Last Day

Introduction
The week has ended with a bang. Between an early 6am breakfast, lunch at Ms. Ruby's and Coco's, and a red eye flight - everyone on the team is flat out exhausted. With mixed emotions we've arrived home safely.

Rise and Shine
There's a big rule around camp, which states that workers can't arrive at the job sites before 8:00. This ensures that the residents and the workers aren't under stress. However, this being the last day, John threw that "guideline" to the wind with a hearty, "We're going to get this done guys. What's Ed going to do, fire us?"
So we left the camp at 6, had a few breakfast burritos and coffee at Sonic, arriving at the job sites before 6:30. Our team worked straight until we declared a "union break" at 10 o'clock. After that short break it was back to work until lunch. Everything from tiling to finalizing a few doors was performed today.

Ms. Ruby and Coco's Feast
As a thanks for our work, Ms. Ruby joined forces with Coco and her husband to prepare a large meal for the whole group. Trays delicious catfish was prepared and a talkative meal without any eating competitions. Mid-way through the eating, Coco arrives on the scene, up to her eyeballs with even more food! In the end, there was 5 varieties of cake, crackers, coleslaw, and crab dip.


Visiting
After lunch, we took a drive down to the house that the old team worked on last time they were down here. It was a relief for the whole group to see a finished house. Seeing a happy home owner living in their completed house gave closure to our unfinished projects. The old members chatted awhile with the resident they had gotten to know so well - there were some close, sawdust moments.



Plane Ride
Waiting in line and passing through security, our team was back in an airport heading home. The mood was much quieter than it was a few days ago. The plane ride gave two important opportunities that we hadn't had time for the whole week. A time for reflection and a time for sleep. Arriving at Seattle at 12:30, picking up the luggage and driving home, the 21 hour day was at an end.

Full Day

Introduction
Today is the last full day of work and each group is pushing to get as far as we can on their houses. At the beginning of the week, Irene and Ed (the head of the camp) warned us that we would not complete a house. I believe that John C. forgot this part. Each team is still running full steam even as the fatigue of the week is closing in. A perfect example of this is Mr. Shen's house.

Tiling
Mr. Shen's house had to be tiled. This means tiling, grouting, and a lot of cleaning for our large team of 10. Outside, we had Heather running the mixer for our mortar and grout.

Then Jay was our tile cutter running the saw.

Inside, Jim Z., Mitchell W., Kelly and Casey S were putting down the tile. Scott was an all around helper who brought the towels, buckets of mortar (or "houkie" as Jim called it), and shouted measurements to Jay.
After the grout dried, Norm, Edna, and Diana stepped in to clean up right before John C. came to grout. With grouting completed, everyone came back to mop the floor several times to get the tile nice and shiny.
This process has been done to half the house with the other half hopefully completed tomorrow.

Concrete
This particular house happened to have a dropped living room. John requested yesterday that it'd be filled in, so today a cement truck was brought in to fill it up. They stuck the slide right through the window and poured the cement in.

It come in quickly, but the team kept it under control. Afterwards, John got on the floaters and smoothed it out.


Stormy Weather
Midway through the day, a tornado warning was issued in our area. While we didn't spot any whirlwinds, we did get quite a nasty rain.


Dinner at "Aunt Jenny's" Restaurant
A delicious dinner of catfish, shrimp, or chicken was awarded to the team at the end of the day. It could have been a laid back evening of fellowship, but a few if of the guys turned the "All you can eat shrimp" into a contest.
It was a fierce race, with Scott taking an early lead. Mike B. dropped out around 36. Scott thought he had won, but from the other table a new competitor arose - Ed R who was at a mere 50, 30 behind Scott, but kept going. The munching continued, and slowly but surely Ed climbed to 90 shrimp as Scott called it quits at 101. In the end, Ed claimed victory with 106.

