PA 2014: Pipes & Plastic

Roger Beer has been volunteering in New Orleans with various organizations since early 2006, no more than 6 mos after Hurricane Katrina swept through the south.  He and his guys have seen this city at its worst, and assisted with its journey back to being habitable and functioning for its residents.  Having worked through each stage of recovery, from removing debris from homes to gutting and reconstruction, these men have stepped into the realm of finishing work and progressing projects that will make our neighborhoods better than they were before the hurricane.
This year, accompanied by Smoke, Dave, and Gary, Roger spent the first few days hanging the front and back doors at Mr. Earl Millaud’s home, finishing a significant task in the process of returning to his home.  With doors on and locks in place, the house will be safe for him to live in.  He just has a few remaining touches to finish up now…

Next in line was the hooking up of the new 2500 gallon water tank at Garden on Marais- the second to be put in place to catch rain water to be used in watering the plants.  Roger’s team installed the first tank 2 years ago, including digging the trenches and installing the piping system to give access to the water on various spots at the garden.  Now, thanks to these guys, the second tank is ready and just waiting to be used during the hot summer months that are just around the corner!

Also at the garden site is the hoophouse which, since the last major storm that moved through New Orleans, is without its plastic covering.  Because it is not a climate controlled structure, it cannot be used to grow year-round unless a venting system is put in place.  It just so happens that some wonderful people from Illinois designed and made vents the week prior to Roger’s team!  The task for Roger’s team was putting the vents up and covering the structure with the plastic.  Not an easy task!  They succeeded though, and we are getting plans lined up to begin using the newly vented and covered hoophouse in the coming weeks.

Roger’s team ended the week working with Pastor Jose at Phillipi Evangelical COGIC hanging siding on their children’s building… on one of the coldest days New Orleans has experienced in a very, very long time!

IU Rings in the New Year!

Indiana University sent their 4th crew of volunteers the first full week of January, kicking off the 2014 stream of volunteers for HisHands2Go.  Still celebrating their Christmas break, these students hopped on a commercial bus and drove the 12 hrs it takes to get from Bloomington, IN to New Orleans.  During their week with HisHands2Go, they experienced a record cold streak in the south… not quite what they were hoping for as an escape from the negative temperatures at home!  They were troopers though, working just as hard through the cold as ever.

This team focused their labor on a few different sites:  Mr. Earl Millaud, Ms. Polk, Phillipi Evangelical COGIC with Pastor Juan, Garden on Marais, and a demolition job on Jasmine St.  This list = a tremendous amount of work accomplished by some pretty terrific college students.  Here is brief list of the work these guys and gals accomplished at each site:

Mr. Earl Millaud’s home: 
sanded floors, and did some caulking and trim work

Ms. Polk’s home:  scraped and painted the outside of the house

Phillipi Evangelical COGIC children’s building: put up vinyl siding and some roof work

Garden on Marais:  spread soil and dug the long rows that will soon hold seeds to grow delicious produce.  Spring planting here we come!  (one lady joked that the rows looked like shallow graves for snakes!  Hopeful we don’t have any that large around here

Mr. Mike Durr’s home:  demolition!  dismantled and tore down a shed in the back yard as well as pulled down the ceiling sheetrock inside the home.

Now while the IU team was experiencing a record cold streak, they also were attempting to set a record of their own… and two men succeeded.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am referring to the spaghetti and meatball challenge!  A record of 55 was set by a UCF student in 2012.  In 2013 a young midwestern woman upped the bar to 60.  And now, in January of 2014, two strapping young men from Indiana University tied at 70 meatballs!  Congratulations gentlemen… on packing your bellies full of meat!

Raggedy Ann and Handy

More and more HisHands2Go is privileged to host college and university students from around the country and, by default, around the globe.  The University of Central Florida has been sending volunteers to work with HisHands2Go through their Alternative Break Program since March of 2011.  They have been such a joy to work with!

This year 10 women spent the week before Christmas working hard at Garden on Marais dismantling the raised garden beds and spreading that soil throughout the plot of land.  This project of tilling, spreading, and preparing the land for planting has been a long process, requiring much patience and hard labor.  Countless volunteers have worked to prepare the soil for this occasion, and these ladies were able to move the work along in a significant way!  We look forward to having them back some day to see the garden functioning in the community.  Thanks again ladies for all your hard work!

In addition to coming to volunteer their labor, these kind ladies brought along the donation of nearly 100 hand-made rag dolls to donate to a women and children’s shelter in New Orleans.  The dolls are beautiful, and will serve a beautiful purpose in the lives of their new owners.

I Wonder as I Wander

I wonder as I wander around my house, just how much longer will this confinement be!?  Rather than cabin fever we're experiencing shotgun fever...  Southern Louisiana is experiencing a winter storm.  All of the bridges and roads are closed due to a layer of ice coating the roadways.  All schools and nearly all businesses have been closed since Tuesday, and Mayor Landrieu is still asking that everyone stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.  All is relative when it comes to the severeness of weather.  The northern states are experiencing negative temperatures and several feet deep snow drifts, and southern Louisiana has a layer of ice on the roads, cars, and steps of the houses, yet people in both regions of the country react with the same amount of caution.  It has been an interesting experience indeed.  Give us southerners over 100 mph winds and a good solid storm and we're right at home- we know what to do.  But throw some cold temps our way and a bit of snow and ice, and we're lost!

A few tidbits that may prove interesting to you: the homes down south are mostly elevated at least a few feet, thus exposing the pipes of the homes to the elements.  Pipe bursting is a concern in cold temperatures any where, but here there is next to no protection for them.  Insulation is also a rarity in these homes, so the cold seeps its way through walls and floors much easier.  Many of the old southern homes were designed to keep the house cool in the hot weather... well let me tell you it doesn't work the other way around. 

On a lighter note, the New Orleans city officials have been doing a great job keeping things moving and keeping our residents safe.  Believe it or not, come Friday and Saturday we'll be basking in 70 degree weather!!  Spring will be here soon enough, and this will all be a fond memory.
In the meantime, we southerners get to cozy up in our homes and await the thaw that may or may not come tomorrow :)  We shall see.