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Rebuilding after Katrina.....
By Susan Gepford |
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Many people have seen the hurricane’s images on television, but
in the age of special effects, massive destruction seems almost
commonplace or remote. In reality, the devastation left by
Hurricane Katrina goes on for miles and miles, interspersed with
abrupt reminders that people once had normal lives where now
only trash heaps remain. As any child who ever built a house out
of blocks knows, everything takes much longer to build than to
knock down, and rebuilding Louisiana from this one event might
even take up to ten years. That amount of ruin would be hard for
anyone to grasp from a five minute segment on the nightly news.
The Chatham United
Methodist Church (with Marsha and Susan Gepford from Pastor
Dan’s family) sent down a work team to help in Slidell,
Louisiana, which is located about an hour away from New Orleans
across Lake Ponchetraine. The United Methodist Committee on
Relief sent us to work on a home owned by a young woman named
Quoenika, who will use the finished space to temporarily house
some of her relatives so that they can work on their homes. Our
team had a few experts and a number of willing hands. We
sheet-rocked, cornered, and spackled, while one or two people
worked on carpentry. Although we didn’t have time to finish all
of the work that needed to be done, we made steady progress and
finished a number of rooms. So as much as it felt like a drop in
the bucket, it made a difference in the life of one family, and
we were happy to help out.
Even having seen the news, many people think that their two
dollar contribution to a fundraiser last year was as much as
they could do, and that people are preaching at them about the
destruction. The people of Louisiana didn’t really care about
how much construction our team was able to accomplish, though.
They were thrilled that we were there at all, and that we could
hear their stories. They feel that most of America has forgotten
them, and even just the arrival of new work teams is a breath of
fresh air in a crushing atmosphere of despair and frustration.
Many people who lived there may never come back to rebuild, and
many are waiting for this coming hurricane season to decide. At
this point, basically anything from the rest of the country will
help: time, donations, money, but most of all refusing to
forget. A two dollar contribution sent last year will not cover
all of the need, and work teams are only a beginning; in the
end, remembering to care about other people is the most
important part of dealing with a tragedy like the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina.
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