SECONCH YOUTH

The Youth Group mission trip to New Orleans was a huge success. Seven adults and six youth spent the week of 11/11 through 11/18 in New Orleans working on demolition and rebuilding projects in some areas that were severley affected by the flood following hurricane Katrina. We stayed at the Little Farms UCC Church in River Ridge which is a suburb of New Orleans in Jefferson Parish. The folks at Little Farms were so kind and accommodating that they really made our stay very comfortable and enjoyable.

            The entire trip went as smooth as could possibly be expected which gave us all time to focus on the work we were doing and on getting to know one another better. We also had some time to get to know the culture and people of New Orleans. And if you want to try to fit in down there you need to call it Naw'lins……..we sure stuck out like sore thumbs with our Maine accents……..

We met some very fine people and quite a few characters as well. Half of the group worked on replacing a roof throughout the week for a gentlemen named Henry who lived in a rather rough neighborhood on North Clairmont St. This crew worked long hours stripping off the old roof and putting on the new roof. And safety was a priority throughout the project.  We are proud to say that we did not have one injury the entire time we were down there.

One of the things we learned about Henry is that eight of the members of his extended family have died in the last five months, many of them from heart attacks. We heard several times from various folks down there that the death rate since the flood has tripled or quadrupled. The depression, stress and sense of hopelessness that has permeated the area have become lethal especially for the elderly.

The other half of our group worked on gutting homes in some hard hit areas. This group completed the gutting and cleaning of two homes that had been started by previous groups and completely gutted and cleaned a home in the lower 9^th ward of the city. The process consisted of removing all household items and then tearing down and removing all of the walls, floors and ceilings – essentially leaving only the studs and the basic structure of the house…...and of course the gigantic coackroaches. The work was very dirty and very difficult but it was also uplifting for we knew that we were helping these homeowners to get to the next stage in the process. After the gutting comes the de-molding and then the rebuilding.

On Wednesday both groups came together to work on moving the pews in a church and tearing up half of the floor of the sanctuary. The church was the Central Congregational Church, a UCC church located on Bienville Road. This was a very rewarding task for all involved and as a group we worked extremely well together. It is a quite a sight to see 13 people furiously working to strip a floor of its tiles and remove the tiles from the building. It all went like clock work. The floor will be rebuilt in January by a volunteer group that has experience in that sort of work.

It is hard to believe that after 15 months there are still many sections of the city that do not have power, water or even working street lights. And so many of the people down there are angry with local and federal government as well as FEMA. As the city begins the rebuilding process there is no lack of controversial issues. We held a daily prayer service each night which often led to discussions about the things we had seen and heard that day or issues that were bothering us. It was difficult not to get bogged down in some of the controversial aspects of the rebuilding efforts. For instance why were some folks taking more initiative in rebuilding their homes than others? Why were some folks getting federal money sooner than others and were they spending it appropriately? What about the contractors taking advantage of people down there? And what about the influx of migrant workers since the flood and the looting and stealing that is still a huge problem in many areas? What about the costs of rent doubling in many of the apartment buildings that remained? What about the increased costs for food and other basic necessities? All things considered I must say that our group did a tremendous job of staying focused on the work and the purpose of the mission trip. The long term volunteers were great to work with and I am proud of the work that the UCC is doing in the New Orleans area. And you just might see our faces on the big screen next year! There was a film crew making a documentary on the gulf coast disaster and the UCC’s response and ongoing relief efforts and the film will be shown at General Synod next summer.

It would be difficult to convey to you everything that we learned while we were in the New Orleans area. And our learning was not isolated to the culture and the tragic stories of the people we encountered. As a diverse group of people we came together to get to know and support one another throughout the entire trip. There was a sense of acceptance and honesty that existed within our group that seems difficult to recapture now that we are all back to our own lives. We laughed, we cried and we prayed. We gave our hard work and our sweat to the people of New Orleans and they gave us back the gifts of love and gratitude. We worshiped with them and we listened to them and in the words of wisdom that they so generously lavished upon us we found some eternal truths that will haunt us and inspire us for the rest of our lives. 

To the congregation of the Second Congregational Church of Norway, Maine and to all of those people who supported this mission trip we would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you! You helped us learn some life lessons that we probably would not have learned on our own. And most importantly you helped us all get closer to God. Thank you!

Follow this link to see our photo album!   http://www.seconchyouth.org/neworleanspix.htm