This blog represents the reflections of those who went to New Orleans in February, 2007. Follow this link to see the blog for the December, 2006 trip.

Poetry from Holly Aloha Jaynes ~ March 21, 2007

My name is James Travis

High up on a roof, he walked towards us,
      Hi, how‘re ya doing. My name is James Travis.
I’m helping my neighbor and good friend.
      Assisting each other and tools we lend.
I’m lucky, my house is just down the street,
      So glad you stopped so we could meet.
Come back when we’re through with this mess,
      I’ll make you dinner, you‘ll be our guests.

Broken Memories

It looked like flowers were put out to drink up the rain,
      Approaching closer I could see they were plastic, dirty & stained.
Some family lived now inside this trailer,
      Scattered outside remnants of our government failure.

A large concrete statue propped next to a car,
      All rusty and full of weeds, it won’t go far.
Bright bubble gum pink stood a flamingo whirligig,
      In a broken pot of plastic begonias and twigs.
Two faded dolls sat together in a little chair,
      Odd looks on their faces, eyes of despair.

I turned and crossed, looking down the street,
      A family’s possessions lay thrown in a heap.
In the drive Sally spied a grandfather clock
      Behind a sign “Beware of the Dog”, fence unlocked.
A beautiful teapot & cup sat on a dirty plate,
      So sad to see family memories in this horrible fate.

So much destruction, would this family be found
      To once again play the china Christmas merry go round?
A broken doll, a vase of cobalt blue,
      A New Orleans Security hat mixed in this stew.
A pretty china cup not even broken,
      Who had tea in this, what words were spoken?
Still stunned in awe we began to walk away,
      She pointed to a damaged tree, “it has new growth today”!

Lisa and Dave of Guerra Drive

For a year and a half I have wanted to go
      Where Katrina destroyed and the levies overflowed.
Clothing, light and prayers I have sent,
      Why then my desire to go, to be present?

St. Bernard’s Parish, such a different world,
      Yet I was greeted with a hug from a beautiful girl.
Dave packed up the family, “it’s a category 5”,
      Lives forever changed, some lost, on Guerra Drive.

I witness my sisters and brothers with eye and ear,
      The stories of people of hope, surviving the fear.
A man on a rooftop shouts to his neighbor
      Stay awake to night to beat off the gators.

Day by day under the hot southern sun,
      Water surrounded them, but drink there was none.
At the end of their street a levy let go
      On Guerra Drive, a boat with no oar to row.

It was all the same water the snakes and gators did seek,
      That swept in and around the houses 12 feet deep.
Where was FEMA help throughout this calamity?
      A disgrace to our government, disrespect to humanity.

Delores grieved for her son who had died,
      We arrived on his birthday, yet she did not cry.
Sally did service in her heart-felt way
      Listening to Delores, so much now to say.

A circle of prayer in the late afternoon light,
      Family and volunteers shared this beautiful sight.
Tears of gratitude filled Lisa’s eyes,
      And Delores was free to mourn Durcell’s demise.

How can I be accountable now that I’m back home?
      Show solidarity, let them know they are not alone.
‘Tis my tiny part to help the human race,
      Help end oppression, remember the tears on her face.

That circle is open, but forever unbroken,
      Where there is hope, there is love unspoken.
Now miles away from the families of Guerra Drive
      My memories, the images, I will not hide.

More information about Holly Aloha Jaynes and her creative projects can be found here.

Marblehead Reporter Article ~ March 9, 2007

Follow this link.

And More Reflections ~ March 7, 2007

Tires, toilets, sippy cups, cough syrup containers, tiles, dish drainers, furniture, cars—not what you’d expect to find filling every inch of the woods like an I-Spy book. This was either a dumping ground—or the remains of a home after Hurricane Katrina.

My first day in New Orleans, after a weekend on the Gulf Coast where half of my family lives, was filled with so many items that define a family that I immediately felt my heart drop. Excavating outside of a gutted out home, picking up garbage and dumping it into a trash barrel it became more real to me that a tragedy happened to New Orleans. This wasn’t just a flooded building. People lived here. I stumbled upon dolls, baby formula packs, tubes of toothpaste and could guess the age of every member of the household.

It’s been a year and a half since the storm. I’ve been told this many times. At the time it was hard for me to imagine that this neighborhood had looked even worse than it did at present. This was my attitude at the beginning of the trip. I dreaded going back down south and seeing a city that was familiar to me fallen to ruins. My father was born and raised in New Orleans. Once a year I visited the city—the last time had been just before the hurricane.

