The average person in the city of Cincinnati probably has not thought of the horrific disaster that was caused by hurricane Katrina, since the media stopped covering it. People have just forgotten it and have never looked back after giving money and sympathy. For a group of students and myself, from Purcell Marian High School, we saw it as more than just that, we saw it as a chance to do more for a forgotten cause.

When the time of picking intercessions came around, about mid school year, most students thought about going to Rome or Spain. For a group of students, of all ages/grades, the choice was obvious. We would spend our time helping those who needed it. We chose to go down to Biloxi, Mississippi and help with the Hurricane relief effort, or what was left of it. About forty-six students and seven adults were about to embark on a trip that would really be a “trip of a life time.” We got into a bus at five o’clock in the morning and started our long drive down to the Magnolia state. The bus ride took about nine hours, a very long nine hours. We arrived at the place we were going to stay, a United Methodist church turned relief effort hotel. The next day we woke up bright and early and headed to our first job site.

Our first job site was a Boy Scout camp that meant everything to the man who was in charge of the camp and to the young boys that go to it. Mr. A.J. was the man that ran the camp. He had put all of his resources into the camp, literately all, and had run out of hope. We worked on the camp raking leaves, cutting down trees, making bed, fixing bunk houses, and clearing concrete pillars that use to support structures that didn’t exist anymore. When we found ourselves out of work on only the second day we were surprised. We had finished what was supposed to be a three day job in one and a half days. Mr. A.J. was very thankful. We found out that the next days of work would be just as if not more meaningful.

On the third day we broke up into groups. There were a total of four groups. The group that I had the blessing to go with had the job of cleaning up the town hall in a little town just outside of Biloxi. We worked raking leaves, cleaning up glass, and sweeping up the parking lot. While we were doing these things there were people driving by, honking, and yelling thank you out their car windows. That meant a lot to me. It showed us that even though we may be doing the smallest things such as raking leaves it meant something. Immediately after lunch, five of us that were cleaning up broke up into a smaller group that was led by myself. Our job was to clear an elderly ladies house of debris. When we got to the house it was worse than we thought. The house was leaning to the left at least six feet. The back of the house was completely ripped off and you could see the water line on the second floor of the house. The lady that lived in the house was named Mrs. Watts. She said that she had lived in the house for over sixty-two years. While we were cleaning up debris she would tell us stories about the stuff that we were throwing away. When one of us picked up a crab net she started a story that almost brought the five of us to tears. She told us of the time her and her grandson would go to the beach and hunt for crabs. She explained how to do it and said that she would go crab hunting all the time with her sons and their children. That night we went to bed feeling great about what we did that day.

The next day everyone was going to break into groups just like the day before. The five of us that went to Mrs. Watt’s house the day before, spoke up. We had the idea of sending an even bigger group to her house to continue working up. When we got there she was thrilled to see us. She said that we were the biggest group that had come to work with her on her house in over six months. I thought that was appalling, how can the media make such a big deal about the Katrina disaster and then people just stop sending help to the people that live down there. We continued helping with her house until the end of the day.

The next day we went to the great city of New Orleans. We took a ghost tour of the French quarter, visited Bourbon Street, and ate lunch at Café Du Monde. The city itself was booming with people, spirit, and fun which is something that I wished we would have seen in Biloxi. But in the surrounding areas and just outside the city the atmosphere was dreadful. The houses were still run down, the buildings needed repair, and there was not a smiling person in sight. It looked the same if not worse then what we saw in Biloxi.

All in all we had “the trip of a life time.” Going down to Biloxi showed us that we should never forget things that happen in our country even though it may not affect us.