I, like most people, believed everything I saw on the news about New Orleans before this weekend. Things are not at all as peachy as they are presented on the news. It sucks down there. So many families have lost everything and it is so discouraging to think that we were only able to help 2 families out of the thousands that need it. I wish we could do more...I want to do more. I want to get these families back into their homes and back into their lives. I guess it just hit me hard to realize that when you hear someone say "They lost everything," they really mean that everything was lost. Clothes, shoes, furniture, food, tv's, movies, pictures, even baby diapers--all destroyed. I know some of those things can be replaced, but how are you ever going to replace pictures, or your childs artwork? And what if you had to work to save up the money to buy your furniture...and it was destroyed. I guess what really gets me is that the houses we worked on had been untouched for fourteen months. They sat there for fourteen months and got moldy and awful. My heart goes out to all of the victims of Hurricane Katrina and I hope and pray that more people find it in their hearts to help you.

I think I'm also angry because it didn't even feel like I was in America. I could have very easily been in a third world country. What is going on in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is not what hundreds of thousands of Americans have fought and died to protect. I'm not saying that the national government could have stopped the destruction. It's not at all George Bush's fault that this happened and I stand firmly by that opinion. I do, however, believe that the governments of both Louisiana and New Orleans could have and should have done more. The levee that broke had been tested every year since it was built and every year passed the inspection. The people inspecting the levee's said that it could withstand a category 5 hurricane. I'm also frustrated that the Army Corps of Engineers is no longer going to pick up debris from the houses that are being cleaned out after December 31st of this year. How are these houses ever going to get cleaned out? Are these families ever going to be able to return to New Orleans? The fact that you can walk around the Lower 9th ward and see only the foundations of homes that were 3rd and 4th generation homes that are no longer there is sad enough...and then you find out that the New Orleans City Government is talking about re-zoning that to be commercial land so they can put casinos and resorts there. It is absolutely infuriating. Then to find out that residents in the Lower 9th ward just got certified running water a few weeks ago is even more infuriating. We are in America. Running water is one of those things that we take for granted, and for the last fourteen months, the residents of New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward have not been able to drink the water that comes from their faucets, or bathe in the water. That is possibly the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life. Again, I say, that is not America...that is not what so many men and women have fought and died to protect.

If New Orleans residents have as much pride in their home as I do...I know they are angry. I can't imagine someone taking South Carolina away from me and telling me they wouldn't help me get it back.

I'm also furious because at this point in time, the governments of New Orleans and Louisiana are still trying to point the finger at someone else instead of helping people. They are not concerned with helping thier displaced residents come back....all they care about is making sure the rest of the world knows its not their fault. Who cares who's fault it is? America needs to suck it up and fix it.

I hope that if you read this, you get a sense of how much help is needed in New Orleans. Even if you just donate a few dollars...do it...every little bit helps. We need to help our own people before we worry about the rest of the world...it's time for America to wake up and take responsibility for the well-being of our own country.