Louisiana 6 Mission Trip - September 22-28, 2008

Saturday

2008-09-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Fred Bailey is our final Team Blogger.

Like most of the days in New Orleans for the Team From Fish, Day 6 started with sleepy people in work clothes wandering through the tidy halls of Ochsner Hospital, looking for coffee, tea, grits and whatever else they could find to fuel the labors that awaited them.

Having tired of the daily fare at Zucchini’s (which happened to be closed on the weekend), they ventured forth through the back halls to the employee cafeteria – the charming Southport Café. It not only sufficed to start the day, but the venturesome team even returned here for lunch after laboring in the hot sun for 5 hours (not all that creative a selection in this culinary capital of the southern region of the USA). And finally, on this Saturday morning, all of the team actually reported for our caravans to the work sites on time – Halleluiah campers!

We divided up again to conquer work that awaited us in Ferry Place and in the inner city at both First Street and Fourth Street. In each location, we saw the fruits of our labors. Bare exterior walls were now largely sided – neatly and attractively – with panels level and plum, freshly caulked and ready for the final prep and painting that future teams will apply. Fresh interior painting at all locations created a welcoming feeling for the teams that will be arriving to inherit our inertia and refine them further for future owners. Railings were installed, stairs were finished, closets were painted, windows were trimmed… our significant mark could be seen… our work for now was finished. A special part of the day was working along side some of the displaced families working to participate in the Habitat for Humanity rebuilding program.

We all convened in one of the Ferry Place houses for a site farewell. We gathered in front of a graphic David Merrell created of our church symbol gracing an interior wall – a drawing of a Fish and the words: “To know and share God’s grace in Jesus Christ.”

David with Kate Snider the new RHINO Coordinator.

And after six days of creation, the people rested.

First, there was a two-hour respite that had some soaking in freshly drawn baths, reportedly imbibing Coke and Bourbon… admittedly decadent behavior.

Your blogger went for a dip in the hotel pool. There he encountered a 70 something year old woman from the Gulf region of Mississippi. She spoke of the huge restorative impact that volunteers had made to her community which was still reeling and trying to recover from storm damage. She said that the impact of others coming to their aid was so inspiring that teams from her county are now preparing to head for Galveston to help that devastated region. They recognize that though they all have much less than they once did, they all have more than the folks from Galveston. As they couldn’t have survived without the outside assistance of total strangers, they feel inspired to return the favor. As she tottered across the pool apron with her walker (impeded a bit by her cigarette in hand) she asked me to please say thank you to our entire team... wow have we heard those words a lot in six days.

We exited our baths and swimming pool to return to our car pool. We brought our weak, weary and achy bodies to the Big Easy for a bit of R&R and camaraderie, determined to laissez les bon temps rollez.

Trimmed in our finest and armed with our newly acquired skills, we painted the town, opened new doors, nailed down plans for spectacular dining, admired the New Orleans architecture… with some of us paying particular attention to the railings, siding, stairs, trim….

We fanned out across the city dining in varied establishments including: Drago’s, The Gumbo Shop, K-Paul’s, The French Market Restaurant, Gallitois’ Restaurant, and come to think of it, including Charles Hair in the mix, virtually every other dining establishment in the city limits was fair game.

Because David suspected that we might all still be hungry, he brought us all to Café du Monde for a nightcap of beignets and coffee.

From there we traveled back to the St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church for closing reflections on the week.

Our thoughts included:
I all heard a chorus of gratitude throughout our stay.
Young people in the Rhino program and from our church inject all of us with great hope for the possibilities of the future.
It has been a week of reciprocity – we have gotten far more than we gave.
I’m impressed by the enormous commitment of the church that hosted us.
I feel humbled that giving so little has earned such considerable appreciation.
The scale of the devastation is so much larger than suspected.
Little by little… the impact of many is being felt.
This week we truly walked the talk of mission.
We met as virtual strangers on Monday and leave forever bonded by a common experience.
This was more than expected… I’m coming back! It was enormously “Full-filling”!
Being here with the people who will benefit and are benefiting from our charity represents zero degrees of separation – there is real grace in being face to face with those we are helping, unlike simply making a donation.