Ms. Ruby

Introduction
Today was more of the same. Several groups working on several houses. As it's the middle of the week, everyone is feeling a bit fatigued - but spirits are still high for tomorrow. Yesterday, we had the pleasure of having Ms. Ruby over for dinner at the camp. Ms. Ruby is the resident of one of the homes that our group is fixing up. Here is a mini-biography of this lovely lady that Kim and Alec K., Ed R., Ray L., and Mike F has the pleasure of working for. This is a semi organized collection of thoughts from the team.



Ms. Ruby
Living alone at 89 years old, Ms. Ruby has a genuine loving kindness no one has seen before. As Ray says, "She naturally makes you feel at home and makes you part of the family. The first day when I left, I both hugged and kissed her." Each day, Ms. Ruby home cooks a delicious meal for the team which gives her great joy in doing so. "Yea, she loves to feed you" as Alec said. These meals, the group boasts, has made them the envy of the camp. Around the table, she inquires each member about what interests them. She also gets to tell a lot about herself.
She used to be a secretary to the commander of a military base. The whole team agrees that she is an incredibly intelligent and sophisticated woman. Even still, Ms. Ruby speaks of the days back when she was forced to eat at the back of restaurants because of segregation. Her husband who she speaks very dearly of, passed away 30 years ago. All of her children are grown up and moved out. She says that she can feel very lonely at times, since "neighbors aren't as friendly as they used to be to each other". Never the less (the team claims), Ms. Ruby knows the name, occupation, and family situation of every single person on the block by heart. She also is a good friend of the mayor - Rusty. The team admires her warmth and the time she's able to spend with other people. Ms. Ruby says that life is all together too busy now a days.
One thing that she doesn't talk about much is the hurricane. The only time that it was brought up was when they were installing a water heater and tiling underneath it. To do this, they had to shut off her water for two days. So when Ray asked her if it was alright to turn off the water, she responded with, "Boy, I'd been without water for weeks during Katrina. Three days, HA! That's nothing to me." This supports the fact that she is a authoritative, strong woman. As Ray said, "If she offers you another piece of fried chicken - you're having another piece of fried chicken."
"She's the grandmother that everyone wants." - Ed

Swing of things

Introduction
Once again the group went to their respective job sites to complete. Our group was spread pretty thin, as we worked on seven people's houses today.

• Mr. LePre - Electrical work and installation of a dish washer
• Ms. Ruth - Set two doors
  
• Ms. Ruby - Set exterior door
  
• Ms. Coco and Tony - Laid tile
  
• Gene and Henryetta - Took out bathtub and vanity, installed door
  
• Mr. Shen - Scrapped out the mortar
  
• Ms. Paula - Tiling a bathroom, window wraps, set a door
  

Fortunately, people are working very hard down here. Unfortunately, we're so engaged that cameras stay in backpacks, and no photo's of our work are taken. So, no pictures of today. Here are a few from Monday:




Personal Reflection (Mitchell W. - Blog Author)
Today I was on "special assignment", away from my normal team to work on a different house along with one other person. We cleaned up the electrical and installed a washing machine. However, the most enjoyed part of the day was talking the man who was living in the house.
I had the pleasure to listen to Mr. Le'Pre, a small little man who had survived both the death of his wife and 11 feet of water in his house. We sat down and talked as much as we worked that day. At first I was disappointed, cause I had an itch to work and rebuild. But after listening to his stories, and his guitar performance, the time spent hanging around with Mr. Le'Pre seem to be just as important as fixing his light switches. Back at camp, people shared similar experiences, and it was noted that a major part of the job was to connect with the community.

Another Work Day

Introduction
Begging the official work week, our team split up and got to work. We worked in generally the same houses as Saturday, doing the same jobs. Sadly, I cannot report on each teams activities every day. So for most of the work days I'll probably just give a few pictures snagged from the job sites. On a side note, I've shrunk the pictures, so hopefully those with dial up should be able to view the pictures easier.

Devestation and New Orleans

Introduction
For our day off, the whole team drove down to New Orleans to see the sights. After scooting home just in time for the orientation meeting, dinner was at Chili's. Because the meal went until 10:30, I wasn't able to fully update the blog until the next day. I've put the destruction pictures into a slide show, so you won't be able to see the full size images until we get back.


