Habitat for Humanity Trip, January 21-26, 2007: Slidell, Louisiana, Katrina ReliefWhen Hurricane Katrina touched ground in the Southeastern United States over a year and a half ago, we pledged to ourselves that somehow, in the near future, we would commit our time and energy to relief efforts in the devastated regions. Through our church, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, we hooked up with a Habitat for Humanity affiliate that was coordinating teams to send out to Louisiana in ongoing efforts to build homes and stabilize communities in the hard hit areas.
We were excited by the idea of giving ourselves, of putting our bodies to actual physical labor that would directly benefit a family and neighborhood. A note of apprehension developed, however, as I filled out the Skill and Labor assessment sheet. We were supposed to rank our skill level for a full page list of skills necessary for building a home, with 1 being "no skill," and 4 being "expert." Electrical wiring? Definite 1. Plumbing? Another 1. Drywall installation, roofing, operation of heavy machinery or concrete pouring? All 1s. After submitting a full page of 1s, with the exception of a 2 next to "Painting," I began to wonder how much use I would be and exactly what type of work I could actually be a part of. But still, we went, trusting that somehow, someway, God would be able to use our hands and hearts in a way that would be essential in doing His work. We took off 5 days from work and arrived in New Orleans on January 21.
Here is Jack at the morning circle, where we socialized with the other volunteers around a large pot of Starbucks coffee and awaited our words of inspiration and assignments for the day.
After we received our assignments, we drove with our team out to our work site. Here we are, arriving at Lacombe, a small neighborhood that is being built up by Habitat.
The area is at sea level, so it easily becomes a muddy swamp with a little rain, as you can see. This is to be the site of an actual home.
Since it rained so much the first day, we were put to work painting! Yay! The one thing that I know how to do!
When the weather let up a little bit on the second day, we ventured out to try our hands at other projects, and learned how to install fiberglass insulation. This was pretty hard work- at the end of the day, you feel like you have little pieces of glass stuck in your skin and the insulation stuff smells really terrible.
On the morning of our third day, we participated in a wall-raising celebration, where the family of one of the houses that we had been working on joined us as we wote blessings and well-wishes on the frame of the house. This house in particular is being finished for a family of 9!
Afterwards, we went to work on the framing of another house across the street. This is Gary, a volunteer that we met who is part of the Care-a-Vanners, an amazing group of retired people who travel the country in their kick-ass RVs, spending several weeks at different Habitat for Humanity worksites and volunteering their time. Gary was new to the group, but seemed like he had been in construction all his life. I followed him around like a lost puppy dog all morning, as he taught me the differences between upright studs and cripple studs, how to position my body to get the most out of a swing with the hammer into a piece of solid pine, and, my favorite thing of all, how to use the circular saw! At the end of the morning, I asked him how long he'd been in construction, and he replied, "Well, only just a week! Before this, I was a dentist for 33 years!" He was so incredibly patient with me as he watched me take 42 hits with my hammer at a single nail (I know he was counting) when he could have easily finished the job in 4 swings. 
Here is Jack in a box. Actually, more accurately, here is Jack framed by a frame he framed.
We managed to take part of the afternoon off on the third day to take a tour of New Orleans and the devastated areas. What an eye opener! In many of the towns, it seems as if the Hurricane struck yesterday- so much recovery is yet to be done. We drove by rows and rows of houses that looked as if they had been snapped in half... some of them had their porches float a few feet away from the actual house itself. Many of the homes had been mucked out, meaning that they had been completely gutted of anything that had been in contact with the water and oil which had flooded into them after the storm. The damaged neighborhoods were sad, oddly empty of the lives that had once filled them. Over 2/3 of the area population still has not returned after being displaced by the hurricane.
Afterwards, we headed towards the French Quarter, to soak in the essence of New Orleans. Here is my first view of the Mississippi River... ever!
And of course, we had to make a stop by Cafe du Monde for a sampling of their pillowy beignets and chicory coffee. Yum!
By the next day, we were back to work, and since it was such a beautiful day, we got started on building a form, which is the wooden mold for the concrete that will eventually be poured for the foundation of the house. We arrived in the morning to find a beautiful plot of empty land, and got straight to work. Jack was the sledgehammer man and worked muscles that day that he hadn't felt in years. 
My job was to make sure that all of the pieces were level to the ground and to the measurements. It's actually a really stressful job because everything has to be just right.
But by the end of the day, we were about 2/3 of the way done!
Our last day on the site was a monumental one for me because I was the chop saw girl! What a fun tool to use! And I even got to wear these uber fashionable safety glasses.
And here's our faithful crew of incredibly hard workers... Jack and Cindy from our team taking a much neaded gatorade and coffee break with Kel and Mel, two genuine and fun loving guys from the Care-A-Vanners group.
And then it was over. We hung up our hammers and folded up our work aprons. We bid farewell to the Care-A-Vanners and the rest of our team and boarded a plane for home.So in the end, what did I take back from my experiences in Slidell?
- God can use anybody to do His work. ANYBODY. Even me, as a construction worker. That almost sounds like an oxymoron.
- He has a plan. I know that many people, myself included, wonder about the purpose of a natural disaster, especially after seeing the vastness of the devastation and witnessing the destruction of so many lives. But after spending a week with an amazing group of volunteers who came together from all over the country to give their time, their love and their muscles to rebuilding a torn community, I'm encouraged that something good can come out of anything that seems bad.
- One of the things that struck me everyday as we encountered the residents of Louisiana, was how thankful they were to have us there. Multiple times we were approached by the people of the community, some of them actual homeowners, some of them random people passing by, who expressed their gratitude to us for being there. Perhaps some of them felt compelled to say something as we walked into a Starbucks splattered with paint and saw dust! One man who is moving into a house built by Habitat next week encouraged us to go back to our own homes and to tell the story to our own communities because it has been a year and half since the hurricane and he felt like the country is beginning to forget about the people. But we can't forget. Rebuilding will take at least another 10-20 years.
- Jack and I have decided that when we're retired, we're going to travel the country in an RV and build homes for people who need them. How cool is that??
