somethings i need to say
recently i went to mew orleans to help rebuild saint peter claver parish. I didnt realize just how bad it was down there. i hadnt heard anything about it in months. but i felt like if i could help down there, i should. so i went. i am generally not a religious person and i almost never go to church but something down there struck me and maybe changed me a little. i am not writing this about christ or chruch. but i am writing this about people who are struggling and in dier need of as much help as they can get. what i learned down there amazed my and shook me to my core. there is so much that has gone unreported. and i feel that as someone who has now seen some of the devestation, it is my duty to pass along the horrors in the hope of opening some eyes and hearts and maybe insipiring more people to help. if i had gone to NO not knowing how long ago the hurrican had it, i would have guess 2 months, tops. not eight. that is how slowly repairs are moving. the first day i was there we took a tour of ground zerp, right where the levies broke. the area to begin with was somewhat of a project housin area anyways. but at least they were houses where people lived and worked. now it is a wasteland. a giant pile of crap. the soil is soaked with arsnik. the houses were litterally demolished. but they havent been touched. they are exactly as they were. a mess. the area is far beyond repair and every single one of those families that survived is now homeless. i got a look at the levies that they are just now starting to rebuild. they were only 6 inches thick and went into the ground only 4 or 5 feet. The city new that the levies wouldnt hold, but they did nothing about it. the new ones are 18 inches thick and go into the ground 8 feet. But they may not be finished by the time hurricane season comes again. and its coming soon. the flood maps were not released until just last week, so people could not even think about rebuilding because they didnt know how high off the ground they would have to build and they could not get the permits. even now building permits are rediculously hard to come by and even if a family can get a permit, they cant find contractors to do the work, they dont have the money, and they have no where to stay. some people were provided with FEMA trailers, but only a very small percentage. these trailers are about the size of a dorm room and are supposed to live 4 people. the trailers were ordered in october but didnt arive until the end of february, and some people are still waiting. these trailers cost 36 tousand dollars to purchas and install, and are only worth 3 thousand used. Habitat for Hummanity offered to build a bunch of houses in the city park as temporary housing for habitat workers to use while builing houses for the people of NO and then move thouse houses on to lots for familyies t live in later. a habitat house only costs 60K to build and appreciates in value, unlike a trailer. but the city refused. Habitat was promised by the city that tent cities, run by the southern baptists would be provided for workers, instead the tent cities are being run by drug loards. they are build on contaminated soil, filled with drugs, snakes, arsnik, and mold poisoning. over 80% of the city flooded. and the water didnt go down for weeks. houses had to be gutted, but there was no one there to do the work, and no utilities. Once a family gets a permit to work on there houses they have to find a place to stay in the city and someone to help do the work, then there is even more redtape. it is not until the work is finished that the city will restore power, ect. only about half of the city has been able to return so far. most are living 15 or more people in one timy little house. every business that is open has a now hiring sign outside. but there is no one to do the work. the post office gets people there mail maybe once a month. the garbage truck almost never comes. there are piles of crap on the sidewalks everywhere. giant piles of everything that was ruined by the hurrican and flood. houses are that werent destroyed are in sorry shape and still unlivable. surprisingly, people are still upbeat and hopeful. they were so excited to see us and so grateful. it was so touching to see the looks on their faces when we showed up at their doors and said we were there to help. one woman saw that we had insulated her living room and hung the wallboard and she cried, "oh god! it looks like home again!" unfortunetely, because the water sat in the ground for so long, the ground shifted and houses are no longer level or even. so here's what we need: we need people to go down and lend there services, help rebuild, pick up trash, give people cash, get p[eople into temporary housing, get people back into the city, anything we can do. What the city really needs is to be bulldozed and moved to higher ground but thats not really a possibility. we can help. and we need to. these people still need our support and our prayers. I made a lot of friends down there and i had a good time. but i am brought to tears by the devestation and the lack of aid being provided.