Recovery in SW MO

Hey all - hope all is well. Things are going pretty well here. Americorps is now committed to keeping track of the volunteer hours in the area, databasing work requests from residents, recruiting volunteers and matching volunteer groups with jobs = an office life - something I don't want to be doing for too long. I've been doing a lot of calling lately and thankfully have had the opportunity to obtain a skid-loader (bobcat) certification. My spirits are up but I find myself bitter about the area. I'm sick of the redneck sounding accent, the horrible grammar (ex. speaking: "we'z been told ya'll could help..." ex. of writing: "need lotz of..." , "been veary busy"), they don't have recycling down here (we've been keeping our plastics, etc... to bring to Springfield), disabilities are really common, obesity is rampant....the list goes on. I keep thinking how different this area is from the really progressive areas of the U.S., such as the Portland area. How much wider can the cultural differences between these types of communities become (environmentally, education level, social and international awareness)?

Gotta run, Kevin

Ice Storm

Ice Storm '07

It's been a bit of a hiatus from the blog. Right now I'm in Mt. Vernon, Mo working at the Lawrence County EOC (emergency operations center). I was deployed to the STL County EOC at first (which is really cool - in a bomb shelter - lots of expensive equip) and then traveled to SW MO before ending up here. Our primary duties have shifted from providing emergency relief: shelters, food and water for the area to setting up for an invasion of volunteers when we get the ok from the government (there is a lengthy declaration and clarification process we have to wait on before FEMA can work through SEMA and then the county and municipalities). At the height of the power outage there were about 300,000 without power. There are still quite a bit without power, though mainly in the rural areas so peope forget about it. Farmers are having a tough time getting drinking water to their cattle, etc... I'll hopefully have time to write more later. Peace.