Home again...

Well, we finally made it home. Those of us on the early flight got into Philadelphia at about 5pm and back at SEI by about 7pm or so. We were quite startled to walk outside and realize that it was cold! As we left our camp this morning, it was in the high 70's with a good amount of humidity and we were complaining about how hot it was! Overall, we were quite lucky to have the great weather that we did to get our respective jobs done.

Reflecting on this past week, I am amazed that 53 people who sit behind desks all week were able to dig down deep and help build houses. Of course, I was tired and a bit sore, but nothing like I expected to be. Words fail me today (which is not usual). I cannot begin to describe how we all felt leaving this week. This trip was rewarding because we felt like we accomplished something and that we did good for someone. Even more so was the appreciation that the staff and future homeowners showed to us.

Even though I have not always been very eloquent, I hope that I was able to get across some of our week to everyone. Once we compile all of the pictures we will send a link so that everyone can view them. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

-Mindy

Building

The final group arrived back at SEI at about 8:00 PM on Saturday evening. The weather was very cold in comparison to the humid New Orleans morning I had experienced just seven hours prior. After everyone exited the shuttle, hugs were exchanged and everyone walked to their cars. Everyone except me. I walked to my desk to wait for my ride home. My ride was running a bit late and my mood was reflective. As I sat at my desk in what seemed like an unending, empty hall of desks I began to muse:
For the past two days, I had repeated numerous times to my trip-mates that the single most significant aspect of my journey was the relationships that we built with one another. Never in my short life have I witnessed a group of people become so profoundly close to one another in such a small span of time. The friendships that our coworkers have built will undoubtedly expand through the rest of some of our lives. We have all added more constructive value to each other's lives whether it be personal or professional.
As an apparent and direct result of these truly profound relationships we can add value to our own jobs, our teams and of course our company. The people who I bonded with during this trip are not only my friends but they are also my colleagues. They are people that I can call upon for assistance and with this assistance and sharing of our resources, we can better provide for our clients as well as provide a positive work environment.
Furthermore, there is a very distinct parallel between the homes we constructed while we were in the Mississippi Bay Area and what we did emotionally on this trip. Not only did we build homes but we built profound relationships. Through this act, we added value to a community, ourselves, our country and of course, some individuals that are less fortunate than ourselves.
This past week has been one of the best weeks of my life. I have come back to SEI more fulfilled and motivated than ever. Over the past week, we built friendships that will help build SEI. I am honored to call the people with whom I travelled my coworkers and my friends.
Thank you.

Reflection of Days Past....

Well the time has come to say goodbye to Mississippi. It has been a short but long week for most of us. Some of us were sad to see it come to an end. I personally am going to miss helping out the folks that we met in Bay St. Louis. On my work site we were finishing up 7 houses that were just previous built during a blitz build session. They needed a lot of finishing touches before the other contractors came in, and during our visit we were able to make a large impact on getting them ready. 6 3/4 of the houses are ready to go for the upcoming week. Once the flooring people, plumbers and electricians come in then the houses will be ready for the families to move in.

This past work week was one that will not soon be forgotten. It has touched many of our lives to help some many families in need and there is still a lot of work to be done. Some people will be returning back to SEI on Monday with a renewed sense of compassion for helping others.

There was one particular person that has touched several of our hearts in the Bayside community, and that is Miss Betty Williams. She is anxious gal in her seventies that is just ticked pink about the fact that volunteers come to help build her very first house. I believe her and her dog will be very happy in there new home.



Alyssa, Miss Betty, Becky, Rob

Day 5, the final day

Well, what can I say, what an awesome week. On Monday when we arrived there was nothing but the foundation in place, today as we leave the site, a house stands proudly before us.

Today, we worked on finalising the siding so that we could start painting but unfortunately we did not manage to complete this so we focused our efforts on finishing everything else such as corking any holes or gaps in the siding, priming the bottom ledge of the roof and doing anything else we could do so that we can hand over the house to the next group with the least amount of jobs to do.

Today we (Kristian, Louise, Laura, Josh, George and I) brought take-out and ate it on site so that we could get back to work quickly. We took the liberty of christening what would be Sam and John’s new kitchen/diner area in the house along with ‘Elvis’ the stray dog which if unfound, Sam would like to adopt so they are not just gaining a new house, they might also get a new dog too.

I will end by saying, this has been a fantastic week of camaraderie, hard work and bonding which we had the opportunity to do because of SEI, so a big thank you for letting us experience this. We were able to take time out of our busy lives to help others less fortunate than us which has been humbling, an experience I will never forget.

