5/30/07
Today we arrived in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. I know what people are talking about when they say Mississippi is the definition of the country. The thing that surprised me the most about Mississippi residents was their accents. I was expecting strong southern accents and my assumptions were very off. After we were settled in our hotel we traveled to the local Hancock Library. I had mixed feelings after first seeing the library, because my city library was much larger, but after learning the impact the library had on the community I realized that my city’s library was bigger in size but definitely not as productive or involved with the community. It seemed that this was a place that wanted residents to be present just as much as the residents wanted to be present.
We were welcomed to Bay St. Louis and the Library by important people within the community. They were very kind and welcoming and it seemed that we had helped in so many ways already when we had done nothing. They made me feel like our presence was more important than our volunteering. After a long introduction we watched a film about Hurricane Katrina and the impact it had on Bay St. Louis. It was very touching and put things into perspective. Each staff member that talked to us had a different experience with the hurricane. After hearing all of the different testimonies I really got emotional because although they all had different stories, every victim’s life was affected by the hurricane.
After leaving the Library, we went on a “tour” of the city. There really was not much to show, because the after affects of the natural disaster were still present. It was hard to believe that the city actually had some type of development within it because it was full of houses spread along the ground into pieces and trailers. This was very shocking to see because I cannot imagine my family going through the same issues. My heart was lightened because never once they anyone I talked to blame themselves or anyone else for what happened.