An accountant from Bermuda has helped to rebuild homes in New Orleans for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Sue Kovacs, 33, of Hamilton Parish, travelled to Louisiana alone earlier this month to work on a housing project run by charity Habitat for Humanity.

And last November, Ms Kovacs, an accountant at Bermuda Monetary Authority, ran the New York Marathon and raised $1,500 for Habitat?s work in the Gulf Coast.

She told : ?On the news in Bermuda I saw all the devastation on CNN and just to see people in America dealing with things like needing water and food and housing, it really affected me.

?I was very compelled to go there and try to raise money and do something physically to be a part of the rebuilding effort.?

Ms Kovacs worked on a 35-home development in Thibodaux, a city to the west of New Orleans. The site is part of Habitat?s Building Blitz on the Bayou, which will see 100 homes built.

Miss Kovacs, who is originally from New Jersey, had no house-building experience but learnt skills on the job and helped with four new homes. She paid for her own travel, was put up in a mission with other women and had to make a $100 donation to Habitat.

The charity provides interest-free mortgages for people in need of a home ? but families must put in their own ?sweat equity? on the building and on other properties.

?I met four nice people, all of which are receiving homes,? said Miss Kovacs. ?I was lucky enough to speak to one family and they were absolutely overwhelmed to see us taking time out of our lives to help build houses for them.?

She is urging other Bermudians to visit Habitat?s website ? www.habitat.org ? and sign up to help.

?It was difficult but you can do as much as you want,? she said. ?You are doing something so meaningful. It was a fantastic experience. It was fun and it was something very different.

?I would love to go down to the Gulf Coast again if possible to do some more work. Just to take a week out of your vacation ? it?s such a small sacrifice. What?s five days out of my life??