Day 2

(Spotty internet connections ... we will update this blog when possible! -lfp)

It’s the end of a very long second day of work...up at 6:15, breakfast at 7:00 (where I chugged 3 cups of coffee), devotions for a few minutes and we loaded into the van. I’m sure everyone who writes about this day will detail the work – needless to say it was back breaking, grueling, and something I never want to have to do again. Until tomorrow, anyway.

We didn’t get to meet the owner of the house, but we did get the wonderful opportunity to meet the 85 year old gentleman who is now the next door neighbor. Before Katrina he lived 2 houses away, now there is a vacant lot between them. He told us stories about the man who used to live in the house who has passed away, and then he, his son and friends told stories about the neighborhood as it used to be. Hearing hurricane stories from Katrina survivors is something I will take with me.

Later we took over one of the “hands” posters that were made in church on Christmas Eve, and a couple of cards from Franklin. When Domenick and I knocked on the door of the FEMA trailer they are living in, we had yet another chat – (imagine that, ME picking up conversations with people I don’t know!) We talked about the progress they were making on the house, and they graciously invited us in to see it. They told us that the house, just like the one we were working on, had been submerged up to the attic. It was so nice to walk in and see walls with fresh paint, new and clean flooring and lighting that worked. It gave me hope and a new sense of purpose as I went back to work.

The rest of the RUCC folks went out for dinner and to listen to Zydeco music while Georgia and I opted out. We got laundry done and I took time to write this. It was good for me to have some relaxed time in the place we’re staying.

It’s odd to be “living” in an elementary school. The multi-purpose room is the dining area, the library is the office for Hilltop (the organization we’re with) and I think we’re sleeping in a third grade classroom. Currently the local high school is housing 1st—12th grades, and this will be the first elementary school to be rebuilt in the Parish (county). Hilltop is moving out at the end next week and the construction crews will come in. All of the downstairs space has been gutted to the studs and the upstairs doesn’t seem to have been damaged much, so that’s where we’re sleeping.

As I am now running on reserve power I will take that as a sign to log out for the evening. - Barbie

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Deb and I arrived in New Orleans Wednesday afternoon and met Sharon at the airport. She was able to rent a van and drive us into Chalimette. The drive was eye-opening. The number of empty houses was shocking. On one stretch of road sat three empty houses followed by a house with Christmas lights and then empty houses for the rest of the block. Most of the houses had x’s spray-painted onto the fronts with dates or letters in each of the four quadrants. All was Greek to us until we got in to camp and were informed that the dates were when the gov’t first looked at the house. The number in the bottom quadrant represented the number of bodies found in the house. Never before have I been so relieved to see the number 0.

We situated ourselves at the camp and waited for the Fiske-Philips and Sforzas to return form their work shift. They filled us in on the whats and wherefores of the volunteer headquarters.

Today we headed out on our first job. We worked to clean out a one bedroom house with a sinking floor. We worked hard and long and crowbarred, shoveled, lifted and hauled. I moved more wheelbarrows today than in my whole life previously. We had tons of energy in the morning and were dragging by 4:00. The pile of possessions in the front yard extended beyond the house’s property line and more is expected tomorrow. We only finished the back room, the kitchen and the two front rooms. Tomorrow, we need to muck out the bedrooms and the bathroom. I am tired, but not too tired to keep me from going to the bowling alley. -Luther