First Congo On The Road

T.B.I.F. *

Friday always comes too soon on these trips.  We have a tendency to focus on what needs to be done rather than on enjoying what was accomplished.  Craig, of course, is always grateful for whatever is accomplished.  “Every nail that is driven today doesn’t need to be driven next week.”  Craig does set goals when he is planning our work week.  He just tries not to set us up for failure.  This week, he hoped we would get the remainder of the north wall down and new framing in place.  We did that and much more.  Minus a few minor details, all of the framing (including interior changes) is complete, plus we rebuilt a railing system on the stairs that was not to code and did most of the electrical rough in.  we were blessed with a wonderful mix of skilled and willing to learn people.  It was easy to split into teams that took ownership of various projects and saw them through to completion.

Equally important was the fun we had getting to know each other and bonding with one another.  Considering the fact that many of us either hadn’t met prior to the initial trip planning or didn’t know each other very well, we seemed to have very few problems.  Everyone packed the thing I always put first on the list, “cooperative, patient, generous attitude.”  I want to publicly thank my fellow work campers for that.

At the urging of Craig and John Caldwell (our long term volunteer from CT) we went to “The Shed” for Friday night dinner.  It was well worth the drive to north east Ocean Springs.  If that place was damaged during Hurricane Katrina, you wouldn’t know it.  While it was difficult to grasp the layout of the buildings, they seemed to be somewhat ramshackle by design or evolution.  They offered great barbeque and a live blues band.  We will revisit The Shed on future mission trips.

It is impossible to summarize in a few words how I feel as we complete this week.  Every time I go on this trip, I find myself wanting to stay and keep working.  There continues to be much to do and ever dwindling numbers of volunteers to do the work.  Thankfully Back Bay Mission’s calendar is nearly full for 2010.  To ensure we get the time we want, I made the reservation for 2011 already.  Both Craig and John encouraged me to bring workers to their Blitz week in Feb/March, 2010.  I will if I can, but it is a long shot for 2010.  Meanwhile, I’ll do what I can by promoting the annual trips, continuing to carry the message that the work in the gulf coast is not done, and seeking other opportunities to help.

Some minor things we did not get to do include touring Hwy. 90 to view the carving done on damaged live oak trees and visiting the Katrina Memorial in Biloxi Green.  We got to see some of the carvings but we had wanted to see more.  Oh well, as they say in the entertainment business, leave them wanting more.  This will be incentive to come back next year.

*Too Bad It’s Friday.  I hope everyone from this year returns next year and brings friends and family.

Benji Benzschawel