My nameis Beth Gallup - pr



Introduction

My name is Beth Gallup. I am a physician. Since first requested to declare what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always stated, “I want to be a doctor.”

I remember in Okinawa (my father was in the Army) in second grade, I stood up and proudly proclaimed that I was going to become a doctor. I was told that girls become nurses, not doctors. While a junior in high school, in Defiance, Ohio the guidance counselor called me to her office to discuss my career goals. She emphatically stated that I was not smart enough to become a doctor; she later became my patient.

Although schooled in other disciplines, I am a doctor, a caretaker, a healer. It is because being a doctor defines me, because I am a “fixer” of illness, trauma and psychological pain, I was compelled to go to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina struck. Hurricane Katrina was the worst hurricane ever to hit the United States. Katrina, a killer storm, wiped out whole cities and decimated lives. I drove to Mississippi to volunteer my skills as a healer of bodies; I stayed to volunteer my skills as a healer of souls.

Never had I imagined that I would be witness to the devastating consequences of a category five Hurricane. The scope of the destruction was and is beyond belief, even for those of us who have lived amongst the downed trees, the bent utility poles, the piles of debris the wrecked lives and the disheartened souls.

What is also devastating is the fact that Mississippi’s Forgotten. Louisiana, specifically New Orleans is in the spotlight of the national media coverage. Yet areas of Mississippi cannot be differentiated from a third world country; roads remain impassable, families are living in trailers, tents, shacks, and there is desperate need for rebuilding. The rebuilding efforts currently are focused on the rebuilding of structures; the need for rebuilding lives is even starker. Part of rebuilding of a life includes access to medical and psychological care. In Hancock county Mississippi, where 80 % of the homes and businesses were destroyed, the majority of survivors are unemployed. Thus, medical care and prescriptions must be provided at no cost. After a period of time, most estimates are three years, and employment opportunities are available and the local medical establishment is rebuilt, the need for free medical care will dissipate.

This book chronicles my four-month sojourn of healing along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. I intended to stay for two weeks, but the strength, courage and character of the Mississippi people compelled me to stay. The unbelievable need for volunteer medical care kept me there, long after my funds were depleted. The need for a gentle touch on the shoulder, the need for someone to listen from the heart, healing gestures to remind a forgotten people that someone cares about them and the unspeakable tragedy that has befallen them. The need is still there, medical and psychological illnesses are going untreated and Katrina still wreaks havoc on the survivors who are trying to rebuild their lives and who are losing hope.

This book is written in a somewhat lighthearted manner, although it is tragic subject matter. It includes descriptions of caring for patients in a disaster area where martial law is in effect and of setting up medical clinics at most unusual sites. Also included are tales of government disaster relief gone awry and of American Red Cross relief efforts that left many unaided. Interspersed are accounts of the difficulties I encountered incorporating and managing a start up not for profit medical relief organization in the middle of a disaster where State and Local authorities did not want me.

I went to Mississippi to help, I did help, I want to continue to help. I want to do my part, however small to ensure that Mississippi and the needs of the survivors of Katrina are not forgotten. By relating my adventures, I hope you hear a call for help, and will seek to assist those whose world was decimated and whose cries for help are falling on deaf ears.

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