Our evenings at base cam are always enjoyable. 5 o'clock meetings are short, light hearted & interesting as we hear about all the groups experiences. Dinners have been fabulous...chicken curry, Chinese, red chili with Jiffy corn bread, egg plant with quinoa, BBQ chicken pizza...all created by AHV's. (I was on the chili/cornbread team). We even had apple & berry pieces with crust from scratch. We have a left-over frig that's free for the taking so that's heaven for Rog. Dinner time is also rich with conversations. We 're enthralled by the experiences we hear about. Average ages is @20. Roger and I are an abnormality due to our age & the only married couple. Staff tells us we are one of the few couples who've worked for AHV...and if they do...usually only one of them is nice :). Kids tell us they want to grow up like us. But we did hear about one couple who celebrated their 75th anniversary here at AHV in Louisiana! Inspiring for us! (See Bob & Elsi--you could join us!).
Saturday, February 4, 2017
#4 Base Camp Notes
#3. The Flood Story.
The days are flowing together now with each a bit different but each connected by the strong undertow of the need to help these people get their lives back. We've worked in 4 homes now...insulating, drywalling, muddling, tapping, painting...and heard the homeowner's flood story and how they yearn to get back into their home. Aug 13, 2016, 39" of rain fell in 19 hours. Up to 12' of water flooded 140,000 homes in 3 parishes. There were 25,000 boat rescues. It's considered the 3rd worst USA disaster of all times. Why didn't we hear more about it?? Election and Olympics news coverage took priority. FEMA did show up and we heard about the red tape, delays, rules & regulations that make FEMA so ineffective. I told some of these young whipper-snappers to get in there & fix that agency! Did you know they only help people with LESS than $15,000 worth of damage? If you apply for a FEMA trailer to live in, if you are approved, you only get it for 18 months or less. Sounds like lots of time till you try to find someone to get gut, sanitize & rebuild...say nothing about rounding up the supplies. Those someone's are working for people with lots of ready $$. So while they wait--black mold grows. Hope dwindles. When AHV shows up & stays on the job till the house if ready for an electrician & plumber--it's no wonder we see the homeowners overwhelmed with relief and joy. Today the homeowner told us her husband is dying of Alzheimer's and we were giving her back her life. I go to bed each night exhausted and deeply satisfied with my day's work.
Update 2: First Week Almost Over
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Hard to believe first week is almost over! It was so easy to fall in sync here. Monday--my birthday--was also a AHV day off...but a crew was asked to volunteer to paint for a lady who'd been waiting over a month for help. Since AHV services does not include painting--"volunteers" from the AHV volunteers could only do it on their day off. Amazingly 9 (including us) climbed in the van & headed to Karen's where we painted the entire interior of her home--some even got second coats--scrapping the bottom of 10 gals of paint! With much enthusiasm, Karen told us about how crazy it was when she woke up to water pouring in & her daughter slapping her face & shouting, "Momma--get it together & DO something!" She grabbed a few things then waded out to her truck & headed for higher ground. There strangers started filling her truck bed with their children and ran saying they'd be back. She ended up with a truck load and a baby in her arms praying their parents would return! It took 3 days for the water to recede...& when her neighbor opened her dryer--3 snakes slithered out! John (retired air force), our crew leader treated us to shrimp Poor Boys for lunch and Janene insisted on stopping for DQ on our way back. It was Taiki's first DQ. After going out for a Mexican dinner, Rog surprised me by baking me a cake & the group gathered to sing Happy Birthday. When we played games. At one time kids from England, Kenya, Brazil, Turkey, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia & USA sat around a table playing Cards Against Humanity--and I surprised them by winning. (Thanks to Jake & Sarah for teaching me the winning strategy.). Certainly a fulfilling birthday!
Tuesday was back to real work. We worked in a gutted trailer that barely survived the flood and an earlier fire. Really. Nothing was square. Holes everywhere. We struggled to fit drywall pieces with some precision. But with lots of measuring, cutting, shimmering and lots more humor, we made progress. After a mashed potatoes & BBQ chicken dinner, we were introduced to several new people & said good bye to Zak. Gotta love the fluctuating group of hard working, fun-loving people!
2017: Update #1 Down in Louisiana
Today is actually Day 4 from my "normal" life. Jen drove us to a hotel close to the airport so we could catch a very early flight--first to Houston then on to New Orleans where we spent the night & then called for an Uber ride to Denham Springs- about 1 and 1/2 hours from NO and our home with AHV (All Hands Volunteers). It is basically a warehouse that has been turned into a church. There are about 30 kids housed here right now...up to 60 at highest #. Tarps divide the areas up a bit but it is mostly a mass of blowup beds, cots, tents and gobs of belongings surrounded each. Since we'd asked ahead, we got the "sick" room (at least until they need it again.). It is a church adult Sunday school room: no windows but carpet, lamp, outdoor furniture. Our Amazon bedding order was here and ready to put on our blow up mattresses so we are real comfy. AHV has use of a large kitchen so our first job here was making chicken-vege soup and organizing the kitchen. With only kids here...you can imagine the mess. The 5 o'clock meeting was held in the lounge area which is eight old couches facing the work board. The days accomplishments were cheered, needs we assessed and tomorrow jobs' were assigned. As in the Philippines, we are in awe with how a group of kids from all over just take the ball and run with it!
Next morning Rog got in the van headed to do more dry wall while I stayed back to help with the move. AHV had planned to end this project on 1/30 but got last night that more funding came through so they were excited to be extending it until 3/1. This was great news for us as our tickets to be out of here were for 2/16. Hanging loose works again! AHV was asked to move the sleeping area and tool storage to a different section of the church, so my crew worked on that. We also sanitized brooms that had been used during the mucking out stage. I helped with dinner and we both were on clean up. After the meeting, a bunch of us watched Twister on TV...since we were on a tornado watch for the second night in a row. One hit last night two hours from here. Brandon and three others will be leaving tomorrow morning to assess the need for another AHV site in Mississippi. It'll be his 6th time this year.
Sunday--day off. We woke to the sound of choir practice then went for a walk to get the lay of the land nearby. Flood damage is mostly debris near here. Near Janet's house, there were lots of FEMA trailers parked beside gutted homes with broken windows...and piles & piles & piles of trash. Made phone calls home, did our wash, writing and enjoyed down time with other volunteers & feeling good about being here!
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