 Jeff McCollough and others prepare to help animals affected by oil disaster, photographed July 14, 2010.  Training workshop for the peer listening program presented by Dr. Steve Picou in Bayou La Batre, photographed July 14, 2010. |
The gulf coast is not just home for tragedies and crises. It’s the home of incredible people! In 2004 numerous hurricanes struck Florida and the northern gulf coast including Hurricane Ivan. Other areas suffered greatly too particularly with Hurricane Jeanne. 2005 brought more destruction with numerous communities all along the coast from Central America to United States and throughout the Caribbean being devastated from severe hurricanes including Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. With barely a breather if that, rough economic times came our way and are indeed affecting the whole world. And now we’re in month three of the oil disaster. Today we are shocked at the inept care that was given to our environment and shocked at the long-term environmental destruction of our home and the home of so many other creatures too. Yet positive energy is the focus of so many people! “I love Dauphin Island!” “I love Bayou La Batre!” “I love Louisiana!” “I love Mississippi!” “I love my community!” “I care about you!” “Let’s help one another!” “Let’s take care of our environment!” We are a people who have kept coming back! We are a people who are still coming back today! With confidence, even after all this and with whatever will come in the future, be it natural or unnatural disasters, I know that we will continue to live positively. There’s an incredible faith inside all of us, a faith that creates an unconquerable, spirited synergy between us, a faith that is lived out in innumerable acts of kindness, friendship, and generous initiative. |
Volunteer update
There is a new volunteer program being offered on the gulf coast called “peer listening.” Peer listening is a community service that proved valuable in the wake of the Exxon Valdez disaster. Training workshops are currently being conducted in Alabama and Mississippi coastal communities. According to the program’s website (which contains lots of helpful information), “peer listening is a type of support that occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other.” Pictured above is a training workshop that was held in Bayou La Batre yesterday.
