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2009 High School Youth Group Trip

By Georgette Huie, Director of Youth Ministries & Children's Choir Leader

New Orleans: the city which really lives by its unofficial motto, "Let the good times roll!" It wasn't too long ago, during Hurricane Katrina, that our collective hearts wondered if the good times would ever roll again for this part of the country. When boats and barges and cars and houses landed on dry ground after the floods, it seemed as if any opportunity for a vibrant life was taken from tens of thousands of people in Louisiana and Mississippi. Just how do you clear a barge from the freeway, let alone the house that landed in your backyard?

Four years after Katrina, the roads are clear, debris is hauled away, and much of the toxic and mold-laden clean-up work has been done. Some buildings remain dilapidated and closed-up, but empty spaces where buildings once stood and new or rebuilt structures are more prevalent. Businesses are slowly reopening.

Even so, thousands of homes still need rebuilding, especially the homes of the elderly poor, or of those who were cheated out of their life savings by people posing as contractors. It is only through volunteer help that these residents even have a chance at getting their homes back.

So, from June 25 to July 2, the High School Youth Group of Saugatuck Congregational Church travelled to New Orleans to help rebuild homes which were completely submerged in the Katrina flood. Our group of 16 youth and 5 adults worked on two houses, one in the now infamous lower Ninth Ward, and the other in nearby Chalmette.

The Chalmette home was only beginning to look like a home on the inside, as empty wooden frames were being filled with insulation and as drywall (sheet rock) was being installed. Our group of teenagers learned quickly how to assemble and operate a lift, as their first challenge was to install sheet rock on the ceiling. This was not an easy job, for light fixtures and uneven beams had to be taken into account. The communities from which the youth come (Westport, Norwalk, and Fairfield) can be proud of how they grabbed the tasks at hand, applying problem-solving and creative skills and the sweat of their brows (literally — it was over 100 degrees and humid!) to measure, cut, install and finish the drywall, and to install insulation.

The elderly homeowners dropped by to visit and to say thanks. For them, this was a bittersweet time. Originally, these financially poor folks lived in a mobile trailer which was carried away in the flood. They received only $15,000 from insurance and/or the government — hardly enough to begin life anew. But by chance, they encountered someone who was more than happy to sell them a plot of now-ruined property for the $15,000. It is a sweet moment because they will own their own house for the first time in their lives, but bitter because of what they had to go through to get it.

The lower Ninth Ward home was nearing completion, as our group painted and textured its inside walls. Alexandra Walsh, a sophomore at Staples reflects, "My best experience in New Orleans was when on the last day of work we got to meet the homeowner that we were painting the house for after he lost his house due to Katrina. This was a very touching moment for me because he had said that his house was filled with water almost all the way to the top of the roof, and that dishonest people took a lot of his money. They took a lot of his money because he had to pay them in order for his house to be redone after it was totally demolished, and then they said they couldn't fix his home until other houses were rebuilt. The homeowner told me that he was very excited to meet the young people that were rebuilding his house for him, and that he was so blessed to be able to have people like us to do that kind of work for him."

Not a day went by when we weren't thanked by people in the streets, in stores and in restaurants — complete strangers who were genuinely grateful for our work and presence there.

While we gave of our time and labor, we were also given to: we received reminders of the importance of community, of times when we needed help and help was there; we witnessed human resilience and humble, heartfelt gratitude; we were reminded of the gift of God's earth and especially of the wetlands, so important in buffering hurricanes.

Aside from the work (which was our primary focus), Mission Trips such as this one provide tremendous opportunities for youth to learn and reflect about themselves and the world they live in. Ashanti Palma, a senior at Staples High School, says, "Personally, the mission trip to New Orleans was a wake up call for me. To witness the torn roofs, ripped off doors, and completely demolished homes first hand made me thankful for the things I have."

Alexandra Walsh says, "My whole experience in New Orleans was a life changing moment for me especially to see all of those houses that were still ruined from the horrible results of Hurricane Katrina. All of these Mission Trips and what I have done for the community has really helped me understand that it is really important to help those people out that are less fortunate then you are. A few examples of that are going on Builders Beyond Borders, and working with my dad, John, with his IHA work."

Olga Sidiropoulos, a junior at Norwalk High School and a friend of Alyssa Barone, wrote "I would also like to thank you for taking me along on the mission trip to New Orleans. It was an amazing experience and something that I will never forget all throughout my life."