Day 6 is now drawing to a close. Tomorrow we exit physically, but a part of each one of us shall remain here at Ferry Place and downtown at First Street or Fourth Street. Our work has touched different neighborhoods. Different neighborhoods have touched us. Fresh coats of paint. Protective siding and fascia. New railings. Windows sealed and trimmed against the storms of the future. Doors that will be opened to guests and playmates… and closed to secure families of the future. A new neighborhood of hope emerges… and we had a hand in it. Future generations of children learning to aspire, feeling safe, loved and able to flourish will call the spaces we worked in… “home”. Future home-owners with futures restored, and it was our footsteps over this last week that contributed to the journeys of generations that will continue to flock to and make up the fiber of a renewed New Orleans.

In William Shakespeare’s 30th sonnet (which I’ve included below), he speaks of sessions of sweet, silent thought. Here in New Orleans, in the midst of saws whirring and generators generating and train whistles too assertively making their presence known, and people laughing and laughing… there have also been many silent moments for personal inventories and reflection.

Whatever our own personal storms and turbulence have churned up in our lives, bearing witness to the devastation to this city and its homes and lives … disrupted beyond comprehension – all possessions and family vanquished… life slates once stained by the risen waters and its debris are now rinsed to reveal clean slates where life starts anew…. “Only when we lose our life do we truly find it….”

Shakespeare’s 30th sonnet:

WHEN to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear times’ waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unus’d to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since cancell’d woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish’d sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor’d and sorrows end.

Much was lost here in New Orleans; but there is a whole lot of discovery here now for all who are attracted to live here and for those fortunate enough to contribute in these small, exuberant bursts of week-long work trips; labors of love.

Safe travels pilgrims and Thank you!

Friday

2008-09-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

Today might have been the most beautiful day weather-wise that we’ve had in six Mission Work Weeks. A great day to work hard and well. There was tinge of bitter sweetness though because it was also Seth’s last day with Habitat. It will be strange going to Ferry Place without him tomorrow. We celebrated him at lunch. Our superb chef Jim arrived with muffalettas for all. Along with Po’ Boys, Muffalettas are pure New Orleans. They are sandwiches. Kind of an Italian wedge with a layer of olive salad thrown into the mix. They are Seth’s favorite and so we benefited.

Our two Team Bloggers today are Isabel Clifton (Bobby Anderson’s sister who crossed the Atlantic to come to NOLA with us)

and Mary Thies.

First, Isabel. . .

The painters returned to Ferry Place slightly diminished in numbers (as some of our 27 strong team were back working at Fourth Street, Center City again) but no less enthusiastic. We deferred to our forewoman - Barbara Miller who keeps us in line. ( "My little painting crew" she calls us!!) We joined her in the bedrooms of the second house which she and some of the crew had prepared yesterday. There is no slacking and quality control is key, no half measures. We have high standards, filling in, rubbing down, damp dusting, taping the window frames to protect the plastic and two coats of paint. We even have to redo the caulking if it does not meet with approval! The paint dries really fast and the second coat can go on the same day. I like the idea of the same paint on the walls as on the woodwork, it does mean you see results very quickly. I am going to adopt this strategy when I return home to Newcastle-upon-Tyne too! We enjoyed having Phyllis' company again. She is working on her 250 "sweat equity" hours for Habitat before she can have a chance of applying for a house of her own. She is one of 8 brothers and sisters who were evacuated for Katrina and whose family is now broken up as several of them have decided not to return to New Orleans. Her 75-year old father is very sad about this and she was upset that her 'fix-everything brother' was no longer around to fix her car or the air conditioning when it went wrong. Lots of families are in the same position. It was nice comparing notes on children and pets!

Claudia and Jackie worked on the door handles and closet fittings, fixing them so house one (the bright lime green one) is now almost ready, apart from three window sills, for the flooring to go in. It looks great!

The rest of the crew worked on the siding for two houses. The teamwork was incredible. It is looking good though we may have to leave some of the fun for the relief crew next week.

√

We are back in the hotel to remove the day's construction grime before heading for dinner kindly hosted by a family from St Charles Presbyterian. Did someone mention crawfish? Unfortunately our vacation in New Orleans is almost over. We will have to wait for David to take us all again soon. God bless and thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

And Mary. . .

