Back from Nawlins

Well, I have made it back safely to the great state of Oklahoma. The trip was awesome plus a half. The group from SWOSU (Southwestern Oklahoma State University) was terrific. We all got along well. New memories and friendships were made that will last a lifetime... as well as being future Facebook friends.

In my mind, I was expecting a little of everything. I was expecting to see neighborhoods and houses beat up. But I didn't expect to see so much devastation still near a year later. I expected to see people there, but not this many. There was quite a lot of people in the city. But many of those were people doing clean-up.

We got to see the lower 9th Ward, which was one of the worst hit areas. Virtually EVERYTHING was destroyed. Houses moved from its foundation... Cars thrown INTO some of those houses... Boats scattered around the neighborhood. I did not expect to see what I saw there.

We "gutted" out houses in two different areas. The house I was at is pictured below:

This is a view from the back side of the house.

We spent 3 days gutting the whole house and the owner of the house showed up right about the time we were finishing. To hear her story made the whole trip worth it. Her husband and mother died just a couple of months after the hurricane hit. To say the least, she was emotionally drained. She had to stay in a hotel for 6 MONTHS with her kids with a toilet that barely worked. The people of New Orleans were so thankful of the work being done by volunteers. I mean, I could go on and on about her story, but I'll spare your patience.

We ate at some sweet places and saw the usual sites. But, the best thing was spending time with awesome people and serving God and the people of New Orleans.

And, if the people of New Orleans had one thing to say to everybody else, it would be that the work is far from being done. Do something.... The need hope. Most of the media has forgotten about the Gulf Coast. Most media shows how New Orleans is back up to her old self again. That is FAR from the truth. Bourbon Street is alive and kicking, but it's been almost a year since the hurricane,... and there are places that still look like this:

There is a lot of work yet to be done...

Until next time, vaya con Dios.