New Orleans Trip - Matt Bean

My experience in New Orleans was one I will never forget. I was able to help people who were in desperate need of getting help. I was also able to learn about a grave disaster that we all thought was finished and cleaned up. I didn’t know what to expect as I headed to New Orleans that early Sunday morning. I thought it was going to be mostly fixed up. It had been a year and I had not heard much talk on the news about New Orleans. I was open to the new experience, but really had no idea what it would be like.

We landed in the New Orleans airport and went to the vans. On the drive I saw that nothing looked out of place— the road and the houses around it were fine. As we drove along, I started to notice a huge change. We headed into what was called the 9th Ward. The place was shocking. The houses were beat up and the spray paint was still on them from when the rescuers had come through. I knew right then there was still a lot of work left to be done.

The next day was when I met our home project owner, Ms. Melanie. She showed our group pictures of the house and the area that was hit the worst. I watched as she showed us the pictures of what her house used to look like. I knew we could get her house back to the way it was before the hurricane. We started working that day. We began working on the sheet rocking. I had done this type of work before and we all picked it up quickly.

Our group was the hardest working crew I had ever seen. The only time we complained was if the Americore people were sleeping in or if there was a job that didn’t require everyone’s help. We worked fast and hard and by the end of the day finished sheet rocking everything that we could before the plumber finished. Ms. Melanie could not have been nicer. She kept bringing drinks out for our cooler. She always wanted to know if we needed anything and always allowed us to use her private bathroom in her R.V.

The next day I learned something that made me even more proud to be working for Ms. Melanie. I learned from the Americore people that Ms. Melanie was paying for her own supplies. Usually the government paid for the flood survivors houses. I was shocked and very pleased to help out a lady that refused help she didn’t need. I believe we need a lot more people with that kind of attitude in this world. I never wanted to work harder in my life. That day we finished mudding and tapping the house and stared to sand. The place was starting to come together. Another thing I noticed was my group was starting to come together. We were looking out for each other and working extremely well as a team. We were finding new ways to help each other out.

The next day we were really starting make major progress on the house. We had sanded the entire house and finished sheet rocking the area the plumber had finished up. As a group we were learning to help each other out. People who didn’t know each other extremely well were sweating, singing, and doing work like we had known each other all our lives. That day was a very memorable day.

At lunch we all headed outside to get our pack lunches and Ms. Melanie surprised us. She had made shrimp gumbo for us. Shrimp gumbo had never tasted better than it did that day. We had been eating peanut butter and jelly for 3 or 4 days. We never complained and were happy for the food, but the shrimp gumbo she made that day was amazing. What was even more amazing was that 10 hungry men couldn’t even finish all of the food that she had made for us. We went back to work determined to work even harder for the woman who had just filled our stomachs with warm, delicious food.

The next day part of our group helped with rebar for the new church. It was by far the hardest work we had done so far. As we had been the entire trip we were lighthearted and ready to take on any challenge. We had to make rectangular structures out of the rebar. It took one man cutting, two men bending and five or six tying them up to create each structure. It was hot in the shop, but the entire time we worked and never gave up. The group was always together, each man working as hard as the next.

The overall experience was a great one. I worked hard and never felt better about working for no pay. I thought it showed the true character of the team the way we came together worked as hard as we did and never gave up. The whole team was better by us going down to New Orleans. I was amazed at the quality of work my group was able to accomplish. I think the entire trip was a learning experience for everyone. The team bonded and helped people who needed it the most.