Day One

Well day one is finally nearly over and it seems to have gone fairly well, all things considering. As previously noted we got a very late started and did not end up arriving in Jackson, Mississippi until around 9:45am. We then hung out for a while at the African Methodist Episcopal shelter in Jackon. We had some breakfast and then interview some of the residents. The woman that really struck me was one of the people that you here of on TV. A person who has truly lost everything, but she was OK with it. Her whole family had survived and that is all that mattered to her, "...everything else is just material." she said.

At about 11:30am or so, the trucks started arriving. Four in all. One semi and three large U-Haul style trucks. They were ended up being filled to the brim with supplies, everything from food and water to much needed medicine and baby formula. After helping load up the trucks we were off to Gulfport, MS, one of the worst hit cities.

It was insane, as far out as about 70-80 miles you started seeing the devastating effects of Katrina. It began with just a few blown over trees and a few signs knocked over, but then every mile it kept getting worse. We were able to get into to Gulfport and move around the city, but there seemed to be an impenetrable force field of military humvee's and national guardsman blocking the way to the actual gulf area. Either way it was amazing to see...to see the shear devastation a simple natural disaster can reap on an area it just mind boggling and we didn't even see the worst hit parts.

Other the brighter side of the news, the supplies that we brought down to Gulfport nearly filled the gymnasium of Gaston Point Elementary School. We ended up making it back to Jackson at about 11:00pm, eating, writing this and going to bed. I will be waking up at 4:00am to head to Baton Rouge, LA to meet a plane which is bringing in more supplies. As of yet the experience has been very interesting, the people I have met so far have all been inspirations.