Daily Activities
On the way there, we drove through mile after mile of desolate beach front property, with the remains of a house here and there. Further inland we saw deserted shopping centers, businesses, and dozens of empty apartment blocks.
Click this link to see the slide show.

Or watch it here:



Getting to New Orleans we had a bit of a tussle with the map, but thankfully we got to our parking lot without any punches thrown. There were many strange shops, including this one, which had a statue of a "hurricane survivor".

After a delicious lunch with the whole group at "The Gumbo Shop", we split off in different directions. Most watched some comedic break dancing street performers, and most of the group stopped in at "Cafe le'monde" for some French donuts (beignets).
For Scott, it was his first time eating at the famous coffee house. Jim and Alec K. had been here before and advised on a portion of six per person. Following the doctor's orders, Scott got the half dozen. Amazed at the large bag of powdered sugar with some good ol' deep fried dough, Scott and the rest of the table dug in. In the end, there was a whole bag of left overs, and everyone was covered from nose to toes in the sugar. Scott, flustered with his amount of pastries, had this to say, "What's a doctor and his kid know about ordering beignets?".



Other than that, the group just enjoyed the sights.


The car ride to and from was about an hour and a half. Riding in our 15 passenger van, the back seats weren't too comfortable on the worn down roads.


We got home at 7 o'clock, just in time for orientation speech from the camp leaders, Irene and Ed. They gave us a touching story of surviving the storm's aftermath that can only understood coming from the victims. No insurance, no communication, no jobs, and no help. The final point of the message, was that their are two kinds of government. The first is the Federal government, which can never provide the right help in time because of the bureaucracy. More importantly, the second government, the government that was formed 200 years ago, the people. That was the government that saved D'Iberville, and it's the same government that this group is a part of.

Orientation went till 9:30, leaving us just enough time for diner. We split and went to either Chili's or Sonic burger. It was a good end to a packed day.

First Day of Work

Introduction
Our group got the first taste of "the experience". Twenty one people, working from 9 till nearly 5, on four different houses. From windows to tiling, the whole group went to work.

Group 1
Alec K., Ray L., Micheal, and Jim K. cleaned out Ms. Ruby Bradeford's home. Her tiles are moldy, their were exterior light problems, and a number of other problems. After working hard in the morning, she offered them a full meal of pork chops and mashed potatoes. At the end of the day, they've cleaned up and tore out the old tiles - as well as re-wired the outdoor lights and hung the large 5 foot mirrors.



Group 2
Ms. Paula house had cracked windows held up with strips of duct tape. Micheal B., Edna R., Mitchell W., Wes M., and the Spences. We replaced four interior sliding and a humongous living room windows.





Group 3
Norm, Scott, Jim Z., Deanna L. were assigned to Ruth's house. Caulking, electrical work, and installing a 36 inch door into a 34 inch opening was all done. The door created a mass of engineering headaches, but was unavoidable due to lack of materials.

Group 4
Last but not least, Casey and Kelly S., Jay P., and David H. worked on the final house. They hung 3 doors, did sheet rock work, and put on the first coat of mud.



End of the Day
We ended with a trip to Sonic Restaurant for shakes and some fellowship.

It was discovered that Edna had developed a black eye from a caulking gun that had fallen from a latter. She assures us she doesn't feel a thing and is still excited to go back to work on Monday.


After Sonic, a card game was held in one of the tents. Those not involved in the game were either taking it easy, in conversation with other members, or typing up a blog entry.

Day One

Introduction
This is the first official post for the D'Iberville blog, split up into the Introduction, Daily Activities, Messages from members, and my personal take on the trip. There will usually be pictures, that you may click for a full size view. At the bottom of the posts, there is a link to a page where you may comment or leave messages for the team members. I hope to keep a high level of quality and content each post - but we'll have to play it by ear, as I cannot predict how strenuous this experience may turn out to be.

