EP Schools Help - New Orleans Hurricane Relief: 06/15/06

Thursday, June 15, 2006

How 'bout some pictures?

One thing about New Orleans is it is a very colorful city. These shots I snapped in various locations where we've been volunteering. For those people who say, "just tear down that city," maybe these pictures are for you.

Thursday at the International School

Hi from Chris -

The intention for today was to work a little bit then have some time in the afternoon to spend seeing the sites of New Orleans. That's worked out pretty well. We did some more weeding and landscaping in the morning and now we're back at the church and set to go around 2:00. I'm probably staying back just because it's been go go go all week and I could use some down time to blog and catch up on pictures and videos and stuff.

We went back to the International School of Louisiana today.

I say "we went back" because this was the site where some of our crew worked on Tuesday - the site where Usher showed up. What remained was more weed wacking and lots of pulling of weeds in the asphalt of the playground area. We also did a little spray painting and put down some landscaping fabric overs areas they intend to cover with mulch.

The school never reopened after the hurricanes but the hope is that they can have it ready for the fall. We met with the former head of the school, Tom, the head custodian, Robert, and another school employee, Joe. All of them were very appreciative of the work we were doing. Tom is retired from the school yet he was there on his own time to see to it that the school will be functional in a couple of months. All three guys couldn't thank us enough for the work we were doing. They treated us to lunch - take out sandwiches from a cafe across the street - to show us their appreciation.

While we were working on the outside of the school, there was a group inside doing some mold removal. I went in and immediately found out that none of them spoke any English. So I tried a little bit to converse with some of the workers. About all I found out was that they were here from various places including Honduras, Nicaragua, and Mexico. After lots of stubbling around, their supervisor came and talked with me. They are from a group (I can't remember their name) that specializes in mold removal. They go from city to city gutting houses and removing mold. The gal, Ivy, said that they have been in New Orleans ever since the hurricanes. She said how hard-working the group is, how they are just trying to survive and provide for their families like any of us. An interesting example of foreign workers doing good in our country - doing work that most Americans wouldn't choose to do.

The International School will be a Spanish/French immersion school when it opens back up. Tom, the former director, was a very nice guy and extended the invitation for his school and our schools to maintain contacts and create partnerships once we're back home. He won't be working at the school any longer, but said that he and his wife intend to do a lot of volunteer work there. The school is a long way from being ready to open. Let's hope they can get it together by September.

Wednesday - Great Day for a Gut

Hi from Chris -

On Wednesday Carla and I joined a team for a gut job not too far from our neighborhood. We were just off Claiborne Street away from downtown.

It was a tough but very memorable day. The mold in this house wasn't as substantial as the mold in the home we worked in on Monday. Flood water had affected this neighborhood only to about four or five feet. The most difficult part of this day was that the homeowners were at the house and had to go through pile after pile of stuff. Besides large furniture items, the older couple hadn't really moved anything out of their home. We took out tons of clothes, food, dishes, personal items, photo albums, etc... The gal, Miss Rose, was a definite pack rat. I counted at least 10 jars of peanut butter in her kitchen cabinets.

Miss Rose and her husband Richard left the neighborhood two days prior to Katrina. They moved in with family but then Richard had conjestive heart failure. They moved again but then had to relocate when Rita arrived. They finally ended up with friends in a neighborhood in New Orleans that wasn't affected by the hurricanes. And up untill now they have been there. Richard ordered a FEMA trailer just after the hurricanes and it didn't arrive until a few weeks ago. They hooked it up at his sister-in-laws' place just down the street. After we finish gutting they'll try to scrape together money to rebuild their homes. Amazing and tragic to think that there are so many people like Rose and Richard who have been without a home for over 9 months, with no real end in sight.

The gutting was tough, as all guts are. The heat was again difficult but it seemed a tad cooler as the sun was behind clouds much of the day. Our team lead today was Akudo, a spunky girl from Boston who proved to be a great leader. We worked hard together as a group and finished up around 3:30.

Most of the rest of the Minnesota group was at a house-painting job near our neighborhood. They were trying to improve a home that serves as a residence for mentally and physically handicapped people. The city of New Orleans is threatening to tear down the home if the owners don't prove that they are making an effort to restore it. It's in pretty bad shape. Apparently after the hurricane many people set up shop in the house as a temporary residence. And of course they didn't take very good care of it. So many different challenges in so many different parts of this city. The needs are endless.