Some random thoughts and observations—

The first day we were here our morning watch meditation asked us to watch our feet as indications of how we are involved in God’s mission. We began this week with new work shoes, stiff and unsoiled. After four days at various work sites, our shoes are broken in, dusty and paint-stained. If our shoes are any indication, we have been busy in mission.

One of the most surprising things I have experienced here is the overwhelming gratitude that the people of New Orleans have expressed to us. This evening our four white vans pulled over to let us walk for a bit in a lovely park. As a couple of us strolled down the street, a car stopped and asked us what was going on. “What’s the story with all those vans?” he asked. When we explained who we were and why we were here, his mouth fell open and then he said, “Thank you. Thank you for coming. People like you are making the difference in our city. You are the only ones bringing us hope.” Time and again, we have heard similar comments. It was an aspect of our mission that I had not anticipated. What a joy and privilege to be given such a gift to bear, for surely hope is God’s gift.

Two days ago some of us worked with one of the future homeowners in her future home. Together we sanded and painted. Together we walked through her house as she pointed out this room where here granddaughters would like and another that would be for her grandson, children who had spent three days trapped on a bridge after Katrina until they could be airlifted out. The third bedroom will be hers. I will never forget standing in the doorway watching as she pointed and asked, “Do you think I should put the bed on this wall or that one?” Now with each paint stroke, I think of Gwen and imagine her and her three grandchildren living in this space.

The pastor of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church told David and me that their Session had just decided to reach out to the people of Galveston by doing what we have been doing in New Orleans—sending mission teams to help rebuild. “We learned it from you,” he graciously said.

Enough for this night. Undoubtedly you will hear more in the days ahead. Thank you for your prayers for us and for the people of New Orleans. There is so much need still unmet here and after these three long years, the world is beginning to forget. Thank you for remembering.

As Isabel mentioned, we were the guests of Laura and Walter Becker in their lovely home. The food was delicious, the hospitality generous and their thankfulness for our work in New Orleans humbling.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is our final work day. We need one last prayer push from "y'all."

Thursday

2008-09-25T20:51:00.001-07:00

A late arrival back to the hotel from dinner means a somewhat abbreviated blog tonight. The photos will have to wait until tomorrow. Likewise with our second Team Blogger. Thank goodness that our other Team Blogger for the day Charles Hair.

Day Four of our journey to New Orleans started off with a wake up call to our half day. We got to the sight and were ready to go. Many of the people who were off at other sites had gotten the chance to stay with the others at ferry island today. The amount of dedication and teamwork that goes into this project really began to show today. From every one eager to help each other, we got a lot accomplished; our siding was being put up piece after piece and is almost completed on the lower level of one house. Everyone helping each other with anything and everything that needed to be done, we got a lot done in such a short amount of time. Some of us even learned a few new skills. Debbie took control of the saw today aiding in cutting pieces of siding for those putting the siding together. The day flew by very quickly and we gathered our things and headed over to the church to meet our tour guides who took us around the city.

As we split into groups and drove around the city, our eyes were really opened up. When you think of New Orleans (for those who have yet to visit), I’m sure you think of houses being torn, falling apart, and ready to crumple amongst the beaten frames that struggle to hold them together. You think of people living on the streets, looking for places to go. However, until you get a chance to come down here and see for yourself, you should know that is entirely not true. You see the dedication and the amazing people that help have taken this place from what it once was shortly after Katrina to a place you wouldn’t think of. A place you wouldn’t imagine could look so put together full of live and people; especially after to more storms, Ike and Gustav. The amount of damage that has been done since Katrina has almost turned around and been brought to live again as we saw on our tour. We saw a neighborhood built by Habitat for Humanity over the past couple of years ago called “Musicians Village” and it completely takes you away that such a community can exist after such a disaster. You see through the houses as they line up on the streets, the dedication, motivation, and commitment people can have for other people. Driving around on our tour, I had at times forgotten that I was in New Orleans. I was, like some of you, so used to thinking of New Orleans as an area filled with shingles from the tops of homes, houses falling apart, struggling to stand. Expecting to see people lining the streets, looking for places to go. However, I was taken back by the amount the has been done. Not just from the habitat group and us down at Ferry Place, but from the entire city as a whole. From each individuals love for the city and their renewal of their homes and their lives throughout the city. Sure it’s not entirely back together and there are still many areas that are underway, but because of the gift of kindness and love from others we have seen a great deal of improvement.

