Today was a disappointing day for the team. It started raining late last night and continued all day. Because of the weather we couldn't go out to the worksite. All of us had hopes of finishing this enormous house before we had to return to Bucknell tomorrow. By far this is the largest house we have tried to gut. Even though we didn't get a chance to finish the house the strides we made yesterday are remarkable. One room in particular was used as a workout area. Not only were the furniture and belongings thrown about by the water, undernearth it all was a huge treadmill. What a great sense of satisfaction in completing that room. Then on to the next one. The most difficult part of this house was the long narrow hallway. It was only wide enough to fit a wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow would be filled then backed out the hallway to be dumped outside. Another obstacle was trying to condense the huge pile of debris in the front yard. The guys constructed a ramp made of doors in order to pile the debris. My guess would be that we had gutted a 0% house, one that had never been cleaned since the flooding, to 75%. What an accomplishment for a team that most of us have never dealt with such a disaster.
Since we couldn't get out to our worksite today all of us here at Camp Hope were asked to do chores. There are approximately 350 campers here from various groups. The largest being a group from Bowling Green University. We cleaned of the entire complex, took inventories of the foods and kitchen areas, and our group also got a chance to leave our mark behind in the form of a mural. All the walls inside Camp Hope have been decorated by the different organizations that have helped to rebuild St. Benard’s parish. Ours is the familiar Bison head with the dates we have been here and our name -- Bucknell University. Our quote is "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." Anne Frank
In the afternoon one of the first responders from the St.Bernard fire department shared his experiences with us. The room was quiet as he spoke of the hurricane landing and of the levies breaking.
I personally am so grateful for the opportunity to participate in this program. Even though we are a small group of 25 people we have made a dent in this disaster. Many of us have expressed an eagerness to come back in the near future.
