Mission group helps New Orleans rebuild from Katrina

May 24, 2007|ASHLEY HOOKER

NEW ORLEANS - Sawdust flew and hammers broke the silence of the early morning as the Lincoln County Baptist Association construction team labored under the sub-tropical sun here last week.

The group of eight repaired a local church which was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Once a thriving place of worship, the church now lacks both a roof and a congregation. Signs still hang from the rafters of Faithful Community, proclaiming the church "the place where you meet God," but its members are no longer present to read the message. According to local residents, most of the people who attended services there fled New Orleans during Katrina and have yet to return. The LCBA helped to rebuild the structure in hopes that it will serve as a new Baptist church and bring the shattered community back together.

The construction team spent a long day replacing rafters and putting new shingles on the church's roof. Although were busy with plumbing, carpentry, and electrical jobs, the group members took time to get to know the residents of the city they are helping to rebuild. The electrical team went to dinner with the family in whose home they installed wiring on Tuesday. Darlene Spillman shared the story of the husband, wife, and three children during devotion hour back at the Volunteer Village . She said that even though the family lost nearly all of their possessions, they received just enough insurance money to pay off their house. "They were overjoyed because now they own their home, even though there isn't much left of it," she said. "These were people who, even though they lost everything, were rejoicing at the fact that they made it through," she said.

Louise Joseph is one of the few who made the choice to return and rebuild. She had no idea that when she left her house on Sere Street in New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina hit, she would be unable to return for nearly two years. "I thought I would only be gone for two or three days at the most," she said. "I left everything here, my jewelry and money in my safe, food in the refrigerator and my table set for dinner." Joseph went to stay with family in Memphis , and could only watch on television as Katrina devastated the city where she is a lifelong resident. "I didn't know what had happened to my home or the people who were still there," she said.

Joseph, a retired special education teacher, returned to New Orleans about six weeks ago, only to find that her community is nothing like she left it. Once a lively and bustling neighborhood, the streets are now empty and desolate. Houses stand deserted, still bearing the spray-painted marks where rescuers searched for survivors. Yards are overgrown, debris litters the sidewalks, and, on Joseph's street, only two other families have returned. They are living in FEMA trailers, slowly trying to rebuild what has been destroyed.

As for Joseph, she lives on her own, and is afraid to stay alone on the property where she once felt at home. Her house was burglarized during her absence, she says, and she feels that she would be unsafe staying in a trailer with no one there to help if something went wrong. She is living with her sister for now. However, Joseph is determined to rebuild and get her life back to normal, and she says she is grateful for the Operation NOAH volunteers who are helping her to get back on her feet.

"This here is what keeps this town going," she said, with a smile and a gesture towards the crew of Lincoln County residents who have crawled underneath her house on a hot afternoon to restore the plumbing which was destroyed during the flooding. "It means the world to us."

Despite the unpleasant and exhausting labor, the volunteers are glad to be of assistance. For Barbara Wood, who lived near New Orleans for two years before returning to Lincoln County , the work is particularly meaningful. "It broke my heart to see this happen, knowing so many people who are here," she said. Fellow plumbing crew member Darrell McConnell was also touched by what he experienced during the week, and shared his frustration at the lack of progress made in the area.

Joseph mentioned that even before Katrina, problems in her city were being dismissed or went unaddressed. "The schools are closed now, but before they were overcrowded and understaffed," said the veteran educator. She believes that many social and economic problems have been long ignored in New Orleans , and Katrina made the nation more aware of them.

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