Day 1 - New Orleans
Adrienne : Its early. Really early. We are still on California time. So its 4:30am. Today is our first day of building. Everyone is fired up and excited to start ! We are heading to a safety training/welcome before we begin our day with Habitat for Humanity.
New Orleans is an unforgettable city. The people are warm and welcoming and the hospitality is unparalled.
We just had our safety meeting and its raining. We are going to drive to our site with our construction leader (Ben). The home we are working on has been in construction for 9 weeks with 2 weeks left!
Janna: I spent a few minutes chatting with a neighbor who is also a Habitat homeowner.. She was so open and friendly, with a beautiful smile and awesome New Orleans accent. As we stood on her porch, she told me that her house only lost 2 panels in the hurricane and had only a couple of inches of flooding, a testament to how well built these houses are! I'm hoping the house we're helping to build is as strong!
Billie Joe: Today we worked at the upper 9th ward. I hung soffit over the front porch. I had to do some upside down hammering technique but we managed to get the job done. We felt a great sense of accomplishment when we finished. Before I nailed the last piece of soffit , I reached inside and wrote my name with a pencil and dated it.. Ben is a great construction leader. Jason was a great partner.. It was amazing to see everyone getting their hands dirty in good conscious, working together for the greater good.
Jason: New Orleans has long been one of my favorite cities on the planet. It's really good to be back, and in some way, to try and help rebuild the city. I have no prior skills in construction and am not considered "handy" whatsoever. But today I learned enough to help put in the soffit over the front porch. Didn't know what it was until today in fact. A new word, a new skill. Looking forward to tomorrow!
(Day #1 photos by George Long)