Day Four – NOLA2010

A TGIF day for our mission group.  The Annunciation dormitory has been packed all week with teams from Charlottesville, VA and other places.  They leave today and we have the place almost to ourselves tonight.  This may seem trivial but if you have30-40 individuals vying for four showers and two toilet stalls each morning and evening having just our group in residence is a luxury.  We also lose Phil today who flies home for a Saturday departure on a long-planned family vacation.  We end the work week for some of the teams we share projects with.  The All Souls production #1 of the Moses and the Israelites made its debut today.  The children were beside themselves with anticipation wearing their simple costumes and diving themselves into different types of plagues.  The frogs were a’ leaping, the locusts swarming and the storm and lightening raging.  Some quotes:

‘Pick up your plague and come to the front of the room”

“Yes, it’s ok to have four of you playing Moses, but please, would one of you be Pharaoh?”

“It’s gonna be kinda boring around here next week when all the white folks are gone…”

We have a special audience of about 30 children from another church who come to hear the play and then sing gospel music for us in return.  They are simply magnificent.  Their leader is a tall, imposing blind man with a deep baritone voice.  He calls “If you can hear my voice, clap once” and a few children clap, then “If you can hear my voice, clap twice” and more children clap twice, and finally “If you can hear my voice, clap three times” and ALL the children clap three times and are then completely silent and ready. 

We finish part one of the Altar Guild project, a binder with photos of their collection of donated vestments with a table /index detailing what the item is, what it’s used for, when should it be used and in what season, plus a reference to an Episcopal Dictionary with even more information.  Do you know any church having three maniples, 17 scapulars, 10 Burses, including 7 green ones, 30 Chasubles, 34 stoles and several unidentified items included a fiddle-back chasuble in the mode of an 18^th century Spanish or Italian vestment.  Some churches were clearly cleaning out the bottom of their closets.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is another work day.  Two of us will be training the All Souls Altar Guild, others will be working on a Jericho Road lot clearing project and the third group will finish the drywall removal at the Beacon of Hope.  It’s our last work day for this trip and there is a sense of accomplishment as well as unfinished business.  We are debating whether our work in New Orleans is over and whether we need to look for other mission trip opportunities in different locales for next year and the years beyond.  We also know that the need will continue here for more work groups for years to come.

The day ends with our traditional trip to Williams Plum Street Snowball stand and the obligatory group photo with all our brightly colored tongues sticking out.

Day Three – NOLA2010

We have our rhythm now – early departure for All Souls for the summer camp and Altar Guild project, slightly later departure for Beacon of Hope and the de-construction project.  Today we add an additional opportunity at the summer camp at Trinity Church, which offers activities in math, art, music and social studies.  Each session has experienced leaders and are looking for some additional help.  Two of our kids opt for that while the remainder head for a hot and dusty day of drywall removal.  The All Souls group is joined today by a group from Dallas who play instruments and enrich the musical experience.  A couple of them are experienced teachers who really know how to make the children concentrate on practicing for their performance tomorrow. 

Teamwork is the theme of the day.  The Beacon of Hope group works with church volunteers from Idaho who have the rhythm of drywall removal down to an art.  Part of the team go to the attic to push from above while another team stand on ladders in the room below and catch the drywall as it falls.  They then transport the sheet out of the room to be broken up and photographed and documented.  Several people mention they feel the presence of Jeff Gustafson, so much a part of the team for the first three years we were here.  We think he is smiling when he sees us all work as such a strong unit.

Some other observations about New Orleans since last year,

• Several of the projects we have worked on in the past are really showing major progress.  All Souls is an example of a place making huge strides in their physical plant. 
• Sadly, however, Grace Church on Canal Street, the site of so much work in the first two years, has closed the daycare center we worked so hard to craft and is now surviving on a supply priest mostly focused on the local Hispanic community.  The house we lived in the second year is for sale to provide some needed operating funds.  We’re not sure how long the church will continue to operate at this level before closing completely.
• We see signs of progress all around the city, more and more occupied houses, signs on the street advertising interior work such as tiling and painting.  It’s harder to find the once ubiquitous houses with spray-painted X’s noting they have been searched and cleared.  More occupied houses and businesses, including small businesses.
• More groups are working on tutoring and enrichment projects, counseliing and mental health issues are also addressed.  We have moved beyond simple housing issues to more complex social issues.

