Volunteer Report from Liz I have just had the most amazing 48 hours of my life.  Finally made it to Texas, and then 12 hour drive from Ft. Worth to Raceland, Louisiana.  The drive in was lovely, virtually no signs of damage, and I'm thinking, what am I doing out here?  Got to the place we are camping, incredible house and lands, showers and swimming pool as promised.  Bunch of very nice,  ex-hippie types (which you know I fit in well with). Dinner was soft shell crabs, fancy marinated shrimp, pulled barbeque pork.  I'm thinking this is crazy. Slept in the truck 'cause I hadn't had time to set up camp (still haven't, but that is another story), then this morning had breakfast in the local truck stop, big bowl of real grits for 59 cents, coffee for 69.  Spent the morning getting to know the "store," which is a giant distribution center for food, cleaning goods and new cloths from Wal-mart. Was a real store until 50 years ago when it closed. A lady who worked in it before it closed came by, now 75.  Gave a few flu and tetanus shots, still thinking what am I doing here? Then I went out with the tribe social worker, and we delivered supplies to the bayous. Unbelievable.  Boats on the land, trash everywhere, roofs off, impossible to describe. Set up two immunization clinics for next week.  Learned more than I had ever thought to learn about the life and history of the peoples here, especially the Houma indians with whom we are working and living.  Fascinating, but much more than I can write. One wonderful story. Historically, the Houma have been beat down by the locals, going back to the Creole French moving in.  They were not allowed to get educated, were in segregated schools for first three grades, then over time got a few more years, but never high school and graduation.  A Methodist woman came to the bayou, bought some land and started a Houma school, and then a community center, where we are doing the immunization clinic.  The school finally was closed when segregation was illegal, but the community center is still run by UMW.  The church connected with it has had extensive roof and floor damage.  I am going to get a price for the roof and see if we can raise it. There are some amazing people here, both locals and volunteers.  The energy and excitement is very contagious. So, what is the Missoula Medical Aid volunteer group doing?  Currently, I am the medical team, with help from Ted from Veterans for Peace, but have some help coming next week from Missoula.  (I had come first to be sure of the logistics).  The tribe is very anxious to have shots given, so I sit at the "store" in the mornings.  (I don't have much tolerance for inefficiency, ten shots a day at  the store isn't going to make me happy).  I turned shot giving over to the Veterans for Peace medic yesterday to have time to create some more experiences for us. Have a lot of plans for next week. The United Houma Nation is the only group in the area to have flu vaccine, plus a lot of tetanus, so one of the major tasks it to distribute and give shots.  I gave 500 doses to the charity hospital (they really call them that down here).  I have arranged for a mass immunization at a couple of centers on the bayous, and several of the senior programs.  Also going to visit one of the remote islands and do needs assessment Tuesday. But the big tasks are reconstruction.  Roofs, cleaning, floors, it is unimaginable what it is like.  These are a very strong people, but they need help. Three MMA volunteers are coming to work construction first of November.  However, I am not sure how long this site is going to be workable for us. Certainly through November there will be lots to do, and enough organization to facilitate people coming in and being easily useful.  Several years of work, but I am not sure it is going to be feasible for volunteers, especially when the rainy season starts.  I have proposed to the husband of the tribe chief that we have a meeting of the three groups here (Missoula Medical Aid, Veterans for Peace and Plenty.org) to figure out a game plan for volunteers for the next few months, but will probably take a few days.  There are lots of other places we can work if this doesn't last. Then there is tending the store and driving around distributing supplies. So, I'll send another update, probably over weekend.  If you are thinking of coming down, I would really recommend it IF you are a person who can handle a bit of uncertainty, a lot of stress and some wonderful people, contact mtkatrinahelp@aol.com -Liz