Saturday

We're home! It was a tremendous week! God certainly is GOOD!

From the Louisiana 5 Mission Work Week Team. . . .


Thank you, thank you, thank you
for all your support and prayers!

Until Louisiana 6 - September 20-27 - blessings to you all.

Please keep the people of New Orleans in your prayers as they continue the long, hard work of rebuilding their lives, their city and their hope.

Friday

God gave us an enormous gift today. Despite the weather prognosticator’s claim that it was going to rain all day, we awoke to dry skies. It would have been a huge psychic disappointment if we weren’t able to get back to Ferry Place today. We would have dealt with it, but we wouldn’t have been happy campers.



I think we all had an inkling that it might not last and so as soon as we got to the work site people were out of the vans and gathering their necessary tools before you could bat an eye.

And the work began. . .








Jim Forde and Phil Miolene did an entire staircase all by themselves. (And were sounding a bit cocky about it too.)



Please notice that Jim graduated all the way to power tools this week. “Caulk? I’ll never go back to caulk!”



Seth gave David an assignment that required cutting a small strip out a piece of hardy board siding on top of a door about 11 feet off the ground. (If someone needs to lose a finger make sure it the guy being paid to be here!)




But as you see, Seth saves the really crazy tasks for himself.




Just as we broke for lunch the heavens opened up and so we all tramped up to the top floor of the house the August group worked on.









And now a word from Matt Van Houten, Emily Anderson, and Sam Simpson . . . . .

As the day began, we stumbled out of bed just in time to catch the “morning watch.” The rain from the previous night made us unsure about today’s jobs. Ferry Place was a possibility, but we waited with uncertainty for Sarah’s decision. Grins grew on our faces as we heard that we were to report to Ferry Place as soon as possible to begin working, despite the ominous clouds overhead. Matt quickly grabbed the PB+J and dashed to make a double-decker sandwich before the crowd mulled out. Sam was dozing in the meeting room, as usual. Emily woke Sam up as we were leaving and we all hopped into David’s van and made our way to the worksite.

The cats scattered as our van arrived and we all piled out. Hank and Seth were already there, preparing for the day. We all assembled our tools and quickly set out for our jobs. Some people were putting up siding while others were moving lumber onto pallets. A few were even constructing stairs. It looked like it would become a warm day as the sun came out. We were wrong. At around 10:30 it started drizzling, but we kept working hard, even more determined to accomplish all that we were working on. Sam was twenty feet off the ground applying caulk to the various cracks in the siding of the house. The wet metal made him nervous, as he raced against the looming rain clouds. All of a sudden, the skies opened drenching everyone. Amazingly, we all completed our tasks despite the rain.

As we began to eat our lunches in the purple house, the downpour really began. Water rushed through the street, flooding over the sidewalk and washing small debris away in the currents. Regretfully, we made the unanimous decision to call it a day. We scrambled to clear the materials, each of us getting soaked to the bone. We screamed our goodbyes to Seth, Hank, and Stevie over the ensuing storm. We splashed into the cars waving goodbye to Ferry Place looking forward to our oncoming showers.

* * * * *

We had a good time, good food and good beignets in the Quarter tonight.

Thursday

Well, we experienced another NOLA first – unfortunately. It poured this morning. Along with a tornado watch. Needless to say, we didn’t work at Ferry Place today. Sarah Edgecombe came through though and our day was not lost. Instead of sawing and hammering, we sorted and boxed food at Second Harvest.



In fact, we sorted and boxed 6 ½ tons of non-perishable food.

Here’s the drill. Deborah would deliver a palate of boxes of food that has been donated by large grocery stores, WalMart, etc. It could be damaged cans or boxes, unsold seasonal items, six packs of drinks that are missing one bottle. Our task was to empty the boxes. Inspect the food to see if there was any contamination, or if cans showed signs of rest, or if bags had tears. Any questionable products were tossed and all usable products were re-boxed. It was periodically very tempting because at least one of those six tons was candy, but the team resisted.





















At the end of the day we all got on the giant scale for a team weigh in. Guess how much! (Answer below).



Don Frampton, the pastor of SCAPC,



stopped by the front porch this afternoon and spent a few minutes talking with the adults. (The kids were off to the park). He reinforced how important mission trips like our are for the people of his congregation and the city.




