In the last analysis, every mission trip boils down to people --
--the people who give up a week or so of their lives to make the trip
-- the people who have the vision, the tenacity, the patience, and the compassion to make things happen
--the people who come to learn new skills and meet new people
--and the people whose lives have been turned upside down and whose hopes hinge on their own persistence and on, as Blanche DuBois used to say, "on the kindness of strangers.

It's the people you never forget, and the people who make you want to come back. And it's the people who remind you most profoundly of how lucky you are, how blessed you are, and, when you think about the human race this way, what a big interesting family you have.

A group is headed to the French Quarter tonight for a festival, and another out to dinner. Then it's homeward bound (in stages!) in the morning.

Thursday, April 10th

A little drama today... the massive maintenance induced canellations for our airlines left us without a ride home Saturday. My friend, Verna, at MTS travel who has booked 8 or 9 trips for us in the past, spent hours getting us rescheduled on different flights with a different airline. We won't all be traveling together (we'll come home on 4 different flights, but if all goes well, we'll all be back in Chicago before dinner Saturday) but we will all get home. For those wondering when they can pick up their family members at O'Hare, Deb Curtiss in the church office has the moderately complicated schedule, so you can call her for information. More than likely you have already spoken with your friend or family member, but Deb has the information if you need it.

You can't help but be impressed with several groups of people here --
-- those for whom St. Bernard Parish is their ancestral home and who are determined that it will come back fully to life
--people of "means" who had the opportunity to leave and build a new life somewhere else, but who decided either to stay here or move here because the parish needs doctors and teachers and nurses and other professional/technical people
--the Americorps "kids," college age kids for the most part who choose to learn and serve in ways that help them accumulate experience and make a huge difference in so many lives
--the folks at "Camp Hope," a Habitat for Humanity sponsored dormitory/meeting center for volunteers that has converted a former middle-school campus into a center that can house, feed, and accomodate a dozen huge groups at a time.

The work continues. One more day of work, then a picnic with the people at the St. Bernard Project, then the homeward bound adventure.

Wednesday, April 9th

There are all sorts of reminders of the storms and the levee breaches in New Orleans. When today after work we went to the levee near the lower 9th ward, it was easy to imagine how things fell apart. Even today the water on the business side of the levee is 30% up the wall. The water came over the top, through a couple of breaks in the wall, and then underneath the levee itself, simply devastating the lower 9th. The first houses stood literally less than a football field inside the levee walls, and they were the first to go. The devastation is still vast, but the devastation is not the whole story.

The resilience of the people here is remarkable. They are committed to rebuilding -- the slogan around St. Bernard Parish seems to be "rebuild da parish or get out." They have a great and generous and contagious spirit.

Our work teams are still at it, hanging drywall, mudding, sanding, repairing, improvising solutions. The St. Bernard Project (I can't emphasize how great these young people are!) has just completed its 115th rebuild, but more than 27,000 homes in St. Bernard Parish were destroyed. What governments local, state and federal couldn't do, this group and dozens like them are accomplishing.

Tuesday, April 8th

Second day of work is often the hardest day of work on a Mission Trip. The newness of the place we're visiting, the excitement of travel and settling in, and being introduced to the worksites are all in the past, and participants face the work that was there long before they arrived, and that will remain long after they leave. So it is with our NOLA team. On both of our sites in the St. Bernard Parish, our teams are working on hanging dry wall, mudding, sanding, preparing surfaces for painting. It is "slogging," repetitive work, and it's easy to see why it takes so long for rehabbed homes to get rehabbed.
But then, there are places like Habitat for Humanity's Musician's Village. As the Big Easy slowly came back to life, musicians were among the first to return, and several partnered with Habitat for Humanity to create this funky little center. Nearly as critical to this city's rebirth as the reconstruction efforts is the commitment by those who make its culture unique. New Orleans wouldn't be New Orleans without the musicians, the restauranteurs and the shop keepers. They say that less than 40% of those kinds of businesses are open now two and a half years after the levee breaches, but they are coming back.

The stories here are remarkable, as are the people. Today we challenged each other to not come home until we each heard one resident's story of the storm and flood and recovery. We will have so many stories to share when we get home.

Monday, April 7th

The St. Bernard Project was started soon after the storms and levee breaches in the St. Bernard Parish. Imagine a patch of land between three bodies of water, a lake, the Gulf, and the Mississippi River. Then imagine all those bodies of water being full to overflowing and inundating that patch of land. Essentially, that's what happened to the lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish.

The young people staffing the project are remarkable -- idealistic, smart, committed to making a difference, comapssionate, and great company. We are working with them at two sites in the parish, both homes, both at different stages of rebuilding. We're making a dent, and the homeowners we've met have been gracious and grateful. One of them brought one of our groups a typical crayfish lunch today. One or two of our hearty team were a little squeamish about eating them, but they were really good.

After work some of us went out for dinner, while the others went to a AAA minor league baseball game in which the New Orleans Zephyrs were soundly trounced by the Memphis Redbirds 9 - 1. It's back to work first thing in the morning. The weather's great. The work is challenging bur fulfilling. The teams are working well. And we are meeting some brave and determined and gracious people.

Sunday--Arrival in NOLA

Well, our flight to the Big Easy was almost uneventful -- except that the plane was overbooked and they made us leave Jason Nieves behind at O'Hare. He joined us later in the afternoon at our home away from home, The First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Metarie, Louisiana, just west and slightly north of downtown New Orleans. We spent much of the afternoon settling in, and receiving an excellent orientation from Diane, our project coordinator with the Disciples Recovery effort. We get down to work first thing tomorrow morning in the St. Bernard Parish, one of the hardest hit areas in the city.

We spent some time in the French Quarter this evening doing a little sight seeing and quite a bit of eating. It is a remarkably schizophrenic place, New Orleans. Wandering around the French Quarter you might never have known that there was much of a mess here at all, but, on the way, you can see a massive tent city underneath one of the major expressways, the FEMA trailer parks, and so much other destruction still 2 1/2 years after the storms blew and the levees broke.

So it's up at 6:15 Monday morning, and on to the worksites by 8:15 or 8:30 AM. The weather is gorgeous, and not yet as humid as many people remember NOLA, so we should be able to get a lot done.