We end the day with ‘thorns and roses’ – and most of the comments are roses, it’s harder and harder to find thorns to present.  It’s also fun and refreshing to see another generation of EYC kids discover mission work and to see how much difference a team can make in just a few days.  The fellowship and fun continue late into the evening with a trip to a NOLA institution, the Mid-City Rock n’ Bowl – a place described perfectly by its name, a bowling alley and Zydeco/Rock n’ Roll music hall.  Some folks bowl and others dance to swamp romp music with special exuberance.  The day ends with tired and smiling faces headed upstairs to tape some innocent victim’s clothing to the ceiling of their room.  Traditions must be observed!

Day Two – NOLA2010

 We start our work today with a crew going to the Church of All Souls in the Lower Ninth Ward, a place we worked last year.  What a transformation in a year!  The 2007 church plant was the first Episcopal church in that area of New Orleans.  Build in a donated Walmart gutted by Katrina flooding, the church had no air conditioning or even regular electricity last year.  We toiled in semi-darkness and oppressive heat to sort through boxes of donated goods, work with the children’s program, sweep concrete floors and make the space ready for some form of Sunday worship.  This year the space is tiled and painted, a permanent altar sits in front of a carefully crafted wall of timbers salvaged from ruined neighborhood houses.  A rough cross made of timbers is the focal point of the wall.  Air conditioning and electricity make the space bright and welcoming.  Two of us work on a special Altar Guild project to sort, categorize and record all of the dozens of donated vestments, altar linens and holy vessels.  Another larger group of kids and adults work with the children on an original musical about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea.   Costumes from old shower curtains, blue netting for the sea, and pharaoh headdresses from paper towels are being created on every side.  The “Louie, Louie” tune with new lyrics swirl through the room.  Does is seem strange to type “chasuble with red orphrey” while bobbing to the Chuck Berry beat?  Not after a while.

The other group works with the Beacon of Hope on a “re-demo” site in the Lakeview neighborhood.  A completely contractor rebuilt home has to be re-gutted because the contractor used contaminated drywall imported from China.  Each sheet has to be unscrewed, photographed and a small sample preserved for testing.  Once this is done new drywall will be installed.  The kids love this work because the results show progress and are tangible.

The day ends at St. Anna’s, known locally as the murder church.  The rector, Fr. Terry, and his staff have collected the names of everyone murdered in New Orleans each day and their names, death date and cause of death are handwritten on a large board outside the church.  This is always a sobering way to enter the sanctuary, but the service is lively and inclusive.  Many mission trips are in the pews and we sing to a  dramatic piano beat.  After the healing service at the end we retire to the served dinner and local all-girls Rastafarian band.  As we leave the phrase “You are now entering the Mission Field” appears above the exit door.

We close the place down and return to Annunciation to celebrate Skye’s 16^th birthday.  She tells us it’s a wonderful way to end a most memorable day.  Compline is in candlelight with sharing of memorable moments from the day.  The house is a little quieter tonight – too tired to stay up late.

Day One – NOLA2010

 Sleepy kids and sleepy adults gather at Terminal C early on Tuesday morning for group check-in and departure for New Orleans.  We are on a US Airways flight operated by a young and chatty Republic Airlines pilot who personally greets us with the news that a tropical depression is hovering over NOLA and we can expect a bumpy ride from about 45 minutes out of  Louis Armstrong Airport.  As we get closer we hear the front has moved east and we are mostly spared the turbulence.  Landing in rain which turns to sun and rain and sun and rain as we taxi  into the gate.  But the really good news is that it’s at least 20 degrees cooler here than in Alexandria.

