Day 9 - Day 9??

 
We’re home now. . .

The internet connection at the PDA camp went down for a day or two so we couldn’t finish the blog for the last day or so.  When the connection was restored the schedule didn’t permit time to write in the blog. 

We did as much dry wall work as possible at Terry’s house - mostly we took out poorly installed drywall screws and set them correctly.  Harriett was a taping queen and drywall mud was flung on the walls skillfully, carefully, and everywhere possible.  We wanted to acccomplish as much as we could.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Tom worked to install a new faucet and sprayer (like the sprayer in the OPCC kitchen) in the kitchen at the PDA camp.  He pulled it all apart, only to find that the current faucet had been installed with leftover pieces - so all the water piping needed to be replaced - not just the faucet.  Sigh.

Rod worked at Kitty’s house, installing a water heater, finishing up some plumbing work and installing the correct, water and mildew resistant drywall in one of the bathrooms.  He discovered he did not have all the parts needed to install the water heater - he was missing the pan that sits underneath the water heater - and the plumbing work needed more than he could provide.  Sigh.

Debbie and Heidi also worked with Kitty - moving dirt from the front of her yard to the back of her yard, so she can spread it along the side yard and underneath the house, and spreading it around her septic tank.  When they arrived at Kitty’s first thing in the morning, to unload those couple sheets of drywall that Rod was going to install, Debbie, Heidi and Rod met Kitty and Henrietta.  Henrietta (we later learned) is Kitty’s mother and is 83 years old.  She was shoveling the dirt, placing it underneath the house.  That was when Debbie and Heidi decided they could shovel the dirt.  Henrietta still teaches, full-time, at Head Start.  She has a class of three-year olds.  The Director of the program asked her to stay on, after Katrina, because “these little ones need a grandmother.”  Kitty agreed and is still there.  Today’s three-year-olds would have been infants during Katrina, and the younger ones have been born post-Katrina.  The next generation has begun.

On Thursday we quit work a bit early and went into New Orleans for a Katrina driving tour, developed by a member of the PDA staff, dinner, and, of course, beneigts at Cafe du Monde.

We had a wonderful week.  Thank you for sharing it with us, through this blog.  We return to Philadelphia having helped a few people take a few more steps toward being back in their homes.  And we return as changed people.  We will look at disasters and poverty and hleping out a bit differently now.  I hope we’ll be more willing to lend a helping hand, understanding that even a little bit helps.  Little bits added all together make a huge difference.