Every story I heard about New Orleans caused me to feel guilt for being able to just pick up my suitcase and come home. After working inside houses and seeing progress in two homes, my feelings changed on the subject. I no longer felt guilt for leaving the gulf coast a day before the storm—I felt lucky. I no longer fear that New Orleans would never return to normalcy. I do believe this will take a long time to happen, but I saw that so many people care enough to volunteer that the heart of New Orleans, the lower class would be able to start over. Though I saw progress in the short amount of time I was there, on a broader scale it wasn’t enough. Helping two families start over is barely a dent. I never thought just one trip would be enough, and now I know I’m going back.

Meghan Sands-Boehmer

More Reflections ~ March 6, 2007

My trip to New Orleans with the UU Church of Marblehead was as much a trip to help strangers in dire need of assistance as it was to educate myself about the tragedy of Katrina and its aftermath. Yes, I’ve heard the stories first hand from all of my Boehmer relatives on the Gulf Coast and I’ve seen the video footage and read all the news articles, but it was still a shock and a disturbing experience to see it all up close and personal.

The first stop for my daughter, Meghan, and me was a weekend with relatives in Biloxi, Mississippi. I’ve spent a lot of time in all of the Gulf Coast towns along Route 90 over the years---Gulfport, Biloxi, and Ocean Springs. Nothing quite prepared me for the devastation and utter ruin of that stretch of the coast. I had to keep reminding myself that Katrina took place a year and a half ago. The sites that I witnessed that looked like a storm had just passed through recently have actually been somewhat ‘cleaned up.’ Tons and tons of debris swept away from homes, small businesses, places of worship, schools, colleges, all had been hauled away. In the place of these structures are empty lots or the remains of once beautiful oceanfront homes. There are a few signs of life along the coast though. Every so often you see a small restaurant or a gas station that has reopened and there are even a couple of newly built condominiums and apartment complexes. A few of the casinos have reopened as well. My guess is that it’s going to take over a generation or maybe two for this area to rebuild and become totally inhabitable again.

The neighborhood where we stayed is on the Back Bay of Biloxi. The majority of homes were totally destroyed during the storm and most have been removed. Slabs or empty fields abound. Many of the people in this close knit neighborhood are gone; a few hearty folks are rebuilding or rehabbing what’s left. The current fear is that none of their homes will be able to be insured. The largest insurance carriers are choosing not to insure new structures even though most of the houses that are being rebuilt are elevated in some fashion. New styles of architecture are being used so that the houses are above the flood line. Many of the houses in this area were adversely affected not only by the rising water from the bay but by the intense high winds. Imagine, if you will, a Cadillac being swept a quarter of a mile down the street into your front yard and crashing into a tree on your lawn. That’s what my cousin found upon returning to her home after the storm. Imagine finding medical records and photo albums belonging to neighbors down the street---except they are in the remains of your home. Imagine having to sit on top of your roof for two days until rescue workers find you. Imagine getting out of the area just in time but coming back and finding your house in total ruins. Mother Nature had a field day on August 29, 2005, that’s for sure.

My family was lucky. No lives were lost. Valuable lessons that we inherently know anyway were reinforced. Stuff is just stuff. Nature can take it away. People can take it away. Human life and spirit live on. Material stuff does not. Feeling the love and caring of family and friends and especially the kindness of strangers is truly a gift that no material possession can match.

Our first day of volunteer work in New Orleans was working in the mud. The other volunteers were busy working in the inside of a structure that contained three separate two-bedroom townhouses. Everything was stripped bare inside the buildings. All that remained were the beams. It was filled with tools and bare necessities for the volunteers, some of whom have been helping out for months. Meghan and I were given the task of cleaning up the outside of the building—to eliminate some of the debris. We heaved and we hoed for several hours and uncovered stuff beneath layers of mud; it was kind of like an urban archaeological dig. Not only did we clear hunk after hunk of plaster and tile, but we also disposed of remnants of people’s lives; medicine, toiletries, furniture, toys, briefcases and even someone’s ATM card. We chipped away at large and small indigo colored linoleum pieces much of the ink had seeped down into the dark, rich, smelly mud. Covered with mud and happy to take a rest, we sat down with the rest of the volunteers to enjoy a makeshift Mardi Gras Eve barbecue. People from other work sites arrived to share stories and experiences. It was truly heartwarming to see several dozen young people on college break or taking a break from college studies all helping to rebuild New Orleans.

