate how many pallets would be needed for the entire camp. I knew my numbers detail would still come in handy! A bigger problem is in finding a vehicle to haul the pallets. The local WalMart stores have lots of pallets available for our use. I didn’t know what a blessing stores like Lowes, Home Depot, WalMart and the like are when a community suffers a disaster like Katrina.

I met Steve, our Camp One Director, and hung around with him all day, picking up the details of my new job. He’s still a young kid – quit college for a semester in order to come out and serve here with a serving heart, and we’ll get along well together. I’m the “old sarge” with the young lieutenant. Wes from Salem First Pres (he’s retired Air Force) really likes my sergeant’s stripes which were a gift from friend Jonathan – Thanks!! I always kinda admired Radar from Mash!

Hillsboro Katrina December 10

It is actually me writing the message today. It took me a while to figure out how to get in and create this. Thank you Wes, for setting it up and doing the first 2 days.

I leave Portland, OR at 11:20pm on Dec 14 - doing a night flight - flying into Atlanta where I will change planes and arrive in Gulfport at 8:30 am on Dec 15. I'm flying on Delta and got a very good fare (at least I think so) of $258 plus fees/taxes for total of $315. Tues and Wed flights seem to be cheaper than other days.

I will be doing this blog: www.hillsborokatrina.blogspot.com.
Steve the camp director will do the blog: www.gautierpdacamp.blogspot.com
Wes does a blog with his perspective: www.salemkatrina.blogspot.com

It seems Steve the camp director is excited and ready to have me on location. In his Dec 7 blog, Steve referred to me as admin assistant, company clerk, First Sergeant, Girl Friday but he thought RESCUER summed it up best. I like First Sergeant as my kids and siblings considered me bossy anyway.

Sunday I will have Christmas with my son and family who live in Portland so won't do an entry then. You can check any or all of the three blogs to get a full picture of what's happening in the Gautier, MS area.

Blessings to you
Phyllis

Hillsboro Katrina Report for December 6

I heard from the PDA Camp One director today and have been assigned to be their administrative assistant. The camp is scheduled to be extremely busy, with over 150 volunteers working around the time I arrive, and Steve, the camp's young volunteer director, needs help keeping things organized. I'm excited to have a chance to work with all these folks.

Here are the details for the camp: The address is PDA Camp One, 6300 Martin Bluff Road, Gautier, MS 39553. This is a small tent city with primitive camping, where the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has provided firm-sided (and warm) blue tents, port-a-potties and just about enough comforts (and no more) to keep a creature together. From there, work crews are dispatched to help local families who've requested assistance with getting their homes fixed up. Everyone is working right through Christmas!

I learned that the Monmouth Presbyterian-Methodist church is sending 15 youth and adults, so I won't be the only Oregonian. Also, Wes and Joan Carter, with their son Ben from Salem's First Presbyterian, will be in Gautier as well.

More news: First Presbyterian in Newberg has two older, but very reliable, pickup trucks to donate to the Gulf. They need a volunteer to drive them to Mississippi, and these trucks are very much needed for the PDA work camp which does not have enough vehicles to move supplies or transport volunteers. Also, this is a perfect opportunity to collect household goods such as televisions, area rugs, sofas, arm chairs and the like - the things typically found on a family's first floor - to take to Gautier for one of their church families to use. Please let Wes Carter from Salem's First Pres know if you can help with either the driving or the household items - Wes is at 971 241-9322.

Hillsboro Katrina Report for December 5

This is our first posting for the Hillsboro mission to Gautier, Mississippi. I'm so grateful to the entire church and especially Pastor McCall for the support they've given in preparation for this important work.

Wes Carter from Salem's First Presbyterian has introduced me to the world of blogging, whatever that means. For me, it means a chance to keep an Internet journal of this mission, and to present a kind of bulletin board for Hillsboro friends to follow and to post their own comments. Here are some other Internet resources you might want to follow:

www.gautierpresby.com (the local Presbyterian church in Gautier)
www.salemkatrina.blogspot.com (Salem First Pres blog)
www.gautierpresby.blogspot.com (blog of Pastor Bullock from Gautier Presbyterian)

I had a nice dinner with the Carters tonight as we discussed the trip and work to be done in the Gulf, and even after my first trip with the Red Cross, I'm excited about this new opportunity to serve!

In Faith,

Phyllis