We are all going into New Orleans tonight for our last activity together before we depart for our respective homes in London, Dublin and Philadelphia so I hope everyone has a great time, stays safe and I will pray for a safe passage home for all tomorrow. Signing off for the last time xx

Pictures from yesterday

Steven (in the long sleeve gray shirt) is one of our site leaders for Habitat. He is invaluable when it comes to explaining each project that needs to get completed. This pictures shows the pre-build for one of the houses.
Nailing is hard work so you have to get the right angle!
Brandi is taking out some frustration with a hammer and nails.
This is the deck and foundation for the house we were doing the pre-build for. As you can see, the house is on wood instead of directly in the ground. This helps when there are hurricane conditions to prevent flooding etc.

Day 4 and a house blessing

As we get to the building site, it takes my breath away as I see what we have built so far. We actually have a house standing before us built by us. Wow. That’s all I can say. Yesterday, we marked up walls for the sidings, today we actually put up the sidings. We work in small teams, some to hold the sidings up, some to measure and some acting as ‘runners’ who take the measurements to get them cut. Very exciting if you are not used to this and even more so when you get to use the air nail gun. Today we needed to get the siding finished so it is ready for painting tomorrow, we did not finish them today so we will have to turn it up a gear in the morning.

The couple, Sam and John are again on site watching us build their house. It is great to watch them watching us and the joy on their faces is unbelievable. As we survey the inside of the house at the end of the day, it was amazing to see what we have built in just 4 days.

We finish early today as we have a house blessing planned. Armed with marker pens, we are given licence to graffiti the walls with messages for Sam and John and I mark messages signed from London and Dublin. As ‘London’ has been my nickname all week, they will definitely know which messages are mine. At 4pm, Wendy McDonald, Hancock County Project Manager for Habitat for Humanity/Metro Jackson does a welcome speech and introductions followed by remarks by Mark Scott, Construction Manager and representatives from SEI and the Cincinnati crew. Sam says a few words on behalf of her and John which is heartfelt and brings a lump (the size of an apple) to my throat and tears to my eyes. Mistie, our Construction Supervisor, leads the blessing and presents a bible to Sam and John signed by everyone on site. May they be blessed with peace, love and happiness in their new home.

Tomorrow will be our last day on the site and it will be a long, hard slog as we still have lots to do but I have faith that we will pull together as a team and will achieve everything we need to. With Mistie barking orders at us, I have no doubt we will do it. It will be sad to leave as we have achieved so much, bonded really well and made some great friends. Tonight, we have some light entertainment as we go bowling so let’s see how tight the new friendships really are when the bowling starts….let the competition begin. Watch this space.

Not much sun today...

Today was pretty cool outside - however not nearly as bad at home - and the majority of us were in long sleeve t-shirts and sweatshirts. We spent most of the day inside houses so that kept the chill in us as well. This morning flooring crew continued their work (they are now pros) and rest of our team started a "pre-build" for one of the houses that will be blitz-built next week. That involved cutting pieces of wood and hammering a few things together. Let's just say that I really have no clue how to use a tape measure properly and I am TERRIBLE at hammering nails! So, I ended up working with Christina to cut the pieces to length using some sort of saw thing. I had no idea how good it felt to be able to use power tools! After that we cleaned up a few houses and began to finish them off (painting trim, prepping the floors, installing locks etc).

Today I believe that we are all getting used to the manual labor and are not nearly as tired as we were the past 2 days. It is hard to believe that the 53 of us actually sit behind desks! Anyway, please keep reading our posts and commenting on them. We really look forward to hearing what you have to say...we talk about it every morning. There should be some more pictures up soon, I believe that we just have to get the time to shrink the size of them to be uploaded.

-Mindy

Day 3

Today, the sun did not bless us with much sunshine so most people had jeans and sweatshirts on to keep the chill out and the schedule pretty much continued the same as yesterday, we finished covering the walls, putting the outer tarmac covering on the roof and working on the internal structure. Most teams worked solidly and pretty hard today and as most of the work was done on the roof and the exterior, there was not as much interaction as normal but it meant we got lots of work done. The house is really coming together and we have done so much in just 3 days. Well done everyone.

Today is eat out night at Lagniappe so everyone will shortly be heading out to enjoy some southern food and hospitality. We must not forget the ladies who have been cooking for us all here, they normally arrive by 4.30am and leave late at night having prepared and cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have been invaluable for keeping us hungry troops well feed and nourished so a big thank you for all of them from all of us. We appreciate all your hard work, thank you.

