I'm a "MUCKER"

Matt (Youth Director from New Mexico) and I are official Muckers (that's what the Lutheran Disaster Response calls those who clean out homes). This picture was taken after a day of cleaning. With the suits, boots , eye protection, and mask, it gets very hot.

I know it's been a couple of days, but I do have an excuse. My wireless card for my laptop is not functioning. I will get a replacement this weekend, until then I am using one of our leaders computers. We have had a lot of rain the last three days, but it hasn't stopped us from working. The Youth who came with Matt are great workers. On Tuesday we set out after breakfast and our official orientation, to the house where we would begin the long process of gutting, cleaning, and hopefully someday repairing. It was very hard just to decide where to begin. We spent most of that first day clearing weeds from the front and back yards. The work is slow and the humidity for us westerners is to much. (it was only 57%that day). Just after lunch we began to bring what were once treasured belongings, out of the house and onto the garbage pile. It felt very weird to be going through someones stuff and deciding what was worth saving (almost nothing), and what needed to be thrown away. The house we are working on is about 900 square feet, 1 bedroom, 1 bath. There was debris in all but one of the rooms. The floor in most of the house has collapsed and much of the drywall is down on the floor.

This pic was taken Tuesday after we cleared the yard and some of the belongings out of the house. The weeds were between three and four feet high.

The above pictures are from inside the house. As we began I think we were all overwhelmed with the task set before us. The incredible part is that this has been done in many homes thought the Gulf Region. The pic really don't do justice to what the folks are going through here or in other places throughout this planet when disaster of any kind strikes. I want to do my part, but what I seem to be able to do seems like so little. In this neighbor alone there are still many homes that have not been touched since Katrina hit almost 2 years ago. What's amazing are the "Drive by Greetings" that we get from residents who have returned. They are happy to see one of their neighbors houses being cleaned, because it could mean another friend will return. The people we have met so far have been very nice and they are pleased that we are here to help with the recovery.

Tuesday night the rain began, and it really didn't stop until just before noon today. Our crew spent most of Wednesday at the volunteer center making it ready for future volunteers. But today we headed back to the house. We were able to start about 10am and worked through the afternoon. We got most of the stuff out of the living room, and bathroom. We also got a good start on the kitchen and bedroom. It will take a few more days before we have it all cleaned out. My new friends from New Mexico will be leaving at the end of the weekend so I'll have to send them pics of the place once we get it all cleaned. We don't know if the house can be saved in the end, but we'll keep our fingers crossed. The last two pics for the day are of our trash pile and of me wearing on of the shirts that all the children from Trinity Luth. Manhattan Beach made for me.

It's Monday Night

It's been an interesting couple of days. I left James' House on Sunday early in the afternoon. It was a longer drive from Houston to New Orleans than I thought, it took almost six hours, (rain and accidents). I am at the Bethlehem Volunteer Center. It's located just a few miles away from the 9th ward. When I drove just north of the city to find the center I could see downtown off in the distance, it didn't look any different than I remembered 15 years ago. I didn't see any real damage until I drove through town with one of the centers workers this morning. It is incredible what has happened to the city and surrounding area. We drove through some areas where block after block had been destroyed. It was hard to imagine that there had been neighborhoods where now ther are only weeds and junk. Many homes have still not been cleaned out.
Katy (my guide) took me to the house that my team will be gutting out on tuesday. She told me the story of the man who lived there and as I walked into what's left of a house, I think for the first time I realized, that this person had lost everything material that he had accumilated in his long life to this storm and flood. It was heart breaking to stand there and see all of his stuff just sitting there in big piles on collaspsed floors covered with the fallen ceiling and dirt left from the mud that had dried a long time ago. I hope to have a chance to take some pictures and post them tomorrow, but I have to tell you after seeing hundres of pictures, it's really different seeing it in person. A youth group from Bethlehem Evangelical & Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church from Los Alamos, NM has joined me and will be here for the rest of this week. So even when I'm on Sabbatical I still get to work with kids.

Just visiting Family

One day until I head into New Orleans. This is a scene we didn't see in LA this year. I think more rain fell in Houston today, than the whole year in Southern California. It was quite refreshing. This pic is from a frontage road just north of the city. Tomorrow I will go to with my brother James and his family to Wheeler Ave. Baptist Church in Houston, the Pastor is Marcus Crosby. I don't think I've been to a Baptist church since my mothers funeral.

Today I went to my nephew, Roberts basketball games. He played well in the two games I saw, but his team lost by 30 in a game I didn't get to see. This pic is between games, he looks so excited. I'm really looking forward to getting to New Orleans tomorrow evening. I still have no idea exactly what I will be doing, but after talking to a resident of the city who was here at the basketball tournament, I know that anything that I do during the next 3 weeks, will be greatly appreciated. The one thing he wanted people to know, was that there is still a lot of work to do.

(mary I sent you my report, I may add to it this week)

aaron

Visiting My brother & his family

It's my nephew Robert, cleaning the bathroom for my visit. After another day of driving, (500 more miles) I made it to Houston. I'm visiting my brother and his Family. We got dinner at a Texas Barbecue restaurant and brought it home to eat. That's three days with big dinners. My stomach may never be the same. I can't wait till I get my first bowl of New Orleans Gumbo. I'm going to hang here until Sunday afternoon and then head on to New Orleans. My nephew Carl is Graduating from High School this weekend. Here he is on the phone with his girl friend.

James and I will be going with Robert to watch him play in a basketball tournament in the morning. I'm not sure what we'll do with the rest of the day, but I'm glad for a day of not driving. I just have about 5 more hours of driving to get to New Orleans. James & Ida with the boys at the house. It's nice to be with people after a few days of solitude in the van. I'm ready for New Orleans after this short break.

aaron

As you can see I had dinner at K-Bobs Steakhouse in beautiful Fort Stockton Texas. This place would not be friendly to you vegetarians. I had an uneventful 500 mile drive today, spending must of the day with my Ipod on schuffle. I must say I have a very wide range of musical taste. From Alicia Keyes- ZZtop. The topper of the day was a nice thunderstorm here in Fort Stockton. As I get closer to New Orleans my mind begins to wonder what I will be doing when I arrive. Will I really be able to make a difference. The problems just seem so big. I'm going to stop in Houston tomorrow to see my brother and his family. I'll have to eat a lot of veggies to off set the big ribeye I had for dinner tonight. The weather was great today. Low 80's throughout the drive, I still used the AC, after all I have become a Southern Californian. Me and my shoe have to go to bed now. Goodnight Gen, Erin, & Laura

aaron

The Adventure begins

The Journey began this morning at 8:30am pacific time. As I begin I would like to point out that I have never done anything like this before. A big thank you to Meghan for setting it up fo me. I did however figure out how to add pictures. I hope that my rants will be useful to someone.


I had an uneventful day of driving. I ended the day in Tucson AZ. I don't think I got everything finished before I left, but I'm sure my friend Sonya will make sure it all gets covered.



The picture is of my "Everybody Matters" shoe. In the background are the mountains east of Tucson. You may be seeing a lot of pictures of my shoe. Before I forget, I had my first deepfried taco tonight. It was good but I know it will sit on my stomach all night.


For those of you who do not know, I am on my way to New Orleans from Manhattan Beach, California. I will be spending 3 weeks working with Lutheran Disaster Relief. I don't know what I'll be doing, but I'm looking forward to helping as much as I can in the time that I will be in the city. That's it for now, just wanted to let you all know that I made it to Tucson, tomorrow I hope too make it to Ozona, TX.

aaron