Weekly Report for New Iberia

The crew here has just completed their fourth week. We are still working on Ms. Rita’s house and probably will be for another month. The ceiling has been patched, and partially mudded. It will need several coats to try and blend the new in with the old. Ms. Rita is so very thankful for everything that is being done for her. It is a joy to work for her.

Ms. Woogie, (the lady that MDS built a new house for last year) came to visit the crew one day. She plans to have our group all over for dinner one day and she wants her whole family to be there.

We have had a few rainy days again and today the weather man claimed that this is the second wettest October on record. The mosquitoes are still plentiful at dawn and dusk and we all work hard to rid our RV’s of all of them before we try to go to sleep. They will be sure to notify you if you missed one (or likely more) once the lights are turned off. One would think that they would stay put, silently rejoicing that we did not get them, but no such luck!! They just don’t give up until you get them all! The temperatures have been very comfortable all week. Several nights the temperatures dipped into the 40’s and the heaters would go on, but the days warm up nicely.

On Thursday night our crew was privileged to attend a concert in Morgan City, about half an hour from here. We had seen a brochure on The Hunt Family coming to perform. I called for tickets but was informed that they only sold season’s tickets. I told him we were volunteers in the area and probably would only be here for the one performance and buying season’s tickets would not work out for us. Well he told us if you are volunteers, come on down and you will be our guests. We went and we felt very welcome. Just before introducing the performers the Emcee mentioned that a group of volunteers with Mennonite Disaster Service were in attendance and we received a round of applause.

The Hunt Family are entertainers and the children range in age from eleven to nineteen. The oldest two are twin girls followed by five boys. They all take part and they sing, fiddle, tap dance, Irish dance, and play guitars, drums, mandolin and keyboard. They write most of their own music and lyrics. The amazing thing was that most of them could perform any or all of the above and after hearing them perform we were not surprised at all the awards they have received. They kept their audience spellbound! For three years they were entertainers at Busch Gardens in Florida and performed for Queen Elizabeth when she visited the US a few years ago. The parents are very much part of the package. They travel by bus and are homeschooled. The oldest are taking college courses on computer. What a family!!

Friday morning the cane harvesters arrived and by now all the cane is gone that hemmed us in before. We now can see for miles and hopefully the mosquitoes will also leave.  

Blessings till next week.

Submitted by Verna Martens