This morning after breakfast seven people from our team went over to work on an industrial office building that needs to be reconstructed and finished 'mucking it out'. That means shoveling up junk! The office building is considered commercial, not residential, but this camp was allowed to work over there with permission. The storm really hit hard over there and left a huge mess. The group that went over to help today took sack lunches and I assume they will be back by dinner time, which is at 6 pm. The people that went today are: Caleb, Carter, Bruce, Tim, Aaron, Ellen and Jane.
That leaves me (Charlene), Dave, Dwayne and Joe back here at camp. Since breakfast Dave has still been working vigorously on the back hoe trying to dig trenches for the electrical work that needs to be done. I think he also wants to get the foundation laid for cement to be poured to make adequate side walks, but that will be later on in the week. Joe and Dwayne are diligently working as a team on the women's shower house today. Yesterday they did the boy's showers and today they are doing the same thing for the girls. They need to lay the floor boards down correctly as it was not done properly the last time. This morning I cleaned the inside bathrooms, the port-o-potties, took out the trash, picked up liter from outside, restocked the fridge and freezer with water, swept, and did some laundry. They have thousands of work gloves in bins and hundreds of work boots in the dinning hall area here. It is amazing and wonderful to think that all of these supplies are being used! And after they are used they need washing (that has been keeping me busy today)! So the gloves go in a huge bucket with bleach water and sit for at least an hour. Then they are washed in the washer and hung up to dry. The boots were power washed and turned upside down to dry. They lay in the spaces between the huge wooden crates. If their are ever holes in the gloves or boots they use duct tape to repair them until they are no longer usable.
The fabulous kitchen workers have been feeding us well (buffet style). Monday for breakfast (7 am) we had pancakes, oatmeal, biscuits and gravy, cereal, juice, milk, and fresh fruit to choose from! For lunch yesterday (noon) we had sloppy-joes and corn and fresh fruit. For dinner last night and today's lunch we had white rice and white beans with sausage mixed in with the beans. And Tabasco sauce goes on EVERYTHING down here, but at your choice of course! :o]Last night served with the beans and rice was sweet potatoes and chocolate pudding. For lunch today we had collared greens (spinach-like) and brownies served with the beans and rice. For today's breakfast we had grits (oh yes!), waffles, cereal, juice, milk, fresh fruit and biscuits and gravy to choose from! I am not sure what will be served for dinner tonight. I think we might be headed to Bourbon Street this evening, but that is set firmly in Jello!
I wish I could tell you what we did last night but I fell asleep at 7:30 pm and didn't wake up until this morning! Dave tells me that most everyone watched the basketball game, played cards and did a devotional during half time. Around 5 pm we are done working and can get cleaned up for dinner. Most people who work 9 am - 5 pm jobs, shower in the morning. Not here! Larry (the maintenance man) told us we could if we wanted to but he said that you will be sweating and dirty ten minutes later. And he is right! So most people get cleaned up before dinner then they have the evening to themselves.
From the camp you can see a six story apartment building from here. It had hardly no damage from the storm and could have been used again for renters. However, Ellen (Larry's wife) told us that drug lords and gangs went in and spray painted everywhere and did so much destruction that it cannot be used at this time. We often hear sirens, trains, traffic and lawn equipment going off and on every now and then here at camp.
I don't think the bugs have been to bad since we have been here (knock on wood). They have down here what they call the "no see 'em" bug/insect. You cannot see it, you cannot feel it, but it leaves it's mark! It appears to be a mosquito bite and gets red and itches. I am not sure if any of our team has been bit.
Each day we write down the hours we worked and what we did, similar to a time sheet. This is because Katie turns them into the company they work for and they get looked over and then submitted to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). FEMA credits the state of LA 17.50 for every volunteer hour worked. In 2006 Camp Hope, Slidel, and Peace (camps) earned over 3 million dollars in credit. This amount will be reduced from the debt that LA is in because of the storm.
Many homeowners who need work done on their homes can fill out an application and it will be submitted and looked over to see which camp has the man power and skills to meet their needs. Once the application is submitted they must go through a case manager to see if they qualify for (funding) aid. The camps are more likely to help out those who have their own funding established and who are able to provide their own materials. The camp provides the free labor! :)
The camps supplies are mainly donated. Their supporters who fund them are LCMS (Lutheran Church Missoury Synaod) and ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) and through private donations.
I hope to get more pictures uploaded for all of you. Hopefully the group of seven takes some good snapshots of the office building so you can see what they were doing today. Oh, it looks like the group just pulled in...they look exhausted! My husband, Caleb just said that the building was a huge disaster! I will have to write more on their experiences later....!
Thank you again for your prayers and support. We are having a lot of fun, making lasting memories, learning more about what happened down here and just so glad to be here! Enjoy your evening!
In His Grip,
Charlene
Phil. 4:13
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