NOLA12 Continues

November 7, 2012

Monday night most of us waited up for Kathy and Darrah to return from picking Nathan up at the airport. They drove through a thundering, crackling downpour. Tuesday we shivered when we were outside at the house but fortunately had plenty of labor to warm us up.

Pretty gratings now grace the tall, rounded front windows, matching the black security doors. The front window trim gleams white on the outside and Don has made it stable by rebuilding the interior frames. The front of the house has regained some of its stately beauty, with fresh paint and raked grounds. Baseboards have now been built, installed and painted throughout the main rooms. The kitchen floor got one last washing of the grout and the upstairs bathroom tiles were laid and grouted. We prepped the entire upstairs floor to be ready for sanding first thing in the morning.

Tuesday night we took Quo Vadis Breaux and her husband Raymond, as well as Maggie Matlock and her boyfriend Patrick, out to a scrumptious dinner at Jacques-Imo's. To thanks Quo Vadis for her contributions to our work over the years, Sally had made a scrapbook with photos and messages from everyone and those cute little tools and symbols that she now really likes.

While still at dinner we heard that Elizabeth Warren had won the US Senate seat in Massachusetts. Back at FUUNO, we stayed up long enough to be sure of the Presidential outcome. It seems a more sober Obama victory - probably more realistic about the daunting challenges he faces than the almost-revolutionary "new year" we experienced in 2008 in the same room.

Our conversation about the future and the meaning of our trips continues. We're trying to understand what it means that no first-timers from our congregation came on NOLA12. Maybe we aren't communicating effectively how great an experience it is. Maybe everyone's memory and concerns about the post-Katrina damage have faded. We know we will continue to come and work in New Orleans. We love the experience of working and laughing together; we find it satisfying to contribute in a material, substantial way to families' homes; and we greatly value the opportunity to form relationships with African-Americans.
Having been here on the last Election Day and again this year drives home the point about how linked we feel to people on the other side of the race/class/privilege divide from where most of us live.

We wonder it it's time to re-frame the trips as ongoing partnerships - building longterm relationships with people who are different from us, rather than thinking of these efforts as primarily building houses.

We also hope to connect with People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, so we can work more on our own racial attitudes, much as we did with misperceptions and homophobia when preparing to become a Welcoming Congregation.


November 8, 2012

Writing now from home, I have Darrah's report of some of the work completed on Wednesday: Dwight secured the other (not yet tackled, still completely unfinished) half of the house, with strong plywood. On "our"side, the floors were sanded and painted through both levels of the house. Terry repaired flashing (and maybe other structural problems?) on the roof, to prevent the huge leaks we witnessed on the first day (when it rained). The toilet is permanently installed! I'm sorry I don't know all the other valuable tasks accomplished.

Today everyone (now including Ann and Stan from Follen Church) was scheduled to drive some distance south to Plaquemine's Parish, for work with Reverend Tyrone. (I've just learned that this is the largest area of combined land and water in Louisiana.) Our Youth Group has made similar treks on previous NOLA trips to work with him.

I miss everyone and am having the usual disorientation back in the regular world. Plus, a wintery, windy storm in Massachusetts makes a cold contrast to the Big Easy.