On Palm Sunday, ten members and friends of SSPC travelled to New Orleans to help in the relief effort. Watch this page for updates from the team during the trip.

Maundy Thursday, April 13 - Todd

Dear South Salem Presbyterian Church,

It is the last day of work for the trip and the second to last day of our time in New Orleans. Tomorrow we are going sight seeing. We have had such a great time! You would be amazed at that amount of work we have completed with the amount of time we have had.

I want to try to explain the type of work we have been doing in New Orleans. Every day the teams from South Salem and Fox Chapel (our partnering work group and living companions) go to two different work sites with about 20 people in each site. Today we worked at a two story house...yes I know, I know it's big, but we only had to work on the first floor as the second floor wasn't affected.

During our first few minutes there I had a talk with the owner of the house and he had quite a story to tell. During the Hurricane, he and his wife were in the house on the second floor with canned food, a radio, and sleeping bags. This man didn't want to leave his house because he had built this house with his own hands. Unfortunately his three dogs did not make it.

The work we did in the house today was removing the wood paneling, and we thought that was easy enough...but there is a catch. We had to remove the paneling just to find that there was also dry wall on the other side of the wood panels that needed to be removed. So we went in with hammers and our other tools and got to work. We started by removing the framing of the doors. We hammered in and pried all the walls in the house, around the doors and all. Parts of the wall were really soft from the water, so soft that you could punch it lightly and the wall would easily break. We also removed the cabinets in the kitchen, the sink, appliances, and we cleared all the bathrooms: tile, toilets, tubs, sink, cabinets, mirrors, etc. The house was 'gutted' or cleared of only supporting boards and frame, a floor, and the outside structure. No furniture remained, nor walls, or anything else. If you looked into the house, you could see through to the other side when before it was just room by room. A lot of work!

One of the nasty things that happened when we were clearing the kitchen was when I hit the cabinets with the hammers to remove them and I got a face full of that lovely New Orleans flood water that had stayed in the drawers since the hurricane. Nasty! I was sooo happy that I was wearing my mask when it happened.

After the kitchen stuff was out and we had cleared the dry wall we went on to removing nails and carting out the dry wall in wheel barrels. The entire floor of the house was covered by boards, appliances, dry wall, nails, doors, insulation, you name it. We must have brought out a few hundred wheelbarrows and trash cans to clear it all out. And with the seven houses our team and our neighboring team from Fox Chapel gutted this week, that's a lot of work!!!

So by now we have a huge pile of stuff outside the house that we had removed from the house and we were feeling very confident about finishing it up. Dry wall was done. Wood panels gone. And most of the nails were removed. The pile of 'trash' outside the house was huge, as it was in every other house we gutted.

The City of New Orleans is truly disabled and the ease of life we find in South Salem is nothing in comparison to how hampered systems are in New Orleans that we take for granted: electricity, transportation, phone, water, insurance, stores being open, etc. Some parts of the city just are not functional.

We ended our day near 4 PM which is our required time to end. We start every day at 9 AM.

I think this trip has been a AMAZING experience for all of us. Everyone has had such a good time and all have worked so hard together. We really are a team working and living together in EVERYTHING! It's so awesome. And it has impacted our lives.

I personally have felt a restoration in my faith in God because all we have met, even ourselves, have been soo giving in their time, help, and friendship. The New Orleans citizens have been especially special, even though they had been through such a horrific disaster. We just felt such support and care from all of them. And everyone admits that we have worked harder than any of us felt we could so we know that we had some help from a greater power.

It has been a great trip and I can't wait to get home and show you all what we have learned out here in New Orleans! So we'll see y'all real soon...

More tomorrow...

-Todd and everyone from New Orleans 4/13/06

Wednesday, April 12 - Katie

Words can not express the feelings and wide range of emotions I have experienced through out this life altering trip to New Orleans.

Yesterday we worked on two houses one of which I was able to meet the owner. A sweet and kind elderly man; he brought us all a sense of great accomplishment, like we were really making a difference, and we could see in the home owners eyes how grateful he was. I just can not explain it; the beauty of human nature is so prevalent you can really see it.

Another amazing experience of this trip has been making new friends with a group from Fox Chapel in Pittsburgh, PA, about 30 in number, mostly youth. They are all so great and we are like one big happy family now it's truly stunning. Everyone is really hard workers as well, everyone has each others back; "Katie, have you taken a break yet, drink more water, let me help you!" We have accomplished so much in the past few days, physically as well as emotionally; I am very proud of what we had done.

Katie Orban - 12th grade at John Jay
South Salem Presbyterian Church

Monday, April 10 - Avis

Our night went well except Joseph had a pretty good gash on his left leg from a fence in an accident. It was so bad that he went to the ER at Turoso Hospital where he received six staples to close the huge wound. There was only one doctor there in the late evening. Every ER here is understaffed due to people leaving the city because of the hurricane. We even asked if we could go to the other hospital at Tulane University hoping that they would have quicker service. We were told by the staff though that it is even more understaffed! We heard from the ER staff that New Orleans was known to be a population of half a million people and estimates now say there are only a few hundred. Joseph is well now and our group was with him during the five hours he was in the ER. Joseph stayed behind the group today due to his injury but we expect him to be with us again soon. Joseph had the opportunity to get to know some of the St. Charles Avenue Church's staff during his resting time.

Our morning was great! We woke up very early and went downstairs for breakfast at 9:30 AM New Orleans time, 10:30 AM New York time.

