When we arrived at our destination we took a quick tour of the house and were immediately assigned to our individual jobs. My first task was to spread a liquid adhesive on one of the bathroom floors. The purpose of the adhesive is to make the floor tacky enough to ensure that the bathroom tiles stick firmly to the ground. The bathroom did not have any windows or lights, and the only light source we did have was located just outside of the bathroom door. The downside about the light was that it radiated even more heat into the sweltering bathroom. Despite the heat and darkness, however, my biggest challenge was cleaning up the dirt on the ground left by my shoes. Eventually, I opted to finish the job in my socks, but I still had to clean up the dirt that was already on the ground. There was not a broom stick in sight so I ended up sweeping dirt and dust off the floor with my hands. I also had to pick up a dead fly and other deceased insects to make sure that the floor was as clean as possible for the adhesive. Any other day the mere thought of cleaning dirt with my hands or even touching a dead fly would send me running for the hills. But today nothing mattered to me more than making this house the absolute best it could be for the home owners.
After I finished painting the bathroom floor with the adhesive I was assigned to paint a closet in the main room (living room).
When I finished painting I went back to the bathroom to place tiles on the floor with the help of the supervisor of our build station. Our supervisor is also an AmeriCorps volunteer and I talked with her a little bit while we placed tiles on the floor. She told me about the home owner and informed me that there was actually a New York Times article written about the very house we were rebuilding. Placing the tiles required a significant amount of patience, flexibility, and geometry skills. It was difficult to make sure that the tiles were placed evenly and followed a specific pattern, especially since the room was so dark and stuffy. But before we placed the last few tiles on the floor our group took a quick lunch break.
The original plan was to eat lunch at Camp Hope, the place our service group was initially assigned to stay at before BP volunteers took over the camp. However, when one of our own volunteers asked to use the restroom at Camp Hope a police officer turned her away and told her that the BP volunteers had completely taken over the camp (as of yesterday), and that none of the volunteers from the St. Bernard Parish were allowed to use their facilities. The event was very hurtful for us volunteers, but we accepted BP's request and ate lunch on the porch of the house. As conversation drifted off to what had occurred with the BP officials, a very important fact was brought to the table: many people in England have stocks invested in BP, and we cannot blame them nor employees who work for BP gas stations for the oil spill. Although the oil spill is an ugly disaster that remains to destroy our earth and wildlife, we cannot blame the BP company as a whole for what has happened. The best step we can take as a society is to dedicate ourselves to oil spill relief first, and worry about who should take the blame later, if ever.
After lunch we all went back to our jobs. As I began tiling the floor our station got a surprise visit from the home owner and his family! The home owner was an incredibly kind man and it was such a lovely experience to meet him and his family. The only distressing part about their visit was hearing the home owner's personal experience with Hurricane Katrina. When the storm passed the home owner began rebuilding his house in order to provide shelter for his wife, kids, and grandchildren. But mold from the flood damage began to surface in the house and destroyed his home yet again. After the owner spent all his money toward rebuilding his house, as well as having suffered a stroke, he turned to St. Bernard Parish for hope. The home owner and his family thanked us several times and said that they would be back on Friday to see us before we leave. The family left the house and we worked for a few more minutes before we called it a day.
The houses we rebuild are not breath-taking at first sight nor are they marvelous in size. We do not accommodate the original home owners with elaborate decorations or luxuries. We are not trying to provide people with some variation of "Extreme Home Makeover" - we are just trying to help people get back on their feet. That is what organizations like Shirts Across America and the St. Bernard Project are about, helping people get up again and move on with their lives years after Hurricane Katrina.
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