We were a motley collection of people who didn't really know each other well before we left – six students, six teachers and three other adults.

Most of us traveled with at least one person we knew well. One, for me, was my son who had just graduated from college and plans to travel as much as he can before he settles into the routine of a job.

Some team members didn't really know any of the others. We introduced ourselves as we gathered for a pre-trip picture (published in OnWEAC in March) and shared pizza one evening before we left. We shared work, songs, activities, food, tears and a lot of laughter on the trip. We returned home with some good stories about each other.

The students worked as hard as the adults. Gone were the typical "senior" complaints. "Do I have to do this?" was replaced with "What else can I do?" We returned as a team that shared an awesome experience.

We arrived in New Orleans on Monday, April 19, in the evening. We stayed at Mater Dolorosa, low-income senior apartments run by Christopher Homes, the housing agency of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It is a converted school.

We divided into three groups for sleeping arrangements in three empty apartments. We slept on air mattresses on the floor. (The high school girls got the room with the lizard; they were thrilled!)

Catholic Charities provided meals for us, which we ate together in the dining area shared with A.A. meetings and the highly contested mayoral voting booths. Ann Laiche, a social worker whose role had changed after Katrina, helped us connect with needed work projects. Though we all envisioned that we would be clearing out flooded homes, we were needed to clean out and paint the apartments at Mater Dolorosa and another facility, the Chateau Notre Dame, which is apartments and a skilled nursing home. We were able to help residents move back into their apartments and patients move back into the nursing facility.

Thus, instead of helping one family by cleaning out their house as we originally planned, we ultimately helped prepare homes for many people. We painted, cleaned and disinfected more than 30 hospital rooms, pulled up rugs, moved furniture, picked up trash throughout a neighborhood and completed numerous other odd jobs. The residents had been carried out of the nursing home wrapped in their bed sheets and transported north. Some died. Many have been living in a gymnasium for eight months. They wanted to return home. We helped them.

We worked each day from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but we don't feel we did enough. We all wished we could have done more.

We saw many sides of New Orleans. Stores and restaurants are opening. The French Quarter was alive, loud and a great party. The college students were studying for exams. We toured as many different parts as we could.

On Thursday afternoon, Ann Laiche drove us in a bus to see the 9th Ward, the poorest area destroyed by both Katrina and the floods. We thought we were prepared to see this because we had all talked about the destruction and had seen it covered so much on TV.

Nothing can prepare anyone for miles and miles of destruction. We saw roofs with holes cut out from the inside for people to escape. We saw cars on top of fences. We saw houses on top of cars. We heard silence. For me, the silence had the most impact. There were no children laughing and playing, no dogs barking, no birds singing. We understood only a little of the lives that were lost. A community gone. It's much different when you are there.

Everyone we met had a story. The woman who handed out towels in a bathroom described how she tried to return to her home after the flooding. The maintenance man at the nursing home stayed throughout the storm to protect the home. He heard gunfire and looting during the pitch-black nights.

A woman whose home was destroyed and now lived in the apartments cooked us jambalaya for lunch one day to say thank you. She described how she left everything, including her car, because she thought she'd be back in a couple days. She lost everything except the "pre-Katrina" clothes she was wearing. One waitress worked an entire restaurant. Everyone is gone. The school in the French Quarter is closed; there aren't any children to attend.

Everyone thanked us as if we were cleaning out their own personal homes. Everyone wanted to know where we were from. People appreciated that we cared enough to come down. People were very impressed that high school students joined us. We saw groups from everywhere helping. We were not alone. We met a family who drove down with their dog and painted apartments next to us. Another group wore Habitat for Humanity T-shirts.

I believe everyone on our team is thankful to have had this opportunity. I know Darla Wack and Gail Kern are planning to go down again in the summer. People in my school district, particularly at South Milwaukee High School, helped us raise so much of the money and have really been supportive of the whole plan. We could not have done this without their backing. It was wonderful to return to such a great group of people. Teachers stopped classes to ask students to discuss their experiences. Every time I walk down the hall, teachers and students stop me to ask about the trip.

We have extra money and will be working with Ann Laiche to continue to help meet the needs of the returning elderly. Even though I didn't get to meet them as I cleaned their rooms, the residents became very real to me. I hope they make the transition back without too much difficulty.

Pictured above are teachers Cassie Doxtater, Dan Lesniak, Gary Kiltz, Kathleen Knoll, Erik Richards, Darla Wack; students Ryan Haag, Sarah Jones, Heather Lara, Chrissy Olson, Lauren Schaus, and Daniel Townsend; and other adult volunteers Kate Clyne, Gail Kern and Phil Knoll.

If you would like to help with supplies or other donations, contact Knoll at (414) 766-5235 or Knoll.Kathleen@sdsm.k12.wi.us.

Posted May 10, 2006