Work Day 3

Our Day Three bloggers are Cassie Miolene, Christian Sottosanti & Hannah Dougherty:

Cassie

One of the many privileges that each of us get to experience on this trip, is the incredible feeling of making progress.  Today, we got to progress with each wall that was finished and each door that was painted while at the same time growing our relationships with each other.  As we pulled up to the house in the morning to see a new group being told what to do, we felt like pros and it was a humorous example of how far I’ve felt we have come in such a short amount of time.  As we finished siding the last wall, our pride grew as we were able to visualize what we had put our work into for another person’s comfort.  With each board that was measured, each nail hammered, and each hammer to the finger, I was pushed to overcome frustrations that lead us to success.  Each time I took a moment to look around at what everyone was doing, everyone was laughing, working, or both.  It’s incredible to see the foundation of teamwork when each person takes responsibility for a certain job as we work towards the same goal.  As each of us were doing different jobs and trying different things, we were able to overcome struggles and put in effort to reach a sense of what this amazing city has gone through in these past years.

Christian

Today, our group had the pleasure of an individual tour around many vantage points throughout the beautiful city of New Orleans.  The journey started as we made our way into the Lower Ninth Ward, the area of New Orleans struck the hardest by Katrina.  The tour permitted us to witness first hand the devastating effects the storm had on the entire city, primarily this section.  To think that areas were flooded with water ten feet and higher is unreal, especially considering how rare that seems in a place like Stamford.  The image of ten feet of water was so vivid in my mind and I began to somewhat experience a fraction of the trauma that the people of New Orleans were forced to endure.  The houses built in the Lower Ninth were amazing, and gave a unique aspect to the new homes in the area.  You could tell just driving by how appreciative the homeowners were of their incredible houses, even years after the disaster.  In our experience driving through the city, we encountered a homeless man with a sign describing his condition.  The man was clearly hungry, and had a hopeless look on his face.  Carrying the sign attributing his state of being to hurricane Katrina made me feel extremely bad and hopeless, in that I was unable to help him.  At the same time, it made me feel good because I know I’m working hard to help people like him get back on their feet.

Hannah

After the exciting (yet uncomfortably sweaty) tour of the city, we washed up and headed to Nancy and Parke Ellis’ home for a delicious home cooked meal.  The moment I stepped into the house, I was immediately overcome with a homey sense of Southern hospitality.  We mingled in the backyard area next to a sparkling pool. Jim said, “This can be yours too if you don’t screw things up!”  Thanks, Jim!  But truly, the home was BEAUTIFUL.  We dined on strawberry salad, fried chicken, and macaroni and cheese – yum.  As the girls were gathered inside away from the guys, we decided to pull a little prank on them.  We asked Nancy to hide the king cake (an irresistible treat enjoyed during the Mardi Gras season) and to tell the guys that we had ate it all.  Christian was flabbergasted, Osbyn plummeted into disbelief asking, “How many pieces did you all eat?!”, and Geralyn (unaware of the prank as well) was rather annoyed with us.   The night was filled with unabashed laughter, two friendly puppies, and one too many pictures on the veranda.  The past few days have consisted entirely of genuine moments such as these.  Wherever I am in my life, I can reach back in my memory and relive these times.  Doing this allows me to feel whole.  This wonderful group of people allows me to identify more strongly with my sense of self.  New Orleans has become home.

And in closing, some randoms . . .

Thank you for your prayer support - keep it coming!
We are relying on it!