Saturday, April 21, 2007 - a first and delayed report from Mission #4, New Orleans, LA
We arrived at the Detroit Airport ahead of schedule of course. Most cleared security with little problem except for the old guy whoes carry-on was of interest because of all the camera, batteries, and related wires.
No problem with time the airline was having problems finding a pilot to fly to New Orleans, or maybe it was the group with blue T-shirts he was trying to avoid. We gained a few minutes enroute so we arrived in good time to meet Mark from Akron before he gave up thinking we were lost in the sky. our advance man, Dick Lehto had already goten the lay of the land and helped us to get started.
Before long we were setting up camp at the Kenner First Methodist Church. Girls room on the left and Boys room on the right with a reasonable and safe distance further down the hall so we guys knew we were safe.
We had supper out the first night with a stop for groceries on the way back and that was good because it was a long day and all were anxious to set up the mattresses and sleeping areas. Many pitched in the next morning and prepared breakfast in the Church kitchen and of course ALL enjoyed eating it.
We took an early morning drive through Lake view District and saw lots of houses that had been gutted and were still airing out. We were amazed by how many homes were still untouched after all this time. After a very moving service at Kenner UMC with Pastor Tracy McKinney preaching, we had an added mission of moving some materials and cleaning an apartment building which was under construction. Our first and a small introduction to what would come on the next day, Monday.
Sunday dinner was at the home of Val Hendricks' cousin, Pam and her husband Larry Born. The Born family welcomed us into their beautiful home with gracious southern hospitality and a delicious Crawfish Etouffee and the most remarkable stories about the storm, flood and the aftermath when half of the population of New Orleans left and have not returned, most of the schools have remained closed and increased crime and limited socal services make life in the city so different than before the storm. The Born family was blessed to avoid the flooding and had repariable damage from the storm so their home became a hospitality center for months for friends, family and teens who wanted to return to school but had no place to stay. A safe haven in the lingering aftermath of the storm.
On our trip to the Win Dixie for supplies we met a church group from Minnesota who were on their 10th trip for renovations. They had driven 29 hours non stop. When we got back from the store we met a mission volunteer Jan Roadhouse from Kalamazoo who joined our team for the week. Jan was on her second trip to New Orleans and she knows how to mud and spackel!
On Monday we were not disappointed. I think it best to pickup from here on the next session since all are very tired .... zzzzzz
Lee Gagle
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - report #2 from New Orleans, LA
The promise to continue the previous report was delayed as you can tell. Monday began busy and it has not stopped through tonight, Wednesday. Part of our team began at a home that needed grouting of tiles which turned into resetting the tiles before it could be done. Val, Jan, and Lonna worked under the guiding hand of Dick Lehto who promptly gave them the nickname "Charlie's Angels." Problems multiplied when the next day a tile broke and had to be replaced which caused the grouting to be moved to Wednesday after Dick had to leave. However, the "Angels" prevailed and the grouting is now done and will be sealed before we leave.
The remainder of the team swarmed over Gloria's house, whose sister Viola has opened a small restaurant a couple blocks away and is coordinating the repairs. The task was to drywall the ceiling in the main room working around possessions rescued from the Katrina wind damage, then to sand existing drywall seams. For those not familiar with drywalling ... some team members were and some were not ... all are now very "up close and personal" with all the steps. The muscle part is putting the 4 x 8 foot - or heavier 4 x 12 - sheets into position so they can be fastened there. Then tape and mud - actually the mud is a white paste - is put on the seams. The messy part is to sand the mud smooth after it dries. A fine powder then covers everything including the sanders. A mask is a must.
Much of the same was done to Annie's house which was a short distance away, so at times the team was split, one at each place. Annie is the ninth of ten children of King Thomas, who is a very gentle man. King is very ill as the result of Katrina. The mold in his house has damaged his lungs. That and his stay in the hospital left him with little voice, but you can see the thankfulness in his eyes. He has a trailer but refuses to give up to it and Annie is struggling to make the house livable for him.
The team spent about the same time at each house. When we began at Annie's on Wednesday the goal was to finish the room King lives in as quickly as possible, since he had to leave for the work to be done. We managed to put about 85 percent of the drywall up on Wednesday and finished it on Thursday. Friday morning we returned to both houses for the last sanding. Noon Friday was quitting time. We missed it by an hour and left reluctantly at one o’clock, having accomplished the tasked assigned but sad not to be able to see it through to a final livable completion. That will be up to some other team or home owner.
It wasn't all work. On Tuesday after dinner we took a tour of the French Quarter and walked around the area. On Friday we returned there for dinner with Pastor Tracy as our guest. Of course one cannot be in New Orleans and at the French Quarter without a short tour of Bourbon St. ... only to watch the tourists of course.
Not enough can be written about the work the churches are doing to relieve the suffering and heartache of the people who have lost their homes and possessions. Epworth has been and continues to be a positive help. Darrell Guillory, Operations Coordinator, Eastbank Station of Disaster Recovery Ministry illustrated the work that has been done. He pointed to a map with pins showing the 1700 homes which have been worked on. A very impressive accomplishment but the work is not done. There are 1000 more homes to be worked on, and 1000 more pins to be added to the map when time is available. A trip through the lower 9th Ward was startling, and it is hard to imagine recovery there.
While Mission #3 and 4 did drywalling which gave visual progress, those in earlier missions should be applauded loud and long for the tough and dirty job of gutting the homes of terrible debris and destruction, work which made the drywalling possible.
Please excuse the lack of daily reports. The days were long and tiring, and when given the choice between drywall knife, drill, trowel, sander or fingers on the keyboard, the tools won out each and every time.
LWG
