Hammerin' in the Delta: Going Home

We are heading home in the morning, early, real early. Tonight there is a flurry of activity as we sweep and mop the floors, clean the bathrooms, divy up the remains of our food and drink..the minutia of packing up after a busy week. It is bittersweet, I don't want to leave the fellowship of this group but I'm ready to go home and sleep in my bed. The question for me is, what else will I bring home? A sense of belonging, to this group, to Sheil, and to Tutwiler.

I have three reflections to share with you tonight and a few pictures. I plan to write the final post on Sunday. Thank you all for traveling with us on this journey.

Casey

John

My week here is coming to an end. I am leaving tomorrow morning in order to get home in time to take some pictures at Sheil Fest. This year’s Sheil Fest will be a special event, part of the celebration of Sheil’s 75^th anniversary. So I guess it is time to offer my thoughts on what we accomplish here.

Of course, like all the volunteer groups who come here, we have a positive effect on the community. My first year here, we had a chance to tour one of the houses our group had worked on in previous years. Vanessa, the owner, was happy to invite us to take a look, but not until the next day, so she would have time to clean the place. So late the next afternoon, we all dragged our sweaty, dirty bodies into Vanessa’s clean home.

The houses we build here are sturdy and comfortable, but hardly luxurious. The bedrooms are not large. I have lived in many apartments with bigger ones. They are single stories with no basement or garage, so there is not a lot of room to store all your extra stuff or accommodate a hobby. I could live pretty comfortably in a house like this, but I am a single guy, and I would still have to get rid of some of my superfluous stuff.

But the people who get the houses are always thrilled. It is their home, the place they own. They choose the color of the walls and the tile on the floor. No matter if it is soon crowed with kids and sometimes grandchildren. No matter if it is smaller and less luxurious than one might find in Chicago’s suburbs.

So when a band of strangers invaded her home, far too many to fit comfortably, Vanessa was thrilled. The women in the group looked around and complimented her on her decorating skill. A few of the veterans looked closely to see if anyone could notice the imperfections they left behind a year or two before. And Vanessa started crying, which brought many of our group to tears as well.

This year, we were able to meet both the women who will be getting the houses we are working on this week. Felicia will be moving into the first one, which should be finished in a couple weeks. We worked on the same house last year, so she has been waiting a long time. She will be moving in next door to her cousin LaShonda, who owns the other house we worked on last year. Both LaShonda and Felicia dropped by to see the progress of Felicia’s house, and dropped by to see the other house we were working on, which should be finished by the end of the year. That will be Sarah’s house. Sarah spent plenty of time working on her house this week, but could only drop in for a few hours at a time as she maneuvered between her two jobs. Sarah pretty much did whatever we asked her to do. She seemed less disturbed than we were about the imperfections the previous group of builders had left behind. She is just happy to be getting a home. Of course we want to take the time to do the job right. Of course we want to build a house that we would be happy to live in. She deserves no less.

Yesterday, we visited the clinic to drop off some supplies, and Dr. Brooks was happy to spend some time with us. Jan has already related some of the stories she told us, so I will not repeat them. But she loves to see our group because we come back year after year and take an interest in the community. She thanked us time and again for our work and told us how important it is. When someone owns a house, that person feels like they are somebody. And if they are somebody, it becomes more important to take care of their health. Building houses is actually public health measure.

Late in the week, two young men started coming by to lend a hand. One has been showing up for years, and some of the long time volunteers have watched him grow up. The other was a young man who has completed two years of community college and is trying to decide where he will go from here. While he helped put up siding, he peppered the rest of the siding crew with questions. How to you decide on a career? What is the best way to get started? How did you get your job? Today, he joined us for lunch. One of our volunteers gave him a brief introduction to electrical wiring, then suggested that instead of being an electrician, he might want to be the guy who supervises the electricians. Another person told him that he was a whole lot smarter than he thinks he is, that he could certainly succeed in college. He was grateful for the attention, and said he learned more from us in a few days than he had in a couple of years of school. Not too many people around here encourage young people to go to college or beyond, or tell them how bright and talented they are.

We arrived for the potluck dinner tonight during the weekly music lessons at the community center. This being the home of the blues, that is what the center provides musical instruction in. The participants are all high school age, and they are pretty good. They are preparing for the big community festival coming up in a few weeks. Three local professional musicians offered instruction. The drummer sounded surprisingly polished. A couple of bassists got along pretty well. One of them is also the group’s lead vocalist. She is not Koko Taylor, at least not yet, but even in the brief time we watched, we could see how she was gaining in confidence. She is becoming someone who can stand up in front of a crowd and belt out the blues, not a task for the faint of heart. Meanwhile, the instructor for the guitar players explained cord progressions while his students listened to every word.

Later in the evening, some of us went into Clarksdale to watch a couple of those instructors perform, and I got to speak to one of them. She said this was the best teaching experience she has ever had, that the students pay attention to everything. The center has a few donated instruments, so some of them can practice at home. It is something important to them. And it’s free!

We bring many things to the people of Tutwiler. I am a relative newcomer, here for my third trip. Some of our crew have been here for most of eleven years, and most are far more talented at building houses than I am. But each of us brings our time and talent, and we effect the people here sometimes in ways that we do not expect. Perhaps we do more by simply telling them that they are significant, that they have gifts of their own to offer, that there is a purpose and a mission for their life, a message they hear far to infrequently. Perhaps in giving them that message, we might even hear it ourselves.

Bill

So what is it that brings me back to Tutwiler? It is an important question because of what it means to me each year.

We go together with some of the same people , meet new neighbors and find a common ground of what it takes to form a community. It does not require any common bond of race, education, religion,or political group. The base of community is found in all being willing to use each other's gifts to build something bigger than any of us could do alone and I thrill in the accomplishment that gives life to others. It is amazing how egos are set aside and turn into intimacy that touches each member of the team. Each of us is free to be who we are with no blame and no shame. It is each of us giving to someone else a feeling of belonging in a society that doesn't allow entrance easily. I return to Sheil with a resolve to be more accepting, a better listener, and to look for the face of Christ in all who touch my life.

Natalie

Today was our last day and I can't help but wonder, "What did we accomplish?" We finished siding two houses, put in closets, stained wood, installed molding, hung dry wall and did a lot of mudding and sanding etc. However, with so much still left undone what did we really accomplish? Two families are one week closer to having a home and I guess that that is reason enough for being here. I look forward to returning again next year and helping another family in their journey toward home.