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Other entries in Biloxi

Hands On Gulf Coast!

Finally, we have arrived. Well we got here a week ago, almost exactly, but I haven't had the chance to update until now.

Monday night we arrived, after a long wait at the New Orleans airport, but we found out that HOGC was not prepared for us, they thought we were only coming on Thursday. But we got beds (bunkbeds with airmattresses-way better than cots!) and settled in for the night. Since they weren't prepared for us, they weren't set up to split us up for our assignments until Friday, so we had a temporary assignment until then. We worked for the East Biloxi Coordination, Relief and Redevelopment Agency (EBCRRA) doing a needs assessment of East Biloxi. Basically, we walked around East Biloxi asking each resident if they need any more help rebuilding. There were a lot that we marked as a "vacant lot." That was pretty sad. A lot of residents invited us in and told us stories. It was pretty awesome, but completely exhausting. Three days of walking for eight hours, but totally worth it.

This past weekend we worked at a Crawfish Festival at the MS Coast Coliseum. Part of the profits go to the Center for Prevention of Child Abuse. We worked booths that took donations, one day I was at the Salvation Army table playing basketball and selling energy saving light bulbs, the next day I was at the Frito Lay table (aka a table full of chips to sample). It was fun and we met lots of locals.

Today was our first day of real work. Tom, Ketki, Amanda and I went to a house in East Biloxi and primed the entire thing. They had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and one big room that will be a kitchen/living room. The big room has really high ceilings, so Tom had to go on a scaffolding to paint the ceiling. I covered myself in paint, though I was actually cleaner than most of my teammates, and it won't come off (two showers later). But it was a great day. Tomorrow we are going to paint it, then we'll start on floors, cabinetry, etc. Very exciting.

Biloxi is a great little place back on it's way up. There are a bunch of casinos for tourists, and the locals are all very nice (especially if you're here to help). And if anyone's interested, you can come and stay at Hands On for only $10 a night. All you have to do is work. Think about it. Goodnight.

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