We travel in three identical mini-vans – blue, silver and white – to maximize flexibility in various job sites.  Day One is a quick lunch at the famous Po-Boy stand (can you  believe there is even a French Fry Po-Boy?), check-in at Annunciation and a walking tour of the French Quarter which is long on architectural history and the development of the Spanish and French influence over this unique and magical city.  We end the day with a tour of the rebuild of the Loser Ninth Ward, a simple supper, compline, planning and a  trip to a local institution, the Creole Creamery, for exoctic ice cream.  Peach Reisling was my choice.  Everyone is excited to begin their assignments for tomorrow – some to demolition and some to All Souls for summer camp. 

The building slowly quiets down as bunk beds are made up.  Our kids don’t all know what to do with “two top sheets” – until we tell them to put them both on the bed and slip in between them.  The building settles as we get used to the hum of air conditioning – Thank You Jesus! – and the lights from the parking lot.

EYC New Orleans Mission Takes Off!

Our EYC and sponsors leave for New Orleans this morning.  Please keep the group in your prayers.  We’ll hope to hear from them as they work in New Orleans.

NOLA – Day Four (and a half)

It’s the morning of Day Five and our last full work day in New Orleans.  Sitting in the early morning in the Annunciation ‘refectory’ it’s a beehive of activity.  Our rebuild teams are making their lunches and another team from Calgary, Alberta arrived yesterday and are doing the same.  They will work on ‘Kaboom’ – a project to build a playground in one day.  New Orleans parks took a particular beating from Katrina and with few funds and resources to rebuild they are relying on volunteers to make it happen.  This is the story over and over and over again here.  Reportedly, Mayor Nagin has been sighted very few times in recent months and NOLA will have a new mayor next time around.

One of the Annunciation staff told us yesterday of the dozens and dozens of locations who have sent workers here.  On the wall opposite my table I see the flag of Finland brought here by a Finnish team.  Kenya has sent a team and virtually every state and province in the U.S. and Canada.  Staff told of the team from Alaska who came last summer – and lasted at the work site until 11am – too hot!

No Loaves & Fishes today so we support two rebuild teams and a third team to All Souls.  Not for tutoring, the summer camp is out for the weekend, but for a general cleanup day.  Yesterday we swept and mopped the altar area and today we will move all the congregational chairs and sweep and mop there.  We will also go through the dozens of vestments donated by other churches, shake off the construction dust, organize them by the seasons of the church year and cover them with clean sheets.  If we have time we’ll begin to sort through shelves of donated ‘junk’ and determine what should be kept and what will be discarded.

All Souls has had no direct electricity since January when a disgruntled contractor reported some irregularities to the Fire Marshall and city inspectors.  They have been working all this time with some minimal lighting direct from a pole and are putting the finishing touches on the sprinkler system this week.  The Catch-22 is that the Fire Marshall will not sign off without electricity and the city inspector will not turn the electricity on until the Fire Marshall gives approval.  The solution – have them both come on the same day and at the same time.  In the meantime, they have held church services, run community programs and a full-fledged summer camp in the heat and without much in the way of lights.  They do have two working restrooms – a big accomplishment.

Last night we had a ‘rhyming compline’.  Everyone had to report on their day in four rhyming sentences.  Much hilarity and creativity.  We’ll post some of these creations later.  Also a visit to the Plum Street Snowball shop – a Grace Church NOLA tradition.   Snowballs are called snowcones in our part of the world, but this shop has a list of flavors beyond compare.  We crunch and slurp and then pose for a photo with our tongues in a rainbow of colors.

NOLA – Day Three

As I write this on the morning of Day Four we are sitting in the kitchen at Annunciation while a team of energetic young   women run around setting up tent cards, copy machines, computers and office supplies.  This is the day in which the Broadmore neighborhood can come in to get advice and forms for loans, construction permits, rebuild counseling and have their papers notarized.  This is yet another step in the return to life for New Orleans.  Soon a line will form outside and people will come in for help.