We then headed over to the worksite and on our way saw the Super Dome. The top was demolished as seen on TV. Much of the town looked like a ghost town. There was barely any activity or movement. Our drive through the city allowed us to see more of the salvaged homes and businesses. Many of the businesses have signs saying "Now open" indicating that they were closed for some time. And the good news to top this off is that they also say "Now hiring."

The work we did was hard, but when I saw all the young people helping it gave me the hope that nothing is too hard. We worked at a house that was damaged by the hurricane. It was wonderful to see all the Presbyterians cooperate together.

There were two groups on two sites. Our group demolished the walls, took out the nails, took out cupboards, and took all the debris to the side of the road. The debris was so much that it extended a few hundred feet! Jonah and Bill transported lunch to the other group who were thrilled to be refreshed. We worked from 9 AM to 4 PM and we expect to go back to the same house tomorrow to finish up that job.

The dinner we had tonight was great! We ate rice, beans and pork, sausage, salad, fruits, ice T and lemonade and ice cream and cookies for dessert!

One thing I can tell you is that Jonah keeps us on our heels and toes! We have devotions and sessions in the morning and evening which helps the group to pull along and it prepares us for the day.

During our reflection time tonight, Grace shared that she spoke to the sister of the owner of the house that we were at today. The sister was very grateful for our help and she said that the owner really wanted to relocate back to New Orleans and was so grateful that we were helping her to do that. We found some things still left in the house that we didn’t throw away, but kept for the owner of the house because we thought she might find them well as memorabilia.

Nick shared that while he was tearing down the kitchen he felt very sad that a lot of good New Orleans food used to be cooked in that kitchen and it reminded him that this house used to be a home and was no more, at least for now.

Bill asked "how we would feel if this was our house." We said we would be thankful for the help.

Emily said it was "rewarding to be a part of rebuilding New Orleans." Todd enjoyed "doing some good work in his hometown." Jonah said that "it was encouraging to work as a team." I said "it was great to be here in New Orleans and doing such a great job."

Our Scripture tonight was Leviticus 14:32-43 and was about cleaning a house.

We'll be in touch tomorrow with some more good news.

-Avis Blacker and the South Salem Presbyterian Church New Orleans Mission Team

Palm Sunday evening, April 9 - Nick

Dear South Salem Presbyterian Church,

We start our journey at the airport: getting on the plane was good, getting off the plane and getting our luggage wasn't too bad. It took some time to get the rental cars but gave us some time to call back home and check in, also gave us some time to talk to each other.

We finally made it to the house, which is very beautiful, very big, with nice rooms and a nice porch. As we enter the house we find all these bunk beds with all this gear and no people. After we settled in, and decided to get some lunch, all the other people came. Greeting us with friendly smiles and hellos, we found out that they were from Pittsburgh, PA. As we get in the car looking for something to eat, we go downtown, driving, we stop at this bar and sandwich place, and was greeted with a friendly lady who I think had too much to drink. We get back in our cars and look for more restaurant to eat. With our stomachs growling we decided to get some fried chicken at Popeyes.

As we start to leave Popeyes, Mr. Whittemore realizes that his bag was missing! His wallet and his black berry was there and we were all very worried. After searching high and low, we almost gave up until an angel came and saved the day. While at Popeyes someone picked up his bag and walked off with it. A person named Craig followed the suspect's people without knowing who the bag belonged to and told them that it was his bag! The villains dropped the bag and ran. Craig, not even looking in the bag, comes back to the restaurant and reports the bag to the clerk, right when were about to leave! Craig and one of the workers came out to give Mr. Whittemore back the bag. We shouted for joy and saw it as a reminder of despair turning into hope, a true New Orleans story.

We head back home and listened to a meeting by the director. Later, the other group went to the park while we stayed back to finish unpacking and to do some group reflection, After getting to know each other a little more through a activity and devotion led by Jonah we settle back, enjoy the sunset, and relax like real New Orleans people. Tomorrow, our work sites begin.

Sincerely,
Nick Schede

Palm Sunday morning, April 9 - the sendoff

Early on Sunday morning, the team assembled at the church to load the vans and head to the airport. Pastor Nadine said a blessing, Jonah offered a prayer, and they were off, carrying palm leaves and brownies.

The team is ready!


Both vans were packed to the brim

Saturday, April 8

On the eve of our Youth's trip to New Orleans there is much to think about. What to pack...what work to complete here at home before leaving for a week...what relationships will be formed amongst our team members...who we will encounter in New Orleans...what they really need from us...how desparate is the community after such a disaster like Hurricane Katrina...and, will our work there really make a difference?

I have a hard time comprehending the work involved in rebuilding a city. Even the question arises of why do it when another disaster could most certainly happen again.

All of these questions for now don't have answers for me.

I look forward to exploring them with my team members and the new friends we are bound to make in the City of Hope, the City of Disaster, the City of a great Soul, the City of New Orleans. From what whispers I have heard, there is hope and surely a collective cry that yearns to be heard, and a people who yearn to have a second chance at their life.

The hard work we do will physically make a minimal impact. But for now, I see the power of our work to be in the presence of our Spirit. I sense a spiritual renewal, for us and for them, in the new relationships we forge that is symbolized in the labor we do.

For my team members, I ask for your prayers: Prayers for safe travel, prayers for understanding of people's almost irreversible situations, and prayers for us to work hard in rebuilding hope in New Orleans.

Serving Together in Faith,
-Jonah J. Yamokoski
Youth Leader