Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Mildred, and Red Beans and Rice
This is Mildred, with the "Mudders" drywalling team of Skeeter, Bill, Debbie, Jay, Rick, (Mildred) and Phyllis. This week we're finishing the drywalling work in Mildred's house, which was destroyed by high winds and flooding when Katrina hit. The house is at least a couple of miles from the ocean, but was hit by a 10-foot wall of water as the storm surge made its way inland from the coast. Mildred is 84 years old, and lives in a FEMA trailer.
_
Today Mildred made us lunch. It was a particularly nice change from our standard sack lunches, but Mildred's red beans and rice, green salad, and porkchops would have stood up against any fare. It was excellent. The other teams are now jealous. Johnny calls us "the Porkchop Team". I prefer "the Red Beans and Rice Team".
_
Mildred visited with us at lunch, and told us about her family, and her fishing. She's known around the area for always catching something whenever she goes fishing, and shared with us the secret bait recipe she uses. I'm not telling.
Tombs with Toilets
This is a FEMA trailer, which some of the locals call "tombs with toilets." They're about 300 or 400 square feet -- by comparison smaller than most studio apartments, slightly bigger than the master bedroom in some homes, or maybe half the size of the narthex at Hollywood UMC. We've seen some with only one window. If you had read about FEMA supplying trailers for Katrina victims to live in, and thought of a mobile home, you seriously overestimated. You've seen larger campers being pulled by vacationers behind pickup trucks on the interstate.
Many families have lived in one of these for 18 months, sometimes four to five to a trailer.
Our job, and the job of other volunteers like us, is to get people out of these trailers and into their homes as soon as possible.
Reflections from Mississippi...
Hi, Y'all...
Greetings from Mississippi where about 40 United Methodists from Los Angeles and San Diego Districts have left Los Angeles to spend a week helping with rebuilding homes -- and lives -- in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This has been an absolutely incredible experience -- different from anything that I have ever had before. The participants are here to serve, to be the "hands and heart of God" in terms of reaching out to people in need. And the recipients of our efforts -- wow! they are SO appreciative and so touched. Their stories are inspiring... and I would like to share a few in this blog. One of the homes being rebuilt belongs to an 83-year-old survivor of Hurricane Katrina. His home is nearly done, but there is a wall in the laundry room area which remains (and will remain) unpainted. Yet the wall is not empty -- there are some 50 hand prints decorating the wall, made by people who have worked on his home. Another home belongs to a woman who just became a great grandmother for the first time; unfortunately, the baby was born with a heart murmur and was transported to Tulane University Medical Center the second day of his life. Yet another story centers around a family that iincluded two elderly men, one of whom was a double amputee, who thought that the worst was over when the winds died down. When they opened the door, the flood waters rushed in, quckly filling the house nearly up to the ceiling. These two men held onto the rafters for 6 hours, hoping for rescue... but no one came. A family member, unable to get assistance, undertook this project herself. Parking more than 4 miles away, she had to use a chain saw to cut a path through thousands of downed trees in order to reach the home to rescue these men. What incredible stories we have heard... it constantly amazes me that these people continue to remain optimistic, to continue to have hope and faith for a better future. They, in turn, support us and offer us hope. Each evening, after dinner, we have a time of devotions and each of the 5 work teams shares a highlight of their day -- and they often involve contact with the homeowners. As one person shared last night, nearly as a Benediction, let us remember the Scripture: "...As you have done it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it to me."
More later...
Greetings from Mississippi where about 40 United Methodists from Los Angeles and San Diego Districts have left Los Angeles to spend a week helping with rebuilding homes -- and lives -- in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This has been an absolutely incredible experience -- different from anything that I have ever had before. The participants are here to serve, to be the "hands and heart of God" in terms of reaching out to people in need. And the recipients of our efforts -- wow! they are SO appreciative and so touched. Their stories are inspiring... and I would like to share a few in this blog. One of the homes being rebuilt belongs to an 83-year-old survivor of Hurricane Katrina. His home is nearly done, but there is a wall in the laundry room area which remains (and will remain) unpainted. Yet the wall is not empty -- there are some 50 hand prints decorating the wall, made by people who have worked on his home. Another home belongs to a woman who just became a great grandmother for the first time; unfortunately, the baby was born with a heart murmur and was transported to Tulane University Medical Center the second day of his life. Yet another story centers around a family that iincluded two elderly men, one of whom was a double amputee, who thought that the worst was over when the winds died down. When they opened the door, the flood waters rushed in, quckly filling the house nearly up to the ceiling. These two men held onto the rafters for 6 hours, hoping for rescue... but no one came. A family member, unable to get assistance, undertook this project herself. Parking more than 4 miles away, she had to use a chain saw to cut a path through thousands of downed trees in order to reach the home to rescue these men. What incredible stories we have heard... it constantly amazes me that these people continue to remain optimistic, to continue to have hope and faith for a better future. They, in turn, support us and offer us hope. Each evening, after dinner, we have a time of devotions and each of the 5 work teams shares a highlight of their day -- and they often involve contact with the homeowners. As one person shared last night, nearly as a Benediction, let us remember the Scripture: "...As you have done it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it to me."
More later...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)