More signs emerge, yesterday I saw a dry cleaning van doing home pickup and delivery.  The Rock ‘n Bowl, formerly in a termite-ridden warehouse, has moved to a much nicer site.  For those of you not familiar with this NOLA institution – the name says it all.  You can bowl and you can rock and you can do both, plus eat and listen to music.  It’s gone upscale and while we were listening to Zydeco music last night the next section was hosting a wedding rehearsal dinner.  Something for everyone.

All our tasks continue – we are rebuilding, tutoring, doing odd jobs and making and delivering lunches.  The photos below feature a day in the life of the Mobile Loaves and Fishes ministry.  We have clients at various sites and any leftover sandwiches and oranges are taken to a grassy strip with some small shade trees where the day labor hopefuls are waiting for contractors or others to choose them for work.  It hurts my heart to see grown men running as fast as they can to get a peanut butter sandwich.  Sadly, I think this scene could be replicated in Alexandria and in many, many places in America.

John B. had the opportunity to take the older children from All Souls to a concert at Loyola/Tulane.  The summer band camp was finishing their 5-week session and offering a free concert.  The individual musicians (piano, violin and so forth) were followed by Band1 and Band2.  They were terrific, as you might imagine in a city of musicians.  Graduates of the program come back to celebrate and play and some are of professional quality.  An uplifting afternoon for the kids and for John.

As we ready for the day ahead the workers here are already set up.  Even though we are in a completely air conditioned room they are already perspiring from their efforts.  Their skills are needed, New Orleans is the fastest-growing city in America.

Top Row (L-R): Sydney, Marty and Heather making sandwiches at Trinity Church;  Habitat for Humanity project site; Courtyard with fountain at Trinity Church; Sarah (Loaves and Fishes Manager) and Heather loading truck

Bottom Row (L to R):  Peanut Butter sandwiches under construction; Loaves & Fishes van and logo

Corrections from Day Two posting:  Hannah (not Hilda) is rebuilt site manager.  Mary WAS wearing very stylish safety goggles!

NOLA – Day Two

Greetings from the Big Easy – we have survived Day Two of our New Orleans Mission Trip with flying colors.  Two rebuild teams at two separate locations both working on some interior finish work and exterior painting.  Both groups got to meet and hug the owners of their houses, definitely a big plus when you are told how much you are appreciated.

Another group went to All Souls Episcopal Church to work on tutoring projects.  It’s dismaying to see how far behind the children are and how much help they need.  Our guys did us proud.  Sam worked on bringing old computers to life, Sydney allowed her children to use body crayons and paint to decorate – well Sydney.  Heather worked with the youngest children planting herbs in the garden and John B. was persuaded to drive the rector to Baton Rouge to pick up a donated SUV.  A third group worked at Trinity Church in the Mobile Loaves and Fishes van, making and delivering sandwiches and then cooked and served at the Dragon Cafe in the afternoon.  Tonight it was beignets and cafe au lait and open-air jazz for everyone.

There is so much to say about ‘Nawlins’ it’s hard to know where to begin to give a feeling for what we are living.  Here’s a sample of some “Did you knows…”

Did you know -

• The average cost to EDOLA to rebuild a house is $30,000.  Houses that are considerably more costly are usually not approved, but if we start on a house we will see it to finish, even if the costs escalate.
• Mission groups continue to pour into NOLA and the groups serving them see no abatement.  Spring Break is a popular time for college students and summer sees groups of all kinds.
• The Church of the Annunciation, where we are staying, is considered one of the two powerhouse churches in the city.  When they got their insurance settlement from Katrina they elected to open their doors to all who want to come to the city, building dorm space, showers, and a working kitchen.  The repair to their own church facility was secondary and still proceeding.  They consider their largest congregtion to be the people they serve outside their nave.
• When we visit the neighborhoods where we worked last year we can see the houses we worked on complete and occupied.  Warms our hearts to see this.
• The Army Corp of Engineers, often seen as the villians here, is talking about finding ways to make the barrier islands at the mouth of the Mississippi reappear.  This would allow a natural barrier to hurricanes and other storms coming in from the Gulf of Mexico.  This would be very good news indeed if it can happen.  Residents here are skeptical.

