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Mission
Trip
New Orleans, July 2007
From the time my nephew traveled to New
Orleans twice during his freshman year at Colgate (2005), I knew that at
some point I wanted to go and be part of the cleanup effort. When NOLA (New
Orleans, LA) was chosen as the destination for the 2007 Youth Mission trip,
I decided that I wanted to be part of that trip. I was thrilled that it was
opened up to the entire congregation and so elated that 50+ people were signed
up to go. I knew that with a recent rotator cuff surgery, I would be limited
in what I could do, but pleased that my doctor approved and gave me specific
instructions as to what was allowed and not allowed.
The trip by van was enjoyable, getting to know our van full of girls,
who got along so well, and who amused us with their songs, antics, and even
with their “primping” prior to arriving. I had never been on a 25-mile
bridge before, so that entrance to the city brought the grim reality of
the choices people had when faced with the coming of the hurricane – stay
in their homes or leave by basically two routes out, both bridges. I know
I would NOT have wanted to be in bumper to bumper traffic on that metal
and concrete expanse with wind and rain whipping.
The LDR camp where we were assigned to stay was well planned, and Katie
(the woman who ran it) was pleasant, but firm, in keeping the rules. We
received orientation to what we might expect to find in a site we would enter,
we learned a little history about how they combed the city for survivors,
marking each house with information as to who searched and when, and what
was found. We were apprised of the dangers we might face as we “mucked” or
“gutted” houses – the mold and dust and bacteria – and how we would have to
“suit up” to keep ourselves safe from contaminants.
Having just learned how to lay ceramic tile, I was put with Carol Genalo
& Sherry Hunt, along with Bob & Diane DuMond the first day, and
we were sent to a house where the family had not left, but as the waters
rose higher, decided to wade through it (chest high) and find their way
to shelter until it was safe to return to their home. Joe & Paulette’s
home was built on “stilts,” so water never really entered the living areas.
Some of their neighbors weren’t as fortunate, since their homes were on ground
level.
I felt somewhat frustrated with the family whose house we were working
at, since they didn’t seem quite ready for us to gut their room the first
day, and certainly hadn’t communicated with Darryl (the foreman over all
the sites) as to what phase of work they were wanting done. Three women
who were ready to lay tiles were sent there & he had a different task
in mind.
The second day, Carol & Sherry went to a different site to tile,
and the DuMonds & I pulled down plaster & lath walls in one room
of Joe & Paulette’s home. We made quite a mess since plaster doesn’t
come off in nice sheets like sheetrock, so Diane and I spent time bagging
the pieces of wood and plaster and sweeping and bagging the piles of dust
that accumulated. Whenever we filled 10-12 bags of debris, I searched house
and yard for the father or son and asked them to carry it out, and to provide
us with more bags. The DuMonds and I were curious why, if a family
was there, they wouldn’t participate in the demolition, clean-up, and rebuilding
process along with the crew there to assist. We also weren’t quite sure
what the criteria was for choosing who received assistance and who didn’t,
since on that second day, the father of a young baby who lived across the
street questioning how he could get help like the family we were serving.
The door to his home was at street level, so there had to have been at least
4 or 5 feet of standing water in there. Was it because he didn’t understand
English very well and didn’t know who to ask or that there was even help
available? We gave him one of the water bottles we had that showed the
phone number for the LC-MS disaster relief effort, and he was grateful.
The third and fourth days, I joined Carol and Sherry at the house they
were tiling. I laid tile into the living room, connecting with the pattern
from where they were working on the back bedrooms. Then, when Darryl brought
the grout, I installed that into the first bedroom that they had done
– it had been about 24 hours since completion. Bill Myers and Kyle Miller
worked on shimming a doorway in the master bedroom going into the bathroom,
Bill hung a door on the main bathroom, and they readied that last bedroom
for sheetrock and finishing. Our teen helpers (different each day) not only
learned to lay tile, but helped with cleaning excess adhesive from tiles
that had been laid or wiping excess grout from the surface of tiles. They
also worked to scrape the old tile adhesive from the kitchen, dining room
and entry floors in preparation for laying new tiles. That was a very tedious
task, so we rotated.
Katie, our host and organizer, read a devotion every morning at breakfast
and every evening at dinner. These were such an inspiration because they
seemed to be written directly to me and how I was feeling about the work
to be done there. The frustrating part of being in NOLA was that we couldn’t
finish the tasks we started. I think most groups would have loved to stay
an extra day or two, or even another week. One of the devotions that Katie
read addressed that very topic and how most people have felt that way at
the end of their work time. When we traveled through St. Bernard’s Parish
and the Ninth Ward, and even as we drove down the streets where we were
working, seeing house after house that needed gutting and reconstruction,
it felt like we were just skimming the surface of what was needed. When
Katie said that they expected to be there another 8-10 years, it just made
me want to sign on as a permanent worker there. My stories can in no way
rival those of others who connected with the owners of the homes where they
worked, but it was interesting to listen to Joe and his wife talk about
the rising waters, the choices they needed to make whether to stay in their
home or find safety and security somewhere else, and how they saw God’s
guidance each day following the storm.
God’s guidance protected our ten vans as we traveled there and back,
God’s goodness was evident in the cooperation of 51 people to accomplish
as much as we did in four days, and God’s strength and determination can
be seen in each family that fought through the storm, or left and are returning
with the energy and drive to rebuild.
- Deanna Pavlacka
If you were part of the Mission Trip and have a
story you'd like to share,
please e-mail Bonny McCabe.
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