Being Reminded of Our Impact

As our group sat at in the van on the way to a Welcome Home party, Andy (one of our site supervisors) noted that it was exactly half way through the week.  We all noted that he was right, but it got me to thinking--how much work are we really getting done this week?  What impact does it really have on the people here?

Finishing the last of the 2nd coat of mud in our house left us some free time to talk with Destin the 9 year old son of our homeowner spent the late afternoon with us getting to know Nicole some more.  Lunch once again gave us the chance to talk with Dwayne and live the life of  Louisiana. After all, it is the people we are here for.

We got to see first hand out important the work volunteers with the St. Bernard Project is.  We were invited to attend a Welcome Home Party for a young family of three moving back into their finished house.  We pulled up in our 15 person passenger van just on time and joined group after group after group of volunteers in celebrating with gumbo and cake this family's coming home.  What a great feeling to be able to see where our houses are going to be in the next couple of months.  I'm sure each of us would really like to be here for the Welcome Home Party of our homeowners.  

A combination of mudding, mudding and more mudding wrapped our day up after lunch.  The other group did more sanding than any human being should.  It was another day of people covered from head to toe in dust, mud and water.  Even Rochelle and Ben were dirty today!  Kim aged 40 years in a single day--her hair was so COVERED with dust that she looked grey.  

Needless to say, the lines for the showers were four or five people long.  Today especially we needed to get cleaned up quickly because all the volunteers for the St. Bernard Project were invited to a dinner served by a local named Paul.  He and a group of family members cook once a month for every one and we are lucky enough to be here this time!  We had burgers on the grill, mac and cheese and salad.  We rounded off our meal with some king cake and Erik entertained us while we waited with some dancing.  Paul had created a video slide show of his families experience with Katrina that he shared with us.  Needless to say it was emotional for all of us.

So now, with sun kissed cheeks we are winding down for the night.  Trying to do some homework, but mostly just enjoying Kevin and Joel's talents on the guitar.  There are card games going on at the dining room table--intense ones at that by Kendria, Ben and Amy.  

We all are well, and hoping for a renewed energy in the morning to finish as much work as we can.

My love and smiles and hugs from NOLA,

Bridget