We got a chance to work with the chief of the site down at Ferry Place again during this trip, Seth. He has most certainly helped in making a difference and helped in making every person feel comfortable in recreating the city a few homes at a time.

This evening we went out to Drago’s ( A very delicious seafood restaurant) and had a sort of get together with some members of the Habitat and Americorp (a group similar to Habitat for Humanity) and showed our gratitude for sharing such a passion for doing what they do, and allowing us to all be apart of such a great opportunity. We really got to open up and learn about what each person has done and where they are going. Quite a few of the others are going on to help in the community service field and said they love doing this kind of thing and that it makes every day worth it. The feeling you get when you can wake up early and help make a difference in someones life makes you want to do it again and again. Today all in all, we learned the true value of what it means to come together. We got to see that because so many people like us, and the Habitat for Humanity group care so much and are willing to take time out of our lives to make such difference in someone else’s, that things can change. And with the continued support of everyone who has helped New Orleans will not be back to like it was before Katrina, but better. God bless everyone who has helped out; from keeping the people of New Orleans and those who dedicate their lives to helping, to the members our the churches who are willing to give up everything and come out here. Change is coming, and it’s coming from you.

Charles Hair

It's Friday a.m. and here are the promised pics.

FPC's Painting Pros have no equals!

School's in session. Listen up!

Seth opened up House Number 2 which is essentially finished so we could have a look.

Po' Boys from Crabby Jacks made lunch a delicious respite.

And not too many hours later Drago's provided very fine food and good fellowship.

In thanksgiving for our Habitat work site supervisor Seth's grace-filled teaching, leading and caring we presented him with a paperweight created by a New Orleans' glassblower, Mark Rosenbaum. The wonderful convergence is that Mark grew up in Stamford. Rippowan class of '76.

Two of our Americorps workers, Jeramy

and Ben also joined us.

Keep checking back. . . and praying!

Wednesday

2008-09-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

As you’ll hear from our Team Bloggers for the day – Mandy Leatherman

and Joe Soffayer - notice his multi-tasking abilities -

we had a busy, productive, fun, fulfilling day.

Today I went with Janna, Mary, Mark, Channing, and Debbie to the Habitat Houses on 4th Street that the Habitat professional, Eric, is leading building. There are two houses here in their final stages. There are actually four houses in a row on this street, a brown one-story Habitat house up on five-foot tall cement pilings, a boarded up house with weeds growing in and around it, then a red Habitat house of the same style as the first, then another boarded up house with weeds growing around it. Although I thought that both of the old, broken-down looking houses were set to be bulldozed, it turns out that a man was living in one of them and he actually came over to help cut fascia that Mark and Channing put up on the red house out of his own good will!

Eric had many tasks for us and we split up to accomplish them. Mark and Channing finished the fascia on the red house by the end of the day. This involved being up on ladders and on the rooftop. Fascia is the white plate of wood that covers up the wood holding up the roof. They did a great job! Debbie worked with Eric and the Americorp volunteer, Ryan, to complete half of the railings on the porch of the brown house. Mary, Janna, and I swept out, spackled, and did touch up paint on the nearly finished interior of the brown house.

After about an hour, we were joined by Gwen, who will be moving into a nearly finished Habitat House hopefully by the end of the year. She was working on putting in hours of sweat equity that are necessary to qualify for a Habitat House. She is the mother of one son and the grandmother to three grandchildren. Her two granddaughters have been living in Houston since Katrina with an aunt. Now that Gwen will have this new three-bedroom house, she will have the two granddaughters move back to New Orleans to live with her and her grandson in the house. Our work on the brown house was cut short by the flooring professionals who came mid morning to finish the floors. So, then Mary, Janna, and I went over three blocks to work on putting finishing touches on the interior of Gwen’s house. Gwen was really excited to go to work on her own house and this was really fun for us too, to be a part of this.