Day 2

Again, another great day at diamondhead. It is truly amazing to see this once flat piece of concrete becoming a complete house with roof and tyvek wrapping. It is also a pleasure to have the future owners be a part of the building process there almost every step of the way with us. If you have read the previous blogs, you are aware that we have been split into two different groups at two different job sites. Along with a church group from cincinatti, there are around 30 of us working on the house in diamondhead. Everyone we have met are incredibly grateful and nice, even saying god bless you after every single person that sneezes, we have learned quickly what southern hospitality truly means. There is a woman that lives behind our work site who has invited us into her home for snacks including spaghetti that she had made today. I believe on tap for tomorrow is some siding along with some roofing activities. This is absolutely an unforgettable experience, and it is just the beginning.

Pictures from Monday

One of our primary jobs - picking things up, carrying them to the end of the driveway, loading them onto a truck and transfering them to a shed. This is just one of the many piles.

Bill Martin and I about 20 feet up in the air on scaffolding. Needless to say, whenever we needed to fill paint or move at all, we were crawling!!

One of our Habitat for Humanity work leaders, Steven, explaining to Jason and Alyssa how to use the saw to cut subflooring.
One of the houses on Grenada Street that we were finishing inside. This including laying down subflooring, touching up walls, painting trim, painting the shed, sanding and varnishing cabinets and installing door handles/locks.
The end of Day 1 and still smiling!

More Productivity

The sounds of hammer to nail and nail to wood rang once again througout the Diamondhead job site today. With instruction from forewomen Misty, we began to attach plywood walls to the exterior and some of the interior of the house. Our morning work consisted of lots and lots of hammering!!! By lunch we had the entire exterior of the home enclosed with plywood.
After a quick lunch break, we began to do some of the finishing touches on the plywood walls. This involved more nailing of course. Some crew members realigned nails into the home's frame while others cut holes in the plywood to make doors and windows along with other odd jobs.
Also, upon our return from lunch, we were met by a rather large load of triangular shaped wood frames meant to make the roof for the home. Some brave crew members stood atop the home's base framework and attached the frames of the roof to the base of the home. To do this more hammering was required.
By the end of the day, the frame of the roof had been erected and we all saw what has begun to look like and actual house. It was truly an amazing sight. Needless to say the day was quite productive and all of our arms are sore from all the hammering.

A few pics....

Some shoe issue...

Ann doing some painting...

The Host Camp!

We start to build...

After a good night's sleep and a good solid breakfast, I grab an apple and plenty of water and wait patiently for the day’s briefing which starts the day by separating us all into two groups, those who want to build a house and those who want to decorate newly built houses. I elect for the construction as I am itching to get my hands dirty….and we did not have to wait long.

Not knowing what to expect, we arrive and see a concrete area that is the foundation of “our house” and after Misty, our forewomen provides advice for the day, she announces “go grab your tools” and off we go. After hammering planks of wood for what seems like hours, we realise only an hour has passed but we can already see the progress we have made. Two hours later we finally have one wall up, east facing, result. We also have the pleasure of meeting the couple whose house we are building and it is gratifying to see the joy and excitement on their faces as they see us working on their new home. This makes all of the hard work so far truly worth it as we are able to provide part of their future for them.

We stop for lunch which is a blessing as the sun and humidity are relentless and energies are starting to wane so once we are all fed and watered, we head back ready for action. Within 20 minutes, another wall goes up and 20 minutes later, another wall is erected. Wow, and this is only after half a day’s work, the house is slowly but surely coming alive in front of us. The camaraderie is great as everyone is working as a team. Everyone works well, there are no casualties and by the time we finish at 4:30pm, we have the makings of a house in front of us. “Good job guys”, we tell each other as we return dirty but proud of our contributions.

After a quick shower, we head out to a dinner evening hosted by Hancock Bank, one of our sponsors. We arrived exhausted and aching following our days work but not too tired to devour the delicious hamburgers served. After a short presentation, we present a quilt of squares created by SEI employees to Hancock. This quilt has been donated using squares created by SEI employees and I can see the creativity involved, I notice two flags, a rather impressive GB flag and a US flag courtesy of SEI’s finest (SEI Security) which represents some of the employees on this trip - well done for everyone who contributed to this effort.

Signing off for today as I, and everyone else following today’s efforts, are exhausted and will need to get a good night’s sleep as today is only the beginning…..

Phew! We are tired!

Wow. What an amazing first day on the job sites. We were split into two groups for our projects today- construction and finishing. The contstruction team was actually starting a house from the bottom up beginning with all of the framing (and quite a lot of hammering I am told). I was on the group for finishing that are taking on assorted projects in about 7 houses that were part of the blitz build last week. We started out this morning by putting up scafolding and a finishing coat of paint on the exterior of the house. When you have about 25 people working together, it goes pretty quickly. Kudos to my "top level" of scaffolding buddies - Bill and Christina, who made me laugh so as not to remember the fact that I was 20 feet in the air, leaning over to paint the trim and soffets of a roof while trying to remained balanced (yes, my feet still feel like they are tensed from being up there)! Alan from the UK was right below us; giving me the assurance that you could probably die from a 6 foot fall but made up for it by being the painting master below us.

