Thoughts from Houma, Louisiana

Sixteen people participated in the latest mission trip to the gulf coast where people have been out of their homes for over six months. Houma is about 45 miles southwest of New Orleans. Some of our group worked on a private residence, taping and sanding the ceilings and walls for painting the following week. The rest worked at Bayou Towers, a public housing unit for senior citizens and disabled adults. Here is a random sampling and a compilation of some of the thoughts shared by the folks who gave up a week to help people affected by hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

    The PDA (Presbyterian Disaster Assistance) camp was well organized. Ours was one of four groups that week. The others came from North Carolina, California and New Jersey. We were 76 workers in all. We lived in blue plastic corrugated tents that were hot during the day and cold at night. Fortunately, temperatures that week were about 80 and around 60 at night, so we were fairly comfortable. The dining hall was air conditioned, thank goodness. We all ate  our morning and evening meals together, with each group taking its turns to help the paid staff prepare meals. We enjoyed wonderful hot showers and flush toilets at the PDA camp thanks to modern technology and the donations of Presbyterians from around the country. The shower truck is parked next to the tents and people visit and chat about their day as they wait in line for the next available shower. Many of us had frog experiences as there were lots of little green tree frogs that shared our camp space. At least two were given names: Frere frog, who lived in the women’s shower, and, Trudeau, the tree frog, who kept the men’s large tent mosquito free.

    On Sunday morning, we worshiped at the Bayou Blue Presbyterian church. We all got mugs from the church and at the end of worship they surrounded us and prayed for us. It meant a lot to them that we would make the trip and also attend worship. They often feel abandoned by the rest of the country. On that Wednesday, they provided a mega dessert bar that kept us in desserts for the rest of the week. On Tuesday night, we were fed by the Methodists; all the seafood gumbo we could eat, and more than we should have eaten. These local folks glowed with hospitality, even though many of them had their own hurricane horror stories to tell. We might not be so giving were we in their shoes.

    We went on a fascinating swamp tour. See photos at www.cajunman.com. Our guide played a Cajun accordion, guitar, and sang as well as called alligators to the boat, even feeding them raw chicken on a stick. We saw a baby eagle, turtles, nutria, baby alligators, and learned about Shell Oil Company from a Cajun point of view. Everyone came home with lots of pictures of alligators. The swamp can be a very beautiful yet eerie place to visit. And, it’s good to have a guide as it is also a very easy place to get lost and never be found again.

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View photos of the recent mission trip to Houma, Louisiana posted to the PSA website:

Rev. Pat Handlson
phandlson@frontiernet.net
(931) 526-5486