We walked over to her house carrying our paint

and it was really interesting to walk through the neighborhood. She pointed out an old high school that is abandoned now because it was so damaged by Katrina. She also pointed out water marks on some of the old houses. This neighborhood was completely flooded during Katrina, some water marks being about 5 feet up on the houses! This was shocking and painful to see, but at the same time this neighborhood was exciting to me because it seems to be completely in transition. Half of the houses are still in the exact same condition as they were during Katrina. One house two doors down from Gwen’s new Habitat house has a roof that is caving in and a side that is falling over onto the house next to it! However, half of the houses are being rebuilt, many by Habitat. We saw three new foundations at the end of the street, and at least three churches in this neighborhood that had been rebuilt. Now, Gwen’s house is also a one-story house, but they took no chances with her house and built it up on about 8-foot pilings so that no amount of flooding should be a problem for her! We worked on spackling, sanding, removing painter’s tape (that had thick layers of dried on paint, no small task!), and cleaning up to prepare to do a lot of painting. After our lunch brought by a Loaves and Fishes ministry of Trinity Episcopal Church we started painting, and finished the window sills, one coat on a few doors, and much touch up on walls, etc. We still have so much more to do, but luckily will be back tomorrow to continue.

Mandy Leatherman

"This is the day the Lord hath made " ........... and believe me, today was just another beauty! 5:30 came fast again today, coupled with lots of us popping Advil and Motrin to ease the "muscle wake-up call" of yesterday! The gain far overweighed the pain! That's ok - it's all good ! Today, we were split up over three additional worksites other than just Ferry Place. The second day on the work site is always special because now we've "settled in", so to speak. We arrived at Ferry Place all knowing our mission. We had done most of the prep work yesterday, so today the crew was happy to get right to work and make a major dent in getting our home trimmed and sided. Once the staging was in place, everyone just "hunkered down" and focused on doing their job. Like a well-oiled machine, the team made remarkable progress on the front, back, and sides of the home. Working with us again today was George, a gentleman who is working with Habitat to qualify for a new home himself.

George originally lived in the 9th Ward and lost everything. He still has his property there and he is so anxious to go back and rebuild. He was great to watch. Besides the silent glimmer of enthusiasm in his eye, you could feel his sense of hope, caring, and dream of someday rebuilding his own home. His patience, strength, and resilience was remarkable. It far outweighed his silent pain of personal loss of friends and home. George was again my reminder of how much help New Orleans still so desperately needs.....a ten year plan now pushing 15! How incredible! As I worked today, I was again humbled by the likes of George and my talented church family, new and old. The sense of closeness, camaraderie, and mission kept me grounded and driven. We weren't just building a house, but someone's new home.......a special place for family and friends to gather, for children to be raised in, a place to enjoy holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries........that special place..... where the heart is. I look forward to 5:30 tomorrow morning!

God bless
Joe Soffayer

David taking color coordination to the extreme.

Seth's extension cord boa.

A good day's work!

Whatever it takes to get that photo!

Keep Praying!!!

Tuesday PM

2008-09-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

It’s quite dark at 5:30 a.m. in New Orleans. By 6 a.m. most of us were gathered at the door of the café in the hotel waiting for the door to be unlocked. After a few minutes one of the workers inside directed us to the entrance door. We’d been blithely waiting outside the exit. Did somebody say “where’s the coffee?”

By 7:30 we were at Ferry Place, raring to go, and true to the first day at the worksite, we did the age old hurry up and wait.

We will be working predominantly on houses number 6 and 7 this week.

The street is actually beginning to look like a neighborhood. The first two houses are essentially finished and waiting for final sign offs. They are hopeful that those two families will be moved in within a month.

The work site chief honcho – Seth, who is clean-shaven this trip – gave us our Habitat orientation and before long we were in full swing.

One van load of our group went off to work at another Habitat worksite. There aren’t many volunteers in the city right now and so RHINO agreed to lend some volunteers when they have groups large enough to make it feasible.

Here’s the day from our Tuesday Team Bloggers – David Merrell and Channing Tookes.

