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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-04-09, Page 8Put into context picking up a paintbrush isn’t much. That’s the view of Karen Webster of Morris-Turnberry, regarding their recent mission experience in Gulfport, Mississippi. “In light of what these people have gone through, I don’t feel we were doing anything special. I cooked some meals and painted, nothing too impressive.” The Websters arrived in the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Gulfport in February, with a plan to work with the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance camp before touring the area on their own. Also with them was their leader Tim Kennedy of Goderich and Quincy Bridge of Auburn. Kennedy had gone in previous years to assist with the rebuilding of Katrina, while Allan and Bridge joined him for the first time last year. “I felt secure going, because I was with them.” Karen said that money from Red Cross and the government has been funnelled to various other organizations, like PDA, other church groups and non-faith-based groups. “People apply for help, a committee reviews the application. The stipulation was that they had to own the house and would be residents of it themselves. It couldn’t be a rental,” said Karen. In some cases, labour alone is given, in others labour and material are donated. The people of the Websters’ Goderich church sent money to be used for materials. Gulfport is a central coastal area, east of the hard hit Pearlington. “We did visit the PDA camp there. It is eight feet above sea level and there’s a sign there that shows where the level of the water reached. It’s 20 feet in the air. That was the storm surge.” Karen said the first feeling upon touring the devastated area was sadness. “When we drove down along the coastal areas you could see places that had only cement slabs or steps and you knew there had been a house there. You wondered at the story.” “At one point Allan asked me if I wanted to see more and I had to say no.” “There was a place where there had been a Presbyterian Church. There was just the steeple on the ground and a sign saying not to harm it because it’s going to be used on a new church, which will be built inland.” From Allan’s perspective though, there has been progress since his last visit, roads and bridges rebuilt and a infusion of hotels, restaurants and lakefront casinos. “They have been meant to stimulate the economy and offer employment.” As well, she said, there are some homes being built near the shore. “But this time they are high on pillars.” At the PDA camp, the Websters were assigned a tent-like structure called a pod, for the first week. “We were upgraded to a trailer the next week because we were the only volunteers in camp. People are kind of forgetting about Katrina. There aren’t as many helping.” In the pod, Webster said there are two choices, warm or quiet. “The heaters sounded like jets taking off,” she said, adding that she still opted for warm as temperatures were frosty through the night. Volunteers paid $20 a day for their food and lodging. The camp was communal living with each person having a job. Karen cooked for the first week. “Usually volunteers traded, but there were only 11, two women and most of the men were skilled in trades, so it made no sense to have them leave what they were doing to come back and cook a meal.” Allan, who spent his two weeks primarily painting, helped her each night with kitchen clean up, she said, “because we didn’t see much of each other that week.” Breakfast began at 7 a.m. with Karen in the kitchen an hour earlier. “And I’m not a morning person.” Each person was responsible for making their own lunch then they headed to their work site. The Websters were working on a home for a family of nine, presently squeezed into a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailer. The home had had its roof blown off and the interior had been flooded by rains. The sewers had also backed up. “The co-ordinator assigned where volunteers would go and what they would do, and the supervisor came to bring materials, address problems and offer instructions. Each group also had a job site leader.” The volunteers were back to camp by 5:30 p.m., to clean up and do chores before supper at 6:30. Meals began with prayer and devotions were held each night at 7:30 p.m. “When you were leaving the grounds there was a sign that said ‘You now are entering the mission field’. It centred you on why you were there.” Not that they could ever easily forget. “There was so much gratitude expressed. You’d strike up conversations and after a while you stopped saying why you were there because it was almost embarrassing to be thanked so much.” Such overwhelming gratitude could be expected when one heard of how others had ‘helped’. “At the beginning, some contractors took advantage of a lot of people. They took money or did shoddy work then shipped out. And the cost of materials after Katrina went up immediately.” Karen said that people talked about the experience, but had reached the point where they were clearly moving forward. Though there is still much to do and some of it will never be rebuilt, for their PDA camp the work there is done. It has been moved to Texas to help those affected by Hurricane Ike. “Tim and Quincy spent much of a month helping build the new camp near Port Nachez,” said Karen. One volunteer camp remains in Mississippi and three in Louisiana. There are other signs of progress, with ground having been broken on a new library, which has a Robert Munsch book and a book on Canada, donated by Karen, and kids back in the brand new high school. Talking to these people and doing what little bit one could to help was a humbling experience that Karen said she’d consider doing again. However, she notes, one need not travel far to lend a helping hand. “There’s work to be done around here too.” PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2009. Remembering Karen Webster stands by the Katrina Memorial built in Biloxi, Mississippi. The grey stone on top is the marker of the 12-foot storm surge height. Inside the glass are items swept away from homes during the hurricane. (Courtesy photo) Gratitude At left: the work-site supervisor, the owner of the home that the Websters worked on and his granddaughter are seen in this picture with Karen and Allan, at right. While their home was being rebuilt, the family of nine was living in a two-bedroom FEMA trailer (pictured above). (Courtesy photo) Couple helps family rebuild in Mississippi Epilepsy Ontario’s Huron and Perth divisions are holding their annual Education Days this May, aimed at spreading the facts about epilepsy and sharing the stories of those affected by the disease. In Huron County, Education Day will be held in Wingham at the Knights of Columbus Hall on May 25 and in Perth at the Knight of Columbus Centre in Stratford on May 28. On both days, Dr. Richard S. McLachlan, co-director of the epilepsy program at the London Health Sciences Centre, will present, Living With Epilepsy. There will also be a presentation by a pharmacist discussing the medication commonly used for epilepsy and seizure disorders, as well as their side effects. Epilepsy Huron-Perth will also be making a presentation and there will be personal stories from individuals and their families who are affected by epilepsy. Each session will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will cost $50 per person, which includes lunch and a snack. Space is limited, so RSVP by April 24 to Epilepsy Huron-Perth at By Bonnie Gropp The Citizen Epilepsy Huron, Perth hosts education days Keep kids safe on wheels • Make sure your child wears a properly-fitting helmet and other protective gear. Helmets and helmet straps should fit snugly. A helmet should sit level on the head and cover the top of the forehead. But many children push their helmets too far up off the forehead, or wear the straps too loose. This can cut their protection by more than 50 per cent. • Have children ride in a safe environment – away from cars and other vehicles. While injuries can happen anywhere, the most devastating and fatal injuries frequently involve cars. • Supervise children on wheels until they are at least eight years old. Know your child’s abilities. Make sure children are the right age for their equipment. Children can start to use scooters and two-wheeled bikes at age five or six; in- line skates and skateboards at age seven or eight. Children need adults to check their skills and give feedback as they learn to ride or in-line skate. Parents can also use this time to emphasize safety and enforce helmet use. Early habits, backed up by family rules, may help maintain helmet use when the child is older and no longer supervised.