I had no idea...

People told me what an amazing experience this would be, but there is no way to describe the feeling that you have when you do something like this.

I met some of the most amazing people this past week while we were in Covington. I had the privilege not only to work with my fellow Deutschers, but also with two future Habitat homeowners, a group from the IOCC, a man named Bill that had a heart attack just 3 months ago, and an older Care-A-Van couple (who were was supposed to stay one month and move on, but ended up staying two).

I spent the week moving dirt from large piles into nicely graded areas, hammering floor joists into place, cleaning and organizing the shed (now called the garage mahal), and finishing two roofs. I never knew how much effort it took to hammer six nails through a 2 x 12 and into another, or how long it took to get used to climbing a ladder up and down from the roof. And, even though it is some of the hardest work I have ever done, none of that seemed to matter as we finished each day.

So after spending each day with all of these great people it was the last night that I think has made the biggest impression on me. While waiting for our table at our last dinner of the week we found ourselves in the bar (of course, Deutschers work hard and party harder, right). It was there that I had a conversation with a woman sitting in the bar with a fellow local. She was a Hurricane Katrina survivor and as I talked with her about my wonderful experience working with Habitat, she decided that she would share some of her Katrina experiences. She talked about how hard it was to live through the hurricane and how difficult it was immediately following. How local stores if still standing would only be open for hours at a time, and when open, barely had anything on the shelves. How there were no sounds of birds or other animals, how all of the plant life was completely gone and everything was brown, and how it all looked like a war zone. I asked her how it has been for her more recently. She then proceeded to tell me about her personal relationship, about how all of the stress from the hurricane and the recovery has torn appart her marriage. She mentioned that many friends had been through the same thing in their own relationships. That the rebuilding, job hunt and the day to day survival just starts to take its toll. So two and a half years later many survivors are still dealing with the impact of the hurricane, trying to maintain the strength that it takes to rebuild and hold onto the things that matter to them most.

It was this conversation that made it all come into a very clear picture for me. It was our conversation that showed me that all of the shoveling, cutting, hammering, blisters and bruises where worth it. That the roof that we put over Tanesha's, and her three girl's heads, was the least that I could do. Thanks to all of you that have supported me and have given me this amazing opportunity. Without all of your support, I wouldn't have met Bill, Tanesha or that woman in the bar that put it all into perspective.

Love, Alyssa

No Pain No Gain

Thursday came and went so quickly. I can’t believe there’s only one day left of work! At this point our bodies are aching beyond belief – we’ve got the blisters, bruises and sunburns to prove it… But somehow we still have this incredible energy running through each of us.

We’ve been working on a number of houses throughout the week. I’ve watched other teams build floors of houses and attach shingles to create and complete roofs. Today the team I’ve been working with completed and raised the four exterior walls of a house. We began building and installing the interior walls as well, with the goal of completing all interior walls tomorrow.

Check out pics of the progress step by step...


I can’t begin to describe the feeling you have when you’ve been part of building something like that. And being able to see the progress you’ve made – when a few pieces of wood become something so real and tangible. They’re just so much more than four walls.

Today we met Miss Kim, a future Habitat homeowner. She hammered and nailed with us throughout the day. Miss Kim couldn’t stop thanking us for our generosity and commitment, and at the end of the day she showed us pictures of her beautiful six year old daughter so we could see who we were helping get a new home. It was so simple, yet so magical a moment – seeing the real lives we’re touching here.

I’m really proud of our group and of all of the volunteers and Habitat employees. We’re doing something really great here. And I think I can speak for all of us when I say we’re having a phenomenal time doing it.

-Monica

A BIG Deutsch NY Thank You!

Thank you so much to all of our friends at Deutsch NY! They were nice enough to send a care package to us here in Covington, filled with all the things we need while working here for a week...tylenol to relieve our sore muscles, power bars to give us energy, hats to shade our eyes, journals to remember what an experience this is...

Thank you so much again! Looking forward to sharing all with you when we are back.

Taryn

Take A Look

http://www.flickr.com/groups/covingtoncrew/

We will continue to post pictures as we upload them.

Day 3

We just arrived back from Day 3 and I am willing to bet almost everyone in the group is either currently napping or fighting to keep their eyes open…we are working so hard, but it is so amazing to see what we have done on these homes in just a short amount of time. We can all work on different things throughout each day, but for me personally I will remember Day 1 as all about shoveling mud, and Day 2 and 3 as hammering nails…

But it is obviously so much more than just those things. We completed the third exterior wall on a home today and to raise that up as a team, and knowing it is creating a home for someone in such need, is a pretty incredible feeling. And we can complain about how sore random muscles are, or how tired we are, but I know that each one of us has realized how fortunate we really are while being here.