So far the Lord has been very good to the Louisiana 6 Team!

We started out on a beautiful sunny Monday, leaving Stamford via a very large tour bus,
complete with seats, tables and lounge area in the rear of our rolling cruise ship.
The only excitement for me being an exploding soda, that soaked me as we left the parking lot, (but John Spearman kept me suitably distracted by his continuous monologue to worry about it).

JFK went smoothly, despite an earlier bomb threat, and President Bush usurping one of the runways for the afternoon. We waited on the runway in a very long line of jets, but JetBlue was a very pleasant ride, and we landed safely at The New Orleans airport at about 6:00 on a beautiful cloudless afternoon.

Having little time, all 28 of us descended upon an empty Burger King for dinner.
Which caused much amusement to the staff. They spotted us for a church group right
Away, (I wonder how they could tell?). (this time it was Channing’s turn for exploding drinks!).

Did I say we are staying at a Hotel (complete with cafes, workout room, outdoor pool, great rooms etc.) connected to a hospital, (great, in case anyone gets hurt), this trip!
It almost makes us feel guilty for earlier teams, (but not quite).

Tuesday, day one, is another glorious sunny day, with intermittent cool breezes!

Our work site is a cute street with 5 almost complete houses, sponsored by
Habitat for Humanity and RHINO. And we all put in a hard days work. Painting interiors, trimming windows, and started to hang siding on one of the houses. We have so manyhelping hands on this trip, that a group of us was sent to another site, to help on another project, (but more on that from my friend Channing.)

Peace – David Merrell

Hey y’all (that’s the southern way of expressing the collective you)! It’s Channing here. Today, Eric, who works for Habitat for Humanity, abducted seven of us. We traveled by minivan to a street in the Central City neighborhood that had two more Habitat houses under construction. We split up into two teams by who was comfortable with heights. I was part of the team of three in charge of cutting and installing the fascia. I, having never built a house, had no clue what that was at first but learned that it is an aluminum material that goes on the house to keep out the rain. The other group went over to the other house to caulk the trimming and to do some painting.

We actually got to work alongside some members of a youth group from the area who will be devoting some of their time to helping Habitat build these houses. I was excited to see some more people my age that wanted to help out those in need. It was also motivating to see that the man who lived next door to one of the houses had devoted his own time to help the building as well. He also provided the tunes, with his radio in the windowsill bumping some great oldies.

The day was hot and humid, and by the end of it my feet were aching and I was covered in sweat, dirt and sawdust (I wasn’t even cutting any wood!) Putting up fascia is one of those things you don’t understand until you have to do it. However, I found I never got frustrated. As I struggled nailing aluminum nails into a pristinely painted white aluminum surface, I couldn’t stop imagining the future. I thought about the homeowner looking at her or his new home and feeling thankful for all the volunteers that gave their time to build it. It felt pretty good (pats self on the back).

A group from a nearby church came by with a van at lunchtime and brought us a great lunch. Eric had to call us a few times before we came as we were pretty focused on trying to make the fascia look nice. Mobile Fishes and Loaves, the group that brought our lunch, provided us with a needed break and a filling lunch.

All in all, it was a great day for construction. I’m excited to get back to work tomorrow to perhaps finish installing the fascia or to start another grueling job. We’re doing hard work out here, but the rewards are obvious. It feels great to know that we’re helping out our fellow humans.

In the words of my friend David Merrell, peace.

Dinner tonight was Red Beans and Rice compliments of our chef extraordinaire, Jim Holden at the church. After dinner, a member of the church, Scott Crabtree came to share his Katrina story with the group. (If you saw Will Hart’s documentary you will remember Scott).

Our official group activities for the day ended with us making our lunches for tomorrow and then back to the hotel.

5:30 will be here quickly.

Please keep us in your prayers!

Tuesday AM

2008-09-23T04:46:00.000-07:00

We have arrived. Our travel day actually went quite smoothly.

After landing and dropping off our luggage at the hotel, we went to the church for our orientation. Kate Snider and Carro Gardner - the RHINO coordinators - gave us an overview of the ministry and the schedule for the week.

It's 7 a.m. and we're just about to leave for the worksite. We'll be back to you this evening.