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Have you ever been asked to throw away every selfish thought you have ever had, every single feeling of pity for yourself, every thought of how “awful” you have it. That is what a day here makes you do. Whether it’s the destruction, the rebuilding, the sheer idea of what happened here four years ago, or the ridiculous amount of hope in the people, who can say? Who can say what it really is that in this horrific mess, it is just another day to these people. The attitude is one of tranquility, acceptance, and the looking forward to tomorrow. Mothers, children, grandparents, great-grandparents all had their lives ripped out from under them in one swift moment of nature. Time has healed this, there is strive for tomorrow, the passion to move on, the hope that tomorrow will be a better day.
This is my third year down to the city of New Orleans. The immense amount of work that has been done solely in the last few years is indescribable. This year however, the house that my group is working on is only minutes from the lower ninth ward, the hardest hit and most devastated area of the city. On one side of the house is construction, other houses being worked on, other families coming back. On the other side there is nothing. There is a stretch of road between this house and the canal where there is nothing but foundation and an abandoned warehouse. The house we are working on has had many other groups work on it before, and all have done a marvelous job. There are solid walls, flooring, roofing; all but the small things are left to do. This week we have the objective of many tasks: yard work, putting in blinds, painting and hanging doors, and putting in a handicap accessible ramp leading to the front porch. Weather cooperating we plan to have almost, if not all, of these tasks completed.
Our group works and flows well, and we are all looking forward to the week ahead.
Kala’s Worksite
I have been waiting to come back to New Orleans since the day I arrived home for the trip last year. Finally arriving here I experienced many feelings that I had lost since the previous year. Being selfless, putting others before myself, being a group participant, and coming to the realization that the world truly does not revolve around me. Excited would be an understatement to the way that I felt when we parked in front of our house. A white shotgun style home, with lime green trimming; this is the house that our group will constantly put sweat and energy into for the next 3 days. It was easy to see the eagerness spread across everyone’s faces when we stepped through the doorway.
Our tasks this year include: painting the inside walls, painting the exterior trimming, spackling the ceiling and cleaning up the yard that is still piled with debris from four years ago.
The homeowner visited our group during the afternoon. It was not hard to miss the gratitude in her eyes as she saw the house, once again, becoming her home. She explained that, due to her back problems, she is not able to accomplish the tedious and grueling tasks that are required to rebuild her home. It was beyond amazing to hear her stories, to feel her pain as part of your own. The homeowner was not the only person our group had the opportunity to meet. Next door to our house, we met a man who was mowing the lawn of an abandoned house. Curious as to why he spent his time mowing a house that is still boarded up, he openly shared his story. He told us that the house was once his mother’s, whom had passed away due to the stress brought on by Hurricane Katrina. Next to his mother’s home, was yet another boarded up house. He explained that the house once belonged to his aunt. And though the houses sit alone, abandoned and boarded up he still mows the lawn. Surprisingly, he was not the last of our visitors. We were blessed to meet a pastor of the church right down the sidewalk of our house. He graciously offered his church for use. It was perfect timing considering we just ran out of water needed for the spackling.
One day is all it takes. One moment. One person. One house. One group. This is our first day at the house, and we are able to come home with countless stories about what we did, whom we met, and stories that we heard. I am very much looking forward to what this week has to offer and what stories I will bring home by the end of this trip.
Greetings from New Orleans!
Today we woke to find a breakfast of scrambled eggs, homemade sausage, and biscuits and gravy. Needless to say, we are very thankful for Dee, our designated chef, and those that have helped her prepare our meals.
After breakfast, the two teams left for their worksites. On Vickie’s worksite, the team was given a whole new task to complete. We learned that the mother of the homeowner is disabled and needed a handicap accessible ramp, which we were finally able to begin today. This task is our main focus for the week. Although, while many are working on this, others have been working inside to finish painting the closet doors and touching up the paint on the walls. Other than these tasks, the house we were assigned to is very close to being finished.
In addition to the work done today, we were able to have a chance to meet the homeowner, Lois. Her mother is very ill and she was beyond grateful that her home was almost finished. She told us a lot about her neighborhood and said that the house we were working on had been her family home for nearly 38 years! It was great to hear from her and we hope to see her again on Thursday when we return to the worksite for our final day of work.
On Rick’s worksite, we continued to spackle the ceilings and touch up the paint on the walls. Jan and Fred focused on painting the trim on the outside of the house, with help from Kala and Peter. James and Keanu ambitiously began a new project: working on the outside appearance of the front door to the house. They stripped off the previous unattractive paint job and plan to repaint on Thursday.
Some of the work that we have been doing has not been as instantly apparent as it has in previous years. However, we know that the work we are doing is still very important, and we are pleased that the home we are working in is nearing the point where the homeowner can move back in.
Again today, we were blessed by Pastor Cotton, who allowed us to use the water and bathrooms at the church down the road from our worksite. This is, of course, despite the fact that we tracked dust with every step we took and unintentionally stained the sidewalk in front of his church when cleaning our paintbrushes!
We are tired after a long day—so we know we must be doing something right! However, we are not too tired to enjoy the programming that Kirsten and the Wesley Student Center have planned for us.
--Meredith, Hannah, and Emily P.