The dedication of six finished homes on Day 1 was something we were also so lucky to be a part of at the start of our trip. I know it gave me even more reason to work hard this week, and was such a real (and emotional) look at how much what we are doing means and benefits those in need.

So, with that, I’m going to take a little nap myself and gear up for Day 4. Thank you all so much again for your support and well wishes…we are having so much fun and can’t wait to share the rest of the week with you.

Taryn

The Evolution of Happines

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Today is Erin Morgan’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Erin! Birthdays tend to be a day of reflection to stir up fond memories from the past and eagerly anticipate the best years that are yet to come in our lives. We have some time for introspection amidst nail hammering, foundation digging and more nail embedding and it gets one’s mind wandering…

What made us happy last year? Last week? This week? There will likely always be six degrees of separation from the happiness we felt before this trip and the happiness we feel after its completion, but I think we’ll all see and feel happiness in a different light.

Shamefully, happiness for me last year was quite self-centered: having weekends free for social activities with friends; having the sun shine all day so I could veg out at the beach and get a tan while doing so!; being able to take days off for a personal vacation; so forth and so on.

Since we started talking about this trip, happiness started to come from other things: every donation that came in that made us realize that the dream of this trip was going to become a reality; watching the slideshows and hearing the experiences of last year’s crew, Operation Biloxi; thinking about the families we were going to help bring hope to…the list goes on.

Happiness has taken on a new meaning this week that is hard to accurately describe with words. Happiness has become more than just a feeling…it has become a deep, heartfelt emotion. Happiness now is that the Maddox family, a family of seven, has a front yard where their kids can frolic; that the Gray-Silvan family has shelter for their “almost seven (baby due any day!)” children; that Cleo and ten-year old Destiny Quave have a roof over their heads and clean living conditions so that Destiny doesn’t get sick so often anymore. Perhaps most poignant was when the Stogner family, a family of four with a daughter who has cerebral palsy, was presented with the key to their house. The key was given to the mom, Mary. After the ceremony, she graciously and emotionally thanked all who had contributed to the building of their dreams and in turn, presented the key to her husband, tearfully telling him that ‘It’s finally here.’

The happiness we are experiencing here is a different breed. We’ve gone from being happy that the surf is good in the morning to being proud of our teammates who erect a wall or put in flooring over the foundation or lay a roof. Happiness is the smile on the faces of these families, the patience in the Habitat supervisors, the pep in every volunteer’s step. Sure, we’ll still have the personal bouts of happiness (ie when American Idol is on or when we catch a good wave), but we’ll never see happiness the same again after this trip…and we are damn lucky of that.

Thanks to all.
Amy

End of Day 1

After the group had an incredible Saturday night together in New Orleans, and not such a great time waking up Sunday morning, we grabbed some beignets and cafe au laits at Cafe du Monde before driving across Lake Ponchartrain to Covington. We got settled into the Best Western, met with Clare (Clay) and Sarah from HFH, and then stocked up on supplies for the week at the world's largest Super WalMart (sorry to all of the liberals out there, it was just as painful for us to give them business). Then we joined the billion people around the world and watched the Oscars. Sadly, Yuson beat me in the pool by picking the best picture. Damn Juno.

This morning, we met the HFH staff and other volunteers at the ReStore location before heading over to our build site on Pansy St. (appropriately named after Dave-Id). Unlike last year in Biloxi where we worked on one house all week, this year there are six houses to be built, each in a different stage of development. This should definitely lead to new and different experiences each day.

The morning was dedicated to pure manual labor by the entire team. We grabbed shovels and rakes and flattened-out tall mounds of the red clay on which the foundation was laid. Let's just say that after a few days of rain and gravity lending a very generous hand, we each had to use every last muscle in our bodies to even loosen the dirt. It was almost 4 hours of intense labor to get the dirt as needed. We very much deserved a good lunch at Mama D's after that.

After lunch, we spent two hours on three different lots, doing anything from installing sofiters (sp?), to nailing-in floor joyces, to measuring floor plans. This felt like some real work after the morning of playing cement gardener.

We ended the day early so we could join in the dedication of six houses that were recently completed, and we got to see the three traditional gifts handed over to each of the owners; a hammer, bible, and keys to the house. It was a complete tear jerker, and we're all excited to have had the chance to see it.

Now we're all crashing in our rooms after a fun group game of, well, cards. Tomorrow is an early one and a full day, so it's time to get some shut eye before waking up to sore muscles I didn't even know I had.

Night.
Craig