Neighborhood

Oakville, Iowa is a neighborhood community. It is "small town" USA and it is a place where everybody knows your name.

We have spent the last three days working in this community. It has been hot and humid and sweat has dripped from our foreheads.

Newspaper and media types have infiltrated the streets of this little community. They have snapped pictures and interviewed residents while volunteers have slogged through mud trying to free houses from the grip of recent flooding.

The houses have been destroyed but the neighborhoods will return.

No one knows what the future holds for Oakville. Everybody seems to have a plan. While others are talking, volunteers are working.

The residents are looking for answers from the government. Some are waiting for FEMA to make a decision. Meanwhile, church groups are flooding Oakville with goodwill and assistance. If residents are looking for answers from the government they will be waiting a long time. If they are looking for immediate assistance from church groups they will not be disappointed.

"We are here to help!"

It is interesting that the residents of Oakville say the same words, they just use a different inflection. They say, "We're here to. Help!"

That is the reason we are here.