And now a word from Will Hart:



As Friday’s visit to Bourbon Street approaches so do our last days in New Orleans draw closer and closer. It almost feels sad that we are leaving this soon. Some of you may or may not know that I have been filming this whole trip for a documentary on New Orleans itself and the progress, or almost lack of, since Katrina.


The documentary shows both sides to the story how much work has to be done and how much work has been done. At our work site on Ferry Place literally 20 feet from one of the houses is homes that haven’t have been touched since Katrina. Some have been broken into and been used as a ‘safe’ place to use drugs. The neighborhood surrounding Ferry Place is has several abandoned cats and one or two dogs. Blackie and Amber are the known cats that visit the work site daily. The lower ninth ward also depicted in my film is empty. Two houses were under construction amongst the concrete slabs left over from houses that were destroyed. One house which was completely taken off of its foundation still lies in rubble after 3 and half years of sitting. Though it seems bleak, Habitat for Humanity’s Musician’s Village has been very busy making about twenty colorful “shotgun” style houses. I recently interviewed one of our tour guides for my film and hopefully it will be in the Westport Youth Film Festival on May 10th.


Today there was a 100% chance of rain. Legitimately the weather said 100% chance of rain. And it did rain. There was so much rain there was one road we couldn’t use. The rain also canceled our day at Ferry Place working on the houses. Instead of a break from work we did one of the most tedious jobs probably in existence. We went to Second Harvest a food bank and sorted food. Our primary task was to open a box of food around 22 pounds and empty its contents out onto a table. We looked at the contents to see if they were suitable for the hungry. Amongst dented cans and slightly crushed cereal boxes we had to determine what was reusable and what wasn’t. Then we threw away the unusable and put the usable food back in the box. Very repetitive actions and we did this for about 725 boxes totaling in over 6 tons of food throwing out about 1200 pounds. For the 4 hours we were sorting food we longed for the work site that we should have been at. It was some what rewarding once we received 2 ice pops and an “END HUNGER” bracelet. Sweet.


* * * * *

Tonight was our night to be hosted by a church family for dinner. We made our way to the home of Scott and Tammy Crabtree and their 16 year old son, Harrison. Harrison was a good send as far as our kids were concerned because he brought his newly acquired Nintendo wii video game.









Scott’s Katrina story is quite remarkable. He was one of the few people who never left the city. He is the manager of a high rise continuing care facility located on the Mississippi near Audubon Park. He and six others stayed in order to protect the building as well as all the possession of the residents. Tammy and their son did evacuate and stayed with family. For the first six weeks after the storm they had virtually no ability to communicate.

Scott’s and Tammy’s first floor was flooded and had to be completed gutted. Scott managed to get the gutting done and new electrical installed so that they were able to move back in by December, though they could only occupy the second floor.

Scott opened our eyes to the extent of the ongoing struggle. Sixty percent of the present population of the city exhibit symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Suicide is prevalent; affecting most everyone. He and Tammy have had three friends take their lives. There are only 55 psychiatric hospital beds in the entire city.



It was a sobering reality check. It was also a profound reaffirmation that we are doing something very significant with these trips. How often do any of us actually have such an opportunity?

We are all hoping against hope – or at least against the weather forecast – that we will be able to end our week at Ferry Place, but we’re committed to doing our best wherever we find ourselves tomorrow.

Keep praying!

BTW - We weighed 2475 lbs.

Wednesday

Hump day came and went! And not only did we survive, we excelled!

We jumped back into the same jobs that we had been doing on Tuesday in the morning. Caulking, caulking, caulking and then some caulking! Siding, too.

















Our Habitat mentors Seth and Hank were officially welcomed into the L5 Fish Team with the presentation of the official team attire - Bonefish Buffs.





Sam Simpson enjoys a post lunch siesta.





After lunch, David switched up the teams. He couldn't bear to make Jim Forde do anymore caulking. And it was back to work.











We had a visit this afternoon from Billy who worked with the August group. He is now the chief construction guru for Habitat of New Orleans which is a VERY good thing. It was fun for Emily and David to get to see him. He sent greetings to the rest of Team Louisiana 4.

Look how the neighborhood is growing.





The skies darkened around 1:30, but the rain held off until around 2:20 just ahead of quitting time. The advantage of the falling drops is that the clean-up time was much quicker than usual.

"Rain doesn't scare me."



And now a word from Danny Beutler and Dudley Williams III. . .



