Carl & Roy
LeeDear First Congregational Members!
This is one of the correspondents here in New Orleans that you commissioned at the worship service on April 26. We have been here from Saturday till today and have 4 more days to go. We are engaging the culture, the people, the stories, and each other. Your blessings on us have yielded even more blessings on our journey.
On Saturday a group of us went to the usual Kenner’s Seafood Restaurant which is near the airport. They greeted us with open arms for we have been going there since we started coming to New Orleans to help in the rebuilding. That is 7 times. In fact, one of us had on the Kenner Seafood Hat! It was tasty as usual and was immersion into the New Orleans culinary experience. The crawfish, catfish, fried eggplant, broiled oysters, and okra.
On Sunday we went to church, since this were we are staying, the St. Matthew’s UCC. We were almost enough to double the size of the congregation although one of us joined the choir which made the men’s section 3! We missed you all.
After church it was time for the full day at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. It was an overcast day with an abundance of musicians. All of us appreciated the variety. Highlights included the Los Lobos, Ellis Marsalis, Neil Young, a trumpeter named Jeremy Watkins who called one of his students who is 11 years old onto the stage and then loaned his own trumpet so the young man could play. The kid wailed on it. Brought the hundreds of people who were there to their feet. The slew of music settings were almost as diverse as the kiosks of food. The sweet potato pone was among the best.
Sunday night two groups went down to the French Quarter and enjoyed more music and the New Orleans cuisine. One of the groups went on the St Charles streetcar to the French Quarter.
When we arrived to the orientation for our first work day on Monday, we were ushered into a large room in the new St. Bernard Project building. There were at least 110 people there. 30 or so were Canadians. We heard the story of Frank White again, the man who stood on the roof of a bank with another couple hundred people for 6 days!!!! Until the Canadian Royal Mounted Police arrived in boats to rescue them. Frank, a Vet, and fireman, and a loyal American was profoundly upset that it took the U.S. team to arrive on the 7th day to help! It has taken years to build up trust in those who were deeply disappointed for the response to Katrina and the following rebuilding.
Then off to the work sites on Monday. We split into three groups to work in three different houses. Each group has different stories. However, the same theme is heard over and over. “Thank you for coming to help and thank you for not forgetting us.”
Especially as we drove that afternoon through the Lower Nine (where the Make It Right program sponsored by Brad Pitt has built creative, imaginative buildings) we could still the major devastation in the area. As we saw in St. Bernard Parish where we are working, there are now very few homes that are not yet mucked out, no huge piles of all the possessions of the home on the street, and although of the 27,000 homes that were totally flooded, barely half of them are being inhabited. This is almost 4 years since Katrina. St. Bernard Project with whom we are working, has rebuilt 207 homes to date. They are working on 30 of them right now. Since the CNN coverage and the Hero of the Year Award presentation to Liz McCartney one of the directors of St. Bernard Project there has been much more volunteer help and therefore more Americorps and staff have been hired.
There are more stories as you would imagine. It is still so very powerful to be here and see the work that has been done, AND the work that is yet to be done. Zack, the other director, indicated that it will be at least another 5 years before the work load for rebuilding will see the light at the end.
We have had some Cajun catfish for dinner the other night, prepared by one of our cooking crews using spices from Boulder! Like taking coals to Newcastle.
This is the first installment.
There are some photos, just of some of the group and our tour and our work!
Grace and peace,
Alan
Jean
Carl
Carl and Alan hard at work! 
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