Next we tore down the scaffolding and began to get some individual assignments. There was sub-flooring to be put down and cut as well as sanding and varnishing kitchen cabinets. Becky, Sherri and I took on that one...which made us all have quite interesting attitudes after inhaling the fumes (okay maybe it was just me!). The rest of the group got the AMAZING job of moving equipment, scaffolding and materials from the sites to trailors to trucks (in no specific order). Those guys were champs; I think that they would now be able to pick up an entire bunkhouse and move it if we asked!

We also had our dinner with Hancock Bank tonight. It was great to be able to mingle with them and here their own personal stories about surviving Katrina. We presented them with the beautiful quilt (thanks Annmarie!!) as well as our volunteer t-shirts and $250 gift cards for 2 employees to Home Depot.

So thanks for reading and keep thinking about us!

-Mindy

So Rewarding...and it's only day one!

So today was the actual first day of the SEI Gulf Region Trip. We broke into different groups. Some of the us went to Bayside Habitat for Humanity project and the others went to the Diamond Head Habitat for Humanity project.

The Bayside project consists of sevaral homes that were in need of finishing work and prebuilding several homes in preparation for a blitz build that will be taken place next week.

The Diamond Head project consists of buidling a brand new house for a family.

I have chosen to be on the group that is doing the finishing work @ Bayside.

Let me tell you what, even though it is the first day, it has already been rewarding. We have already put the finishing touches on 2 complete homes. Now all that is needed is for the flooring contractor, the plumber and the electrician to come to finish up. Once that is done the appliances can be delivered and the families get to move in.

Some of us hasn't yet met the families for the new houses but hopefully they are going to stop by in the next day or so.

So that is my experience so far.... On a side note, I did however manage to ruin a pair of shoes when I fell into a hole of mud. I know what your thinking..."How could that happen?" Well, I thought I would be rambunctioius and start doing some site clean up. I was a going to pick up a bottle that was in a ditch, when I put my foot on the ground, it sank down about two feet.

So for about an hour or so I limped around shoeless, because I was tying to clean my shoe and it was very wet.

On lighter note, I got to buy some new shoes!!!

Time Challenges

A quick funny thought - The clock shifting which occurred in the US this past weekend was good timing for us - I think. We had an extra hour to sleep (especially those with morning flights). When we landed in New Orleans we 'lost' another hour. So for our Oaks-based volunteers our bodies are telling us that it's 7 pm for example and it's only 5 pm. You really feel old (ok - I'm speaking for myself) when you are incredibly tired at 8:30 pm and go to bed at 9 pm. I had had enough sleep by 4 am and arose with a few other morning folks. (I'm waiting for breakfast to be available now....) In spite of our adjustments nothing compares to our UK / Dublin friends who had a huge adjustment to make. Anyway - just a few quick thoughts on the time challenges.

More news on our first day soon. I've already gotten a preview of what to expect on our Habitat projects. Our group will have opportunities to build a home or work on another project finishing some homes built last week. It will be interesting to see who selects which project.

Keep checking out the blog!!!

- Robb

Settled in...

Good Evening Everyone!

As Robb mentioned, we made it in just fine this afternoon with no problems (unlike our UK friends). Everyone seemed to have remembered all of the things on their lists (although, I left makeup behind - horrors)! Robb spoke with those on the evening flight who arrived about an hour ago so they should be here shortly. Sandy, Brandi, Nicole and I had the mission to go get the 53 pillows necessary to make our stay slightly more comfortable. Never allow anyone to tell you that getting pillows is an easy job! 6 carts, 53 pillows and 45 minutes later, including re-ringing them all up individually because the number was off somehow, we were stuffing them in the minivan like champs! Those pictures will be posted sometime tomorrow morning or evening.

I hope everyone will get a better understanding of what it is like in the area by our blogs and pictures. Driving in this evening was definitely sobering. To still see tarps, empty and boarded up houses and leveled ground is heartbreaking. I cannot even begin to fathom what these people have gone through and continue to endure on a daily basis. We had a "get to know you" meeting this evening and heard some of the facts regarding the storm and the people in the area. 60% of people are still in FEMA trailers and the storm was 2 years ago!! The majority of the volunteer groups that have been here since the beginning are now leaving. We are so excited to get started tomorrow and cannot wait to share what happens! Keep checking back and think about us when you see our empty desks!