Daily Activities
It was a long day - 4am Pacific Time to 11pm Central Time. The whole team met at the airport, 5:15 sharp at the curb suitcases in hand. After a few farewells from family members in pj's, the group checked in and zipped through security without a hitch. Just before we boarded, John gave us a quick pep talk using this quote he found on his starbucks' cup:
During the flight, most occupied themselves in conversation with the other members or made an attempt to catch up on the missed sleep. After we landed in our final destination, we were pleased to find that all of our luggage made it as well.

The three rented vans arrived shortly after that we loaded into ourselves and our gear. Driving through Biloxi to D'Iberville, the town was salted with shiny new buildings contrasted by wrecked empty buildings. The memory of destruction wasn't prominent as we drove down the highway, but it was obvious something was wrong as the town was lacking residents. The local Wal-Mart was still thriving though. This was where we took a short detour to pick up a few vital items such as sleeping bags, bottled water, and girl scout cookies.

Just down the road was our camp. Pulling in, the 50 or so forest green army tents gave us a dreary welcome. Inside however, a wood floor and wall heater gave us a warm welcome. Just after dropping our bags, we ate a "family style" spaghetti dinner with the other 130 visitors.

After that we attended the farewell ceremony dedicated towards a group from Virginia that just finished doing what we are about to take on. Several members from the Virginia group had previously chatted with of us. All spoke the same message, "This is an experience".
We gathered in one of our four tents for our own meeting, led by an enthusiastic John Clum. He assigned us our tasks for tomorrow, splitting up our group into four teams. Some will be working on the windows project from the fund raiser at New Day. Others have jobs such as tiling a utility room, or installing and shimming up doors.
Tomorrow is sure to be an "experience", as the previous group from Virgina was talking about. As people take their evening showers and head in for the night, there is an air of anticipation shared between the tents.

Messages

Hey from Jay, love ya. Jay
Hi Tommy Ann - Miss you & happy Anniv
The Gators are after me! Mike B.
It's a wet heat! Casey S.
Where's Scott's mute button? Unknown
Hi from Jimmy Z
Made it Edna R.
The Waffle House rocks! Jim K.
Hey wow, this is cool Alec K.
I love it when a plan comes together John C.

See you all when I get back
Love you Danielle and Family Micheal C. F.

It was like we never left Ron D.
Ya, it's good to be back Scott H.

Tonight (Friday, our first night) our team was treated to an end-of-the-week celebration for the 130 volunteers that ere here the previous week. We watched slides of home after home that the work teams rebuilt & improved. D'Iberville is a community that is being rebuilt. We gained a sense of the unity that these workers experienced believers from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Texas, and many other places shared what fun and blessing they all experienced.
It helped me better understand why we came all this way to Mississippi. These dear departing folks came here to work. They accomplished so much. WE all hope that our upcoming week of work would also go well. Mike B.

Personal Reflection (Mitchell Wittenberg - Blog Author)

During the 5 hour flight, I thought about why I choose to go on this mission trip. My conclusions weren't conclusive, and my mind isn't sure yet. The closest thing to an answer that I came up with, was that I desired a change from the norm. Not to say that my life is boring, but that my 'yearly routine' doesn't seem to cut it anymore.
So, I made the choice to go - and even now I've been doing things out of my standard lifestyle.
This week was supposed to be my midwinter break. That used to mean going to friends houses or just hanging around the house. Instead, I spent my time studying and completing the material that I'm going to miss during my week away from school. My dull mood that mid-winter break normally leaves me with was replaced by a sense of fulfillment. After conquering Shakespeare, the Constitution, Human Genealogy, Louis and Clark, and Geometry; while still going to a few parties gave me evidence of my accomplishments. And I hadn't even left for the trip yet - this was just preparation.

Operation "Hope"

For the Team's first official project, we took on a local church member's house by cleaning up the yard and fixing up the bathroom.




(Click Thumbnails for Full Size)

The day was divided up into three 5 hour shifts. Everything from cutting down rotten trees to demolishing a mold infested bathroom was accomplished.