Received 02/17/07:
Friday for the team was a very busy day.
The team working in the home that needed to
be gutted, continued working, tearing out
the rest of the drywall and flooring then
removed wiring, furnace, exposed nails and
everything down to bare studs. City
employees came to the jobsite to remove the
huge piles of debris from the day before, we
were amazed how quickly they responded. By
the end of the day another huge pile of duct
work and other debris had accumulated on the
tree lawn.
All of the Valley team was invited to the
drywall home for lunch provided by the home
owner. She served crawfish, fish, shrimp
and meat PO-boys and King Cake. What a
feast. Brandon, the home owner's son
blessed us by singing again, what an amazing
voice. Some of the group toured the Lower
Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish which we
have all heard about in the news. It is
unbelievable, the devastation is so massive,
in some areas there are acres and acres of
just foundations and scrubby weeds where the
levy broke and totally destroyed the homes.
Businesses, hospitals and homes are empty
for miles.
Most of the Valley team went to dinner in
the French Quarter and experienced Bourbon
Street and parades as part of Mardi Gras
celebration. Quite a contrast to our week
of cleaning out and rebuilding.
Saturday the drywall team went back for an
extra day to complete the great job they
have done in the home. Some caught their
flights home and were back to Cleveland and
lots of snow. Thank you for your continued
support, we felt your presence.
Received 02/16/07:
Thursday we broke up into three teams, one
to complete the painting, one to continue
the dry
walling in another house and
one to gut another home. For the gutting
team it was a very moving, very emotional
thing to work on a home, shoveling out
everything. We found photo albums,
trophies, plaques, a bag of
dog food,
a girl's huge
CD collection, a well
loved doll - it gave us a sense of who was
in the family. Everything from their past
was as they left it when evacuating and we
had to shovel it out and put it by the tree
lawn. The drywall team is planning to
stay an additional day to continue their
work and will be home later than originally
planned. We need to dash, the cars are
waiting to go to the
worksites.
Have a great weekend, see you when we
return.
Received 02/15/07:
Thank you all for your support, prayers and
encouragement in our work in New
Orleans.
As we mentioned Tuesday we did not go back
to the work
sites due to the tornados but spent
the time in the
PDA village fixing sidewalks, and
generally cleaning up, drying out and
organizing the village.
The men of the group spent the day making a
great new boardwalk to replace the rotting
plywood sidewalk. This allowed much needed
water drainage away from the tents. Great
job.
Wednesday we returned to our two houses to
continue the work. One group is painting
the interior of a home and is just about
done, the other group is putting up drywall
in another home. Rich
Cozzone
stopped by the painting house and drove most
of the painting group to the drywall house
to see what they were doing and to see their
neighborhood.
The home owner's son (drywall house) is a
gospel singer and sang a very moving song
for all of us, what a treasured memory that
will be.
Instead of staying at the village for dinner
Wednesday evening we went to a very
popular seafood restaurant. We learned the
techniques of eating
crawfish
(ask Jim for details) and tried every
variety of local seafood.
Today (Thursday) we are going to begin work
on a home to remove everything down to the
studs in order for the homeowner to
rebuild. We will let you know what we
experience there. It is cold here but
we are very aware of the cold and snow you
are encountering and wish safety and warmth
for you.
Received 02/13/07:
We
all arrived safely Sunday afternoon and had
dinner in our dining tent at 6:30 pm; it was
prepared by the Village Manager, Marcia. The
weather was cool; downright cold later in the
evening. We had orientation led by Rich Cozzone,
worksite coordinator, Marcia and Susan, worksite
coordinator assistant. After a good dinner and
devotions, we returned to our pods (tents) and
crashed -- really tired after a day's travel!
Monday morning we arose for breakfast at 7:15;
Jewel Paynther, Karen Edenfield, and Jane
Hall-Nemeth prepared grits, scrambled eggs,
sausage, king cake (a Mardi Gras tradition),
fruit, cereal, etc. We made our lunches for our
workday, packed them in coolers and went to our
respective worksites.
One group primed and started painting the
interior of a three-bedroom house with a Florida
room. They had nine feet of water in their
house. This family lives in a FEMA trailer on
their property; these trailers are very tiny
camping trailers with only basic necessities.
This couple has moved seven times since Katrina
hit and has been in their FEMA trailer since
last March.
The
other group sanded and mudded drywall of another
house that included three bedrooms, two baths,
kitchen, and great room. This family had only
two feet of water in their house but were not
permitted to return to their house for three
months. In this time, mold covered the walls
and ceilings. They also live in a FEMA trailer
on the property.
We
all returned to the church, tired and feeling
like we'd done a good day's work.
Soon
after our return, the church minister called to
say a tornado warning is in effect for our area
and suggested that we all leave our pods and
spend the night in the church fellowship hall.
After showers (which must be taken by all before
entering the dining tent), Maryla, Jeanne
DeLaney, and Mary Ann Depew prepared a dinner of
chicken, green beans with bacon and onions, and
mashed potatoes, a tossed salad and a fruit
salad, with ice cream bars for dessert.
Everyone (except Bob Seredick, a boy scout who
wanted to brave a tornado in a tent and says he
wouldn't do it again), packed up their
belongings and moved into fellowship hall. The
Nemeths decided to stay in their RV but said, if
they heard the tornado siren, they would join
the fellowship hall slumber party. Actually, it
was Bill Nemeth's birthday, so it was fitting
that we all had a slumber party in honor of his
birthday! The Nemeths heard sirens and moved
into the church at 3:0 0 am, with their dog,
Sugar.
It
rained hard all night; the drainage ditches
overflowed; a tornado hit Westwego 15 miles east
of us (where the Nemeths had camped Friday and
Saturday nights!), accidents blocked the roads
we took to our worksites so we are staying at
the church until further notice. We women have
time to write you this update while several of
the men are replacing a walkway in the camp that
had rotted out.
In
the neighborhoods where we were working
yesterday, some of the houses were flattened by
last night's tornado, but our two families'
homes are still in tact. We just can't get to
them this morning to work.
Thanks y'all for your prayers and support. We
really appreciate it and, as you can see, we
also need it!
The
cards sent by the Deacons and Youth Group were a
delightful surprise; we had not expected this,
but Maryla has been faithful in seeing we
receive them daily. The cookies sent by some of
you are delicious; we look forward to eating
them all.
In
God's service, we are the Katrina Mission Team.
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Bob Seredick shoveling out the home we gutted.
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