Danny:

This morning started off just as yesterday. David yells, “wake up!” at six and we all stumble out of bed and hang around a single sink brushing our teeth. Next is the morning watch which lasts about ten minutes before everyone is in the dining room eating breakfast and preparing their lunch. We leave the house at 7:15 promptly fearing
Captain Carl’s wrath.

Once we get to the site we meet up with Seth a.k.a. Paul Bunyan and Hank. The work that needed to be done is mostly caulking and adding the siding to the house. In the beginning of the day Dudley III, Alex, Sam Schembari, and Willy finished dead wooding the houses. I myself was on the scaffold with Elida, Matt, and Emily finishing the siding and caulking the gaps, as well as the rest of the group in other areas of the houses. Once this was finished I could not find anymore work so I assisted Sam and Alex is creating a bench for lunch. It turned out to be a great success. After lunch I grabbed a ladder and went back to caulking windows. Caulking windows is one of the most tedious and boring jobs I have ever done. Around 2 it began to rain, so we finished up our work and cleaned up for the day. The only disappointment of the day was not seeing our feline friends as often. Amber only appeared twice and Blackie was not seen at all.

Back at the house two women turned their half an hour shower time into at least an hour and a half; how us men stood for this I don’t know. Jim will again be cooking us dinner tonight but it will be half an hour earlier and eaten with the entire church congregation.



Dudley III:

This was a really fun day for all of us, we really got used to working on the site yesterday so it was easier to get right to work. Myself, Alex and Sam finished up the dead wooding and later I got to use the magnet to pick up spare nails.



In the middle of the day we all got milkshakes from burger king which were really good, and gave us the extra strength to get through the rest of the day. I really hope you guys have been keeping your prayers with us this week and as we continue to do so for you back home.

* * * * *


Tonight we were part of the Wednesday night church dinner. They have a dinner in their fellowship hall every Wednesday night September through June. It was fun to meet some more congregation members.

After dinner each night we gather in the parlor to reflect on the day, talk about that day's Morning Watch and pray together.







It's hard to believe that we only have two days of work left. The weather forecast doesn't look too good for tomorrow, so we may well be moving to Plan B. (David really hopes that they have a Plan B, because he certainly doesn't!)

Keep praying!

Tuesday

It was good to get to Ferry Place this morning. Where there was only one floor of one house and floor joists of a second in August, there are now five framed and enclosed houses in various states of progress.

We received our Habitat orientation



from Hank –



an Americorps volunteer from NJ - Exit 8 on the Turnpike - Hightstown - and then were divided into work teams and got about business.

Phil and Dudley the Dad cut siding all day long.



Matt and Alex put the siding on the second story.



Will installing "dead wood" which is used to support drywall ceilings.



Captain Carl overlooking his troops.



Sam proves that there is more than one way to wear a tool belt.



I'm pretty sure there is a very similar photo of Will's father last August. What's that about apples and trees?



Just for you Ed!



Is that a smile or a grimace?



Jim's experience caulking yesterday comes in "handy."



David and "Rhino" Sarah no doubt talked ministry while nailing siding.



Sarah Orlando looking over Carl's troops.





Now this is a cool photo.



And now a word from Alex & Sam:





Today was our first day working with Habitat, so we got up around 6:30 to get ready. Once we had gotten “debriefed” we split up to go to the site. We met up with Hank and Seth at around 7:15, our two group leaders, at a street Habitat for Humanity works on called “Ferry Place.” We immediately split up into groups of 3 or 4 with most of us working on siding and “dead wooding,” a term used to describe the process of putting up wood where it was needed. Myself (Alex), Elida, and Matt went for the Pump Jack, which is basically a painter’s scaffold. We continued to put up siding and roof trimming 20 feet above ground for the rest of the day, with Sam Schembari and Danny subbing in towards the end. The rest of the siders’ were working on ladders on another house next door. The rest of the group was working on caulking an almost finished house on the other side of the middle house. Of course this all wouldn’t have been possible without Phil, Dudley Jr., and Dudley III cutting the right lengths of siding non-stop for the whole time.

Around half way through, David arrived with what Hank described as “The Best Po Boy’s in New Orleans.” A Po Boy is basically a sub, which were simply delicious. With choices of Chicken, Roast Beef, Shrimp, Catfish, and Duck, you really couldn’t go wrong.



