Louisiana 4 - Monday

Our Sunday travels went exceedingly well. No traffic to JFK. Flight left on time. Arrived 10 minutes early. Steve, Debbie and David were back from picking up the vans in less than half an hour and we were off for St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church. We found if with only a slight need for a U-Turn.

Our home for the week is a grand old home directly behind the church. Prior to Katrina the church had used it for Sunday school classes and meetings. After feeling called to begin the Rhino ministry the house became base camp for the visiting work groups. One room was converted into a shower room with four stalls. Two upstairs rooms became bunk rooms. Each has 8 bunk beds so a total of 32 people can be accommodated.




The church recently entered into an agreement with the New Orleans Habitat for Humanity to build 14 new homes in the western part of the city – on Ferry Place. They have committed to raising $350,000 from within the church toward the project. The plan is to build the first seven homes simultaneously. That work began this month and we will be working there Tuesday – Friday.

Today we worked through the Trinity Christian Community center. Trinity began as PCUSA outreach ministry, but is not a non-denominational program. It is located in an African American area of the city and since Katrina has housed and coordinated the work of a contingent of AmeriCorps volunteers.



Two of them, Kevin and Blake, were our supervisors for the day. Our project was to finishing removing the nails in studs and rafters in a home so that the wood could be de-molded and then chemically sealed to prevent both mold and termites. Respirators donned, the crew began with a vengeance. Nails, nails – everywhere. Once the de-nailing was completed. The wood was scrubbed down with a mixture of Pine Sol and bleach. One of our supervisors, Blake, told David Martinez early in the afternoon that he was completely surprised with the energy and thoroughness of our group. He said that he was more used to youth who seemed to work in slow motion and making sure they never missed a break. “Well done, good and faithful. . .”





David had a “New Orleans first experience” with his visit to the emergency room at Ochsner Hospital. One of the kids aquired a significant splinter that needed extracation, but fortunately the care was efficient and the injury not too bad. Never a dull day!

Later in the afternoon, we were given a tour of affected areas of the city by members of the congregation. Among other spots, we visited the “Musician’s Village” built through Habitat. The Upper Ninth Ward neighborhood of colorful homes – including one financed by the golfer Phil Mickelson – is a wonderful sight providing a glimpse of how Ferry Place will look one day.


One of the biggest gold stars to working with Rhino came at 6 p.m. as we made our way across the street to the church’s fellowship hall where dinner was waiting for us. In what we learned was a New Orleans Monday tradition, the menu was Red Beans and rice. Legend has it that this dish became associated with Monday because that was the day that women did the laundry and red beans could be put on the fire and forgotten. David’s not sure they were as good as Claudia Fulton’s but they were mighty fine!



And now a word from Ron & Perry

After arriving in New Orleans at about 5 o’clock in the afternoon Sunday, we were quickly driven over to our temp home in the northern part of town. After meeting our companions from Dayton, Ohio, the starved group from Stamford choose an interesting restaurant to eat dinner, McDonald’s. Lucky for the Dayton group they went to a nice café where the check was picked up by some very happy people who were very grateful for their mission trip. After that we had a short orientation and went over everything about this week. Our night ended with an intense Monopoly game and a lot of creeky beds.

Monday morning we awoke at 6:30, had breakfast, and left to work. After meeting the people who would eventually help us do our jobs and grabbing equipment we headed off in two directions. We help refurbish a home while the other group finished painting the exterior of an almost finished home. After several hours of tough work, pulling out nails and hammering others in, we ate lunch and took a couple minutes to rest. After that we scrubbed the wood with a mixture of Pine Sol and bleach to kill the mold Tomorrow they will be sprayed with some chemicals that seal the wood and prevent mold and termites. Later in the afternoon we took a nice tour of the city including the 9th ward, a place severely struck by the hurricane. The first day of work was tough, but at the same time a lot of fun.

-- Ron Quiroga and Perry Mattice








5:30 a.m. is going to come early, so enough for now. Keep praying!!!