-Mindy

We arrived...

The London team (myself, Kristian Berg and Louise Gibson) met at Gatwick ready for the week ahead. We had packed light (well some of us had), we boarded the plane ready for our 11am take off and after a 10 hour+ flight which went quickly, we landed at Houston airport to learn we had to get through customs, collect our bags, check them back in and then board our connecting flight to New Orleans. No problem, we thought then we realised we only had 1 hour to do it in.

The custom line, as expected, was long but we keep positive as we know we HAD to get this flight…..50 minutes to go…no problem, the line is moving, our spirits are high despite the long flight…..40 minutes to go….our line slows…..30 minutes….we can do it ….20 minutes….mmm, starting to worry now, can we make it…of course we can…..15 minutes….we start to wonder how far the connecting gates are…..10 minutes…Kristian is at the front of the line…go Kristian, go….finally we get through to find we have to run to get to the next check-in desk. “It will probably be the further gate, knowing our luck”, I joke and once we get through the 2nd customs area, we are still positive…..5 minutes to go, ok we are through, we just have to find our gate….

Where or where is terminal C gate 32…..not far we hope as we start a gentle jog then a sprint as we realise how far it is. 4 minutes 10….oh no, we are at gate 45…we really start to sprint now (as quickly as you can with rucksacks on your back)…..3 minutes 20….we are only at gate 42…...needless to say, we start to panic as we must get this flight…..15 seconds to go….fast footed Gibson (Louise) reaches the gate first….and we stagger down the tunnel to see the airplane door closing….”nooooooo”, we shout, wait for us”.

We make it with just seconds to go, panting and sweating heavily (and we have not even started building the house yet) with everyone looking disapprovingly at us as we find any available seats. If only we had enough breath to explain that we had just got off a 10 hour flight and ran for what seemed like miles but we only have the strength to get to our seats before take-off. A quick 45 minute flight later and we arrive in New Orleans. After ringing for our shuttle bus, we sit and wait. We see it and jump onboard, pleased that we are nearly at the final destination and can check in before the Irish team (Alan Meaney and Laura Diskin) arrive an hour later.

We arrive at the hotel and check in. “Your names aren’t down here”, they say, “they must be, try Duncan, Berg or SEI”. “No”, they say, “we do not have any record of your booking. “But you must, this is the Country Inn Suites”. Without a blink of an eye, he says,” this is the Comfort Inn Suites”. We all burst out laughing despite being exhausted. In our haste, we had jumped into the wrong courtesy bus, how funny but then Country Inn Suites and Comfort Suites looks the same when you are tired so where exactly is our hotel we wonder. “Everything comes in threes” I say stupidly….

We order a taxi which arrives 15 minutes later, “Country Inn Suites”, we say and off we set. Knowing it should cost no more than $10, we start to get concerned when the clock hits $15 dollar and still no sight of our hotel. We panic even more when the driver says; I think it was just around the corner from where I picked you up and then adds "it is literally 2 blocks from there". “Sorry”, he says, “we have to head back”. We are happy when he turns off the clock. “I really must get a new map”, he says, “mmmmm I agree, I say in my head hoping he finds our destination soon as we are starting to tire rapidly.

We pas the original hotel, he starts the clock again, and we arrive quickly at our destination, a whole 2 blocks away and only costing $4 dollars, just in time to see Alan and Laura checking in. We were glad to see them and the hotel, and after nearly 14 hours to travel, we checked in. After a quick supper of crisps and beers and two episodes of CSI, we retire to bed. And the good news was that we got an extra hour’s sleep as the clocks went back. Absolute bliss

After an eventful journey to New Orleans, we are all now ready to start a week of hard work and to see the fruits of our labour! Signing off for today but please check in for further updates.

Arriving in Bay St. Louis

It's Sunday afternoon and we're starting to arrive in Bay St. Louis. The first to arrive in the area were our 5 UK and Dublin volunteers. They arrived in New Orleans Saturday and will be driving to Bay St. Louis this afternoon. Me and Mike Erdlen took the earliest flight from Philly to New Orleans and just got back from the first of many Wal-Mart runs. We got snacks and drinks to keep the troops hydrated and energized during our work days. A few other car loads of Oaks volunteers have arrived and they are starting to get settled in. One of the groups just left to purchase the 53 pillows necessary for comfortable sleeping for our volunteers.

The weather here is quite warm - around 75 degrees and sunny. The weather predications call for similar weather throughout our stay.

Check back often for updates. We have lots of bloggers committed to giving you all sorts of interesting information on the area and our projects!!!

- Robb