The rest of our time down on the Coast was spent working directly with our church volunteers from Marblehead. We were lucky enough to be directed by UUA Moderator, Gini Coulter. To say this woman is anything less than extraordinary would be a lie. She is a wealth of knowledge about carpentry and is a human dynamo in terms of directing a crew of inexperienced volunteers whose hearts were in the right place but whose hands needed a great deal of guidance! It turns out that she had once taught building to at-risk teenagers. We all learned to tape and mud and cut and install insulation and drywall. The second day that we worked on a house in Violet, LA was perhaps the most rewarding. We saw real progress by the end of a very long day. The smile on the face on the owner when he viewed his house coming back together was truly precious. He had us nail a couple of dollar bills, his “Katrina money,” on a beam underneath the new drywall for good luck. The memories from this trip will remain with me for the rest of my life. The spirit of these residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast should give us all pause to reflect about our own lives and what it would be like if we lived through this tragedy.

A lot more help is needed and will continue to be needed. The government is not doing much so it’s up to us. Think about making your next vacation a volunteer trip to New Orleans. It’s a life changing experience. You may come home feeling a bit sore around the edges, but your heart and your soul will be soaring!

Kathy Sands-Boehmer

New Orleans Movie ~ March 5, 2007

Hugh Stewart has prepared this 15-minute movie of the experiences from the February UUCM Katrina Relief trip.

Rev. Wendy's Reflections ~ March 5, 2007

Last week, members of our church, including Hugh Stewart, Kathy Sands-Boehmer, Margaret Clark, Meghan Boehmer, Matt Gery, Andy Oliver, Matt Brosnan, Nick Gery, Holly Jaynes and Sally Scott participated in the house by house restoration of New Orleans . Each reported a shock at the conditions, inspiration from the residents and a renewed sense of what it means to show up in the world. Many of them plan to return. This was the second congregational trip to New Orleans and stands as yet another example of how UUCM members live their faith in the world. What follows is an excerpt from a newspaper article submission about the trip:

For high school senior, Meghan Boehmer, the trip was a coming home. She last saw the Gulf Coast just as Katrina was arriving. Meghan was visiting relatives in Mississippi and helped them board up their house before being forced to board the last plane out of Gulfport , MS . But Meghan came back, to a broken Mississippi coastline. "It was scary coming back. It's so different now -- abandoned and flat. Every landmark that could help you locate yourself has been taken away by the water or bulldozed. Walking around was depressing. My aunt is still feeling the impact of the storm. It's hard for her to face the devastation. She came to drop us off at our work site and it was like her being traumatized all over again. Some of them are still having nightmares," she said.

After time with her Mississippi relatives, Meghan and her mother, Kathy Sands-Boehmer traveled to New Orleans to work with the other church members in St. Bernard Parish.

The group lived in a recently restored home offered up by Ralph and Aline Webster. The elderly couple, built the home nearly 60 years ago and were among the first back to the area after Katrina. As Ralph worked to gut and rebuild the house, volunteers arrived to assist. Aline worked hard as well, trying to find a way to love a home and community in which she spent most of her adult life. "I just couldn't do it. I tried. We both did. But our neighbors are all gone and the medical care is gone. I just couldn't do it," she said. They moved to Baton Rouge and put their house on the market. Despite the physical move, their hearts and hopes remain rooted in their Chalmette neighborhood. Until their house is sold, they have donated its use to a local volunteer group to house groups like the UUCM crew. Ralph made sure the crew had running water, electricity and cooking utensils to make their stay easier and stopped by to offer his own thanks for the work of the church.

"It means so much, what you are all doing," he said with tears in his eyes.

The work of the group included hanging sheet rock, mudding walls and ceilings, scraping up floor tile, debris removal, laying in textured ceilings and pounding in corner beading. But along the way, the group learned how valuable it was to simply bear witness to the horrific stories of loss, death and grief. High school students, Andy Oliver and Nick Gery, and college students, Matt Brosnan and Matt Gery listened to homeowner David Brown describe what it was like to spend days on the roof, checking in on neighbors, learning who was injured, who died, who had water. As the story unfolded, other neighbors joined in, telling of near death experiences, a lack of emergency response, a pulling together of human spirit and at times, humor.

"On day two, my buddy yelled over -- Hey, Eric. Did you call in sick for work yet today?'" said one neighbor, laughing just after telling how the current swept him away so violently he thought he would die. "Then, it just stopped, and I was saved."

What impressed the group most was two things: the spirit of the returning residents and the volunteer force.

"The morale of the residents was inspirational. They amaze me in how they've taken this devastating event and worked with it. They're not sad, depressed people," said trip organizer Hugh Stewart.

"The people who are down here providing help are mostly young and that gives me hope. Those kids care, they're here and perhaps they will lead our nation to take care of ourselves better. They're our next generation of leaders," said architect Margaret Clark. "I wish I had more vacation, I would stay longer."

Meghan Boehmer will clearly be back. "If we don't do it, who will?" said Meghan.