Week 2 has come and gone and we had a good work week, and a great bunch of volunteers, mostly from Washington, with a couple of imports from elsewhere. Kerry and the construction foreman keep scrambling to keep up with the work, making sure there are enough supplies to keep things going forwards. Once in a while Kerry comes and picks me up and I get to go along and see the homes and progress made, and take a few pictures.
The first two pictures are of Ms. Barbara's house. The outside was done when we came, but we have been working on the inside, sanding, and painting, doing doors and flooring and it is shaping up nicely.


The third picture is painting happening at Ms. Antoinette's house.
The next two pictures show a roof that we have been re-shingling. There is always more to it than just a simple re-shingling job. This one had about 3 inches of old shingles that needed to be scraped off, and then they were faced with rotting rafters and other repairs before the new shingles could go on.
This next picture is relaxing after supper, probably waiting for the dessert to be brought out.
One night we had a client come in and share her story of the storm. Ms. Antoinette shared how she had been reading her bible and praying and suddenly she got the feeling that she needed to go and get her kids---NOW! She did, and as she carried baby, and herded the other 3 little ones before her to the basement, the house literally blew apart around her. She got them to a safe place and put herself on top of them, so that if anything should happen, it would be to her first. She said she would rather she die than her kids. The group with her in the picture is the crew that just that day finished painting her house. She has been out of her home since April and is patiently waiting to come home again. The last picture shows our group from last week.

Week 1

Our first week here has come and gone and we survived. It was a good week, maybe not so much weather wise, but we had a good, energetic bunch of mostly young volunteers, meaning in their 20's, and got some work done. We had to deal with rain at the beginning of the week, and one night, had a good thunder and lightening storm, but no wind to accompany it. It's been on the cool side too, jackets were worn most of the week, but this morning we have sunshine. A couple of nights the temp went down to about -3C and so some of the RVs had frozen water lines in the morning. Most of our jobs are close to camp and are at the drywall, taping and mudding stage. One house got painted this week too. I haven't even seen all the homes yet, but we can still see LOTS of evidence of the destruction the tornado caused. Things are mostly cleaned up but there are many, many homes still looking very sad. We have one new build that is about 20 miles away, but we didn't work there much this week. We have a good long term crew, and so that helps Kerry out a lot, but he does still do pick-ups and stuff. He has been to some meetings and keeps finding out more all the time about how things work and what the processes are. We are also working with plans to move the camp to a different place and so there is work to be done on that as well. The couple that was here helping with the transition between project directors were a big help in aquainting us with the area, as well as all the players involved, and the clients as well. They left for home on Thursday morning and so we are now on our own. I have been filling in in different areas, I am not doing as much of the office work as I normally would as there is a local gentleman who comes in a couple of times a week to do that for us. He has been here since the beginning of the project and that is how he is volunteering his time with MDS. I help with breakfast, and put the lunch fixings out, clean bathrooms, and do what needs doing, or go along with Kerry when he needs me to. So far I haven't been bored. I am not sure how this will all work, so I will give an explanation of the pictures. From the top: Getting ready to go out to the jobsites in the morning. Next, Kerry and his construction foreman, and a crew leader going over the days work, and making plans (usually at 6AM). Then a picture of the cooks making breakfast, and last a picture of the group that was here this week.

MDS 2012

We headed south on Jan 1 for our MDS assignment in Birmingham, AL. On the way we stopped in Missouri to visit with some old friends from former MDS trips. Men, women and children gathered for a lunch time potluck and we had a lot of fun reminiscing and catching up on each other's lives.
Most arrived by horse and buggy on this sunny, but chilly January morning.

We ate lunch in the machine shop and soon it was time for everyone to be on their way again, and for us to continue our trip south. We arrived in Birmingham on January 3, and without too much trouble located the MDS camp. The kitchen, dining room, and short term volunteer housing is in a church, and the tool trailer, office trailer, and long term RVs are out behind the church. Ours is the motor home in the middle. The last picture shows the living area in our home. It is a decent size and quite useable for us, although the shower is pretty small, and there still is not a lot of room on either side of the bed, but there is lots of closet space. I think we will do fine.