We participated in RHINO - Rebuilding Hope In New Orleans, a ministry of the St. Charles Ave. Presbyterian Church in the uptown section of New Orleans. Room and board was provided by the church. Our group of 11 shared a house with 28 other people from all over the country.
On Monday one of the church members took us on a 3 hour tour of the city. The devastation was beyond description - block after block of homes that had been under as much as 12 feet of water. Many homes are beyond repair but most can
be saved. The interiors are completely ruined from the water so in order to be livable they must be gutted and completely redone. Most neighborhoods are still uninhabited. There is an occasional FEMA trailer that indicates someone living there but many streets have no sign of life. It's hard to believe it's been 8 months since the flood.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we gutted a house. We met the owner - a school principal unemployed since Katrina. He is living about 90 miles away with his family. He had been trying to gut his own house but found it overwhelming. Our crew of 18 people completed in 2 days what it would have taken him months to do. We stripped the interior down to the studs and piled all the debris in the street for the city to pick up.
On Thursday and Friday we worked on new construction with Habitat for Humanity. They have recently begun a new project in the upper ninth ward called Musicians Village. As the name suggests, it is being sponsored by musicians from New Orleans. When completed there will be 84 new homes.
Our work was interrupted on Thursday by a surprise visit from President Bush! He took time to shake hands and thank each of us personally for being there. That was amazing!
There is still much to be done. Many volunteers are needed. The residents who have returned to New Orleans since Katrina are doing everything they can to help each other but there is so much to be done.
