The news images paled in comparison to reality.

For two Whidbey real estate agents, a trip to New Orleans for the annual National Association of Realtors Convention this past November is one they will not soon forget. Standing in the hurricane ravaged area is an experience that cannot be replicated through television broadcasts.

The trip to the Big Easy was the first for Janet Rojas and Carmen McFayden, both of whom work for the Coupeville Windermere office. So when they realized that among the convention session offerings there was the opportunity to help rebuild the city it was an opportunity they couldn’t ignore.

“It could have happened anywhere,” McFayden said.

They spent a day working with Rebuilding Together, which according to the organization’s Web site is “the nation’s largest all-volunteer home rehabilitation organization,” whose mission is to “preserve and revitalize houses and communities.”

“While many of the buildings needed to be completely bulldozed, there were almost as many that were repairable,” Rojas said.

Morning of the work day, the two women and other volunteers met at a church where organizers rallied their troops and briefed them on the day’s tasks.

They were then bused to different homes in need of rehabilitation. The ride from the convention site and then to the indivudal work sites was one neither of the women will soon forget.

They, like the world, watched news images of the hurricane slam the Gulf Coast and the resulting waters overtake the New Orleans area. But nothing compared to seeing the devastation first-hand.

“Whole neighborhoods are devoid of human life,” McFayden said.

People continue to live cramped in FEMA trailers, even one year later.

Buildings and homes still bear the spray paint markings left by search and rescue workers. The taggings brought eerie realizations.

“The numbers marked on the bottom showed the number of bodies found in the home,” Rojas said. “We always hope to see zero.”

They passed countless “for sale” signs posted by land and homeowners who hoped to get any financial reimbursement for their damaged land or home.

It was an emotional journey.

“The only thing you ever heard of on the news was the ninth ward. That doesn’t exist anymore. It’s all dirt,” McFayden said. “What people didn’t hear about were the areas outside of New Orleans, these small subdivisions that were destroyed.”

McFayden brought her realization home, comparing the neighborhoods she toured to communities here on Whidbey.

The women helped repair a “shotgun house” in the Saint Roch neighborhood of New Orleans. Such houses, which were named for their straight line, were built in the early 1900s and carry significant historical value in the area.

The homeowner had been shipped off after the hurricane to live with family in another state. The crew of dozens of Realtors worked diligently on her house to offer her a warm welcome when she returns.

They chipped paint off the wrought iron front railing in a team effort to prime and paint this home.

“It felt good to help this homeowner get back in her home,” Rojas said.

At the shotgun home the two women helped restore a Madonna statue that stands in the front yard.

“We planted flower bulbs around it to come up this spring,” Rojas said. “Hopefully it will be a nice surprise.”

Another day was spent with Habitat for Humanity, assisting with new construction of homes in the Harry Connick Jr. sponsored Musician’s Village. Rojas helped do concrete foundation work and McFayden did insulation.

“We put metal covers on the top of the concrete foundation,” Rojas said. “The termites are so bad that they have to build with metal to help keep them out.”

While at one job site, some of the Realtors struck up a conversation with a man on the street. His home had been damaged in the hurricane, but still he repaired the rentals he owns before his own home. And while his wife lived in a FEMA trailer he lived in the semi-inhabitable upstairs of their home.

“Sometimes your sense of loss is so great you don’t know where to start. He was providing for others before he took care of himself,” McFayden said. “These people have been united and really do care for each other.”

Admitting she doesn’t want to bring politics into the mix, McFayden expressed her frustration over the handling of aid for hurricane victims.

“People are still waiting for help and there’s no excuse for that,” McFayden said. “There are people without electricity one year later.”

Amidst the year-old remnants of tragedy, the two islanders saw more than homes being rebuilt — they saw hope.

“We were amazed by all the AmeriCorps crews and all of the American youth down there,” McFayden said. “There are a lot of 20-year-olds down there leading the way. They were our bosses on the job sites and they are down there working hard, making things happen.”

They bring home lessons they hope to put into play for the rest of their lives.

“I’ve learned to be open and compassionate to people of all walks of life,” Rojas said. “They are all so different in New Orleans, just as we are here on the island, but yet we could all be affected by a tragedy so quickly.”

They hope to spread a message of preparedness to others.

“It really makes you think how unprepared we are here for a disaster,” McFayden said. “We got more out of helping these people than they will ever know.”