Everyone loved them, and ironically, a stray cat Danny named “Blacky” snuck up and stole half of Hanks Po Boy when he wasn’t looking. With full bellies we got right back to work.

Soon it was 2:30 and time to clean up and leave. We put all of our tools and tool belts back in 2 big storage containers, and left the site feeling just a little bit less cool without our big belts. We drove back and are now relaxing at the house. Pretty soon Matt accompanied by Sam and Sam and myself will head over to Tulane for an audition Matt has. We plan on sleeping outside tonight because of the wonderful weather and waking up bright and early to do it all again.

- Alex Kamenetzky and Sam Schembari


(The sleeping outside plan ran into reality – as anyone who has been on a Mission Work Week with David might have suspected. “Bah, Humbug.”)

Especially for the August Team, here's what our house looks like now.









One of the most ingenious maneuvers of the day was Jim Forde making sure that Phil Miolene didn’t leave his work station.



It was a good day. Keep praying friends. Tomorrow is that proverbially “hump day.” Keep us strong!

Monday

Today began with Morning Watch at 7:30. (Most of the group remembered). Morning Watch is a personal devotional time. Everyone goes off and finds some personal space. There is a short reading – most of this week’s come from Robert Fulghum – and then there is a paragraph or two that attempts to relate the reading to the week, and finally a prayer.







After breakfast we made our way to the Trinity Community Center and from there to Miss Viola’s house on Apple Street. Our assignment: scrape, sand, caulk the house in preparation for priming and painting. The pace was constant throughout the morning.













Sam Simpson and Matt Van Houten were directly across the street finishing up some painting on a VERY blue house.





Alex Kamenetsky conquered some momentary wondering about whether he wanted to go up the extension ladder. Yeah, Alex!



And Will began his filming.



Later in the morning we took a break and Miss Viola shared some of her story with us. She had to be lifted off her roof by a helicopter and was out of contact with her children for two weeks.



She is a wonderfully joy-filled woman who exudes her faith in God with complete ease.



After lunch a member of the church joined each of our vehicles to give us a tour of the city. It allowed the group to see some of the areas that were hardest hit. It was heartening to see where progress has been made and mind-boggling how many areas are still essentially deserted and looking like it was three years ago. The most exciting thing for David was to see some BRAND NEW HOMES in the Lower Ninth Ward.



And now a word from Jim Forde --

Hi All (or Y’all),
The first work day has filled me with a combination of excitement and humility.
The wonderful team work and joy of being with the Louisiana 5 team has kept me laughing and learning. It has been great getting to make new friends and learning more about old friends. It is also exciting gaining new and useful skills! I never knew that scraping, sanding and caulking could be so much fun. (Deb…I hope your not reading this!)



The humility comes from the feeling that what we are doing is so little in the face of so much. Standing at the foot of the levee breech in the lower ninth ward was nothing short of overwhelming. Listening to Miss Viola and her personal journey brought me to tears. I am very happy to know that I am contributing and am looking forward to doing everything I can to make a difference over the next few days. I know the experience is only beginning but I have already gained so much. This is sure to be an experience that will stay with me long after I return to FPC. Looking forward to seeing you all soon, but not before I leave me mark on New Orleans! Wish us luck!


Tomorrow we head back to Ferry Place where the August group built the first floor walls of the first home.

Keep praying!

Sunday

We arrived safe and sound. Got the rental cars and made our way to St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian.


And our home of the week - the Land Building - directly behind the church.




Sunday morning we went for a walk by Loyola and Tulane. And got a bit wet on our way back. (And David heard about it!) Thank goodness for the dryer.





We worshipped with the congregation which was a great connection. It was nice to have some greater interaction with the church. After worship we headed down into town. After a quick lunch at the Riverwalk Food Court, we went to the IMAX theater and saw “Hurricane on the Bayou.” Then it was a stroll along the Mississippi to the French Quarter.



David did a duet with a street saxophonist.



We were “entertained” by a trio of acrobats.



Danny “stuffed” a human statue.



And we ventured down Bourbon Street. The NBA All Star game is in town this weekend so the Quarter was quite busy.

We had our RHINO orientation with Sarah Edgecombe and then headed out for dinner.

Habitat is off on Sunday and Monday and so tomorrow we are going to be working with Trinity Community Center in the morning and then will go on a tour of the city with church members as tour guides.

Until tomorrow. . . if you haven’t started yet, begin praying please.