The North serves South crew on CBS

Unfortunately, there is no video - we might have to pay for it if the reporter forgets to send the tape. But the text of the article (linked above) conveys the spirit, I think.

After the flood

Sunday, September 4th, 2005

Early Sunday morning, the team reached Mt. Vernon and picked up relief materials collected by Brenda. The only item left to complete their load was gasoline cans – and as they found out, they would have been better off buying them earlier. Stores had run out of 5 gallon and larger cans in Memphis and even further north in Arkansas. The southernmost point for getting any was Missouri. So they got off the main road and, with the help of some locals, found a Mom-and-Pop store with cans and barrels in stock. Further down the road, another hitch: they found out that the barrels were not certified to carry diesel! Dr. Stacey, who was in Jackson to escort them further south, agreed to arrange for diesel, so they loaded the cans with gasoline and headed on.

In Jackson, they met Dr. Stacey and Jeffrey Stolworth, a parish minister from Gulfport, MS. Though gas was being rationed in Jackson, they were able to fill up as an emergency vehicle through Jeffrey's intervention. They reached the Biloxi-Gulfport area late Sunday night. Nighttime curfew is being imposed all along this stretch, so they stayed indoors (and hopefully got some sleep).

By Monday morning, they unloaded half their supplies at the Main Street Missionary Baptist Church. This church was serving as a distribution point for the neighboring areas. Most houses in the Gulfport-Biloxi area have lost their roofs, though the structures are still standing. Tarps brought in are being used as makeshift roofs.

The church has asked our team to purchase nails and 2x4s etc. as well as washtubs and other vessels for use in their kitchen. It was decided to go to Jackson for that. In the meantime, Diana and I separately had been making enquiries about Camp Sister Spirit:
http://www.campsisterspirit.com/
and the condition of it and its members. Since it was more remote, it was highly likely that relief had not reached. From Pat in Georgia and James in California, I found out that the founders and members were OK, but thery had suffered water damage and almost 200 trees had been downed by the storm.

Though it was pretty late by the time the team finished their work in Biloxi, they decided to head to the Sister Spirit camp. Maybe because they were exhausted or because the directions were bad or since it was so late, they lost their way and decided to go to sleep in their trucks somewhere close to Hattiesburg.

Caravan down the Mississippi

Saturday, September 3rd, 2005

High on euphoria after Friday's successful material and monetary collection, Diana, Lynn, Aria and Dwiji set out on Saturday morning. The donated 24' truck was only about half filled and the Litahni and I, the support team back home, were to work on setting up collection points along the way in Madison, Bloomington IL and St. Louis.

The fertile belt of South-East Minnesota sparked the idea of approaching farms along the way for their excess produce – after all, this is the peak of the harvest season. Dwiji called me and I followed up with organic farms and farmers' markets in Southern Wisconsin. We hit pay dirt at Turkey Ridge Apple Orchard, about 30 miles Southeast of La Crosse, WI. The orchard had kept aside three bushels of apples (totalling 3000 lbs) with the idea of sending them to the hurricane-affected areas, but hadn't been able to arrange transportation. Our group was in the right place at the right time - whoopee! They found out the Turkey Ridge, in league with other farm groups in Wisconsin, was planning to set up a soup kitchen in Mississippi. Yet another grassroots effort we might be able to partner with...

Further east, I reached Heck's farm market and store outside Arena, WI. They offered corn and melons and got the truck close to its weight limit. Simultaneously, Litahni made contact with Brenda in Mt. Vernon IL (north of St. Louis) who offered to collect materials locally and bring them to a collection point near I-57.

In the meantime, Diana was in contact with a doctor from Southern Mississippi who was only too pleased to hear about the incoming produce. She offered to meet them in Jackson, MS and escort them to a community near Biloxi. When last I talked to them on Saturday, they sounded tired yet excited. They planned to meet Brenda at a Walmart in Mt. Vernon at 2 am and she offered to wait in her car till they got there - good for her!

No more long distance

Friday, September 2nd, 2005

OK - for the next few blogs, instead of yakking about myself, I'll talk about my hubby Dwiji. This dude, also known as Dwija, Deepu and Guru does sometimes seem to be many different people at once. He has been been very effective in providing remote support during the tsunami and the recent floods in India. This time, in the aftermath of Katrina, he decided to take a different approach. Here it is in his own words:

Folks,

I am travelling down the Mississippi with supplies for hurricane survivors as part of a community organization that has come together here in Twin Cities, MN.

Over the day we have been able to collect ...

1. a huge 24' long truck
2. few thousand gallons of bottled water
and clothes, diapers, toiletries, dry food and lots of odds and ends
from the community either as donations.

Also raised about $3k in cash.

We are seeking donations in cash or kind. We still have space in the truck and will be stopping in different places on the way to hook up with groups that are collecting more relief materials. Please send an appeal / forward this mail to friends, relatives, contacts, etc. in Urbana Champaign IL, St Louis MO, Memphis TN and other places along I57 / I55. We are starting MN at 6 AM CDT on Sat. and plan to reach drop off locations near Jackson MS in 24 hours.

More info about the group can be found at
http://northservessouth.com

The latest of list of things that are needed is posted on the site.

The main point of contact will be Sudha Nagavarapu. she will be able to clarify any questions,
concerns and give you an update on how we are doing on time.

I plan to be back home by tuesday afternoon and will try to get as many audio snippets / photos as I can.

+ dwiji.