The past couple of days a group of nine of us have continued to help rebuild a gutted house from hurricane Katrina. When we first saw the inside of the house there was nothing but the main frame of the house and outlined portions of wood and clutter all around. The nine of us split into smaller groups, which included some Americorps volunteers as well. The first day we had to put fiber glass in the walls of the house for insulation and start measuring the walls for sheet rock. Day 2 and three consisted of all of us sheet rocking the entire house. Today (day 3) we manged to basically finish all of the sheet rock and we started putting special mud to fill in the sheet rock.
During day 2 while we were in the middle of our lunch break, a man dressed in a army uniform greeted us and told our group that we were rebuilding his home. He told us he was in Iraq when hurricane Katrina flooded his home and has been waiting patiently to live in his home again. Recently, a member of the Saints football team has helped pay for the finances to rebuild his home while we volunteer to fix it up. He was wounded while in combat and he could not thank us enough for taking the time to lend him a hand. It was the first time since we arrived to really meet a local from Louisiana and even though he was not here during the disaster, the hurricane still had a large impact in his life. He was so thankful for what we were doing for him and listening to him helped me appreciate how lucky I am and everything that I have been blessed with.
In the past three days I have learned so much about sheet rocking, power tools, rebuilding home, and the stories people went through during this disaster. After each work day when I have called a family member back at home it is hard for them to image how I am a part of a group that is rebuilding a home for a person affected by hurricane Katrina!
Today we went to a local church that was near our work site and many members of the community just went up to us to thank us for taking the time out of our lives to visit their community and reach out to help them. Hearing their stories and receiving their kind words made me feel so grateful and excited to fix homes in their neighborhood. The people in Louisiana we have met so far have been very kind to us and cannot thank us enough. This continues to make the community service mini term so much more rewarding!