We share the photos below from rebuild house #1 and other locations:

 
Top Row (L-R):   Phil Smith with saw; Sydney Toler and Heather Kelly; Angus Walsh and Hilda (from EDOLA rebuild team) hang a door

Bottom Row (L-R):  Mary Toler uses the saw – where are those safety glasses?; Street(car) named…..Desire

NOLA- Day One

We have arrived – to a place both familiar and different.  For some this is the fourth journey to this city and for others the first.  Clouds hang over the sky and in the distance we see dark shafts of rain. The good news is that this has cooled the air at least 10 degrees from temperatures over the past several weeks.  All the locals comment on this and tell us how lucky we are to have such ‘cool’ temperatures.  It seems hot and muggy to us.

Day One is usually an orientation day.  We visit the EDOLA warehouse for a briefing.  We see the updated map of houses gutted and houses rebuilt.  The numbers are impressive:  800 houses gutted in the past 3+ years by EDOLA alone and 55 completed and turned over to their owners.  Another 5 houses are in the final stages of preparation to be turned over.  The bigger news is that the new name of the project is Episcopal Community Services, meaning more than rebuild will be happening.  Our briefer tells us one of the major issues is construction scams resulting in shoddy construction which has to be redone, loss of money from either Road Home federal  funding or personal funds.  Often rebuild means tearing out bad construction and replacing it with good construction.  The economy hits here too, and the Episcopal funding for these projects is uncertain after December 2009.  The need continues with at least 10 years of additional work to do.

Our next stop is a quick driving tour through the Brad Pitt funded houses in the Ninth Ward.  They are dramatic and unique with solar panels on the roof and eclectic architecture.  It’s  like driving through a child’s playground of colorful building blocks.

We also visit All Souls Episcopal Church, the first Episcopal Church to be established in the Lower Ninth Ward.  Consecrated by the  then Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowen Williams, in 2007, and being built in a former Walgreen’s drug store.  Some will work at tutoring there tomorrow.  We also visit St. George’s where we will work at the Dragon Cafe tomorrow afternoon and again on Thursday.

Tonight we get a briefing from staff at Trinity Church on the future of relief efforts here.  They are already planning beyond the rebuild effort and talking about race relations, mental health issues and education successes and failures.

See some photos below.  We are excited to begin work tomorrow.  Everyone we meet – from the rental car shuttle bus driver, to the Rector at All Souls, to the Pastor at our home church, Church of the Annunciation, thank us over and over.  The Rev Jerry Kramer tells us we have accomplished 90% of our mission work by just being here, reminding the people New Orleans they are not forgotten.

 
 

Top Row (L to R):  Thomas Crabtree mugging for camera at St.George’s garden fountain, John Berry at Louis Armstrong Airport, Charter for All Souls Episcopal Church.

Middle Row (L to R):  One of the Brad Pitt houses in the Lower 9th Ward, sign outside Episcopal Relief Warehouse

Bottom Row (L to R): Sign for future Brad Pitt funded house, Mike from Diocesan Relief Project giving us a briefing.

Packing for New Orleans

Just as we watch and listen to the J2A pilgrims, the New Orleans team (NOLA for short) is getting ready.  We had a wonderful Mission Brunch on Sunday with about $1,500 in very generous donations from parishoners.  One last planning meeting on Sunday with John and Khacki and then we’re off on Tuesday morning. 

It feels like a relay- passing the baton from Cedar Rapids to Washington State and now to NOLA and in August to Tanzania. This is exciting stuff when you consider this is the 5th J2A pilgrimage and only the 4th year of mission trips.   Grace on the Road indeed.

Heard from a New Orleans friend today that this is the hottest summer they can remember!  Pray for us…..