update, and thoughts.
New Orleans: Unforgettable. Heartbreaking. Eye-opening. So meaningful. I'm so, so glad I went, and was able to change the lives of a few homeowners. I met some of the greatest kids, ever--the best side of GW. The type of people who sign up and pay the money and travel on bus 18 hours each way down to New Orleans, performing backbreaking grueling work in the heat of the Gulf Region without complaining are the kinds of people I'm honored to be in the presence of. I'm so inspired. I'm really going to make the effort to take on at least one continuous community service activity this semester.
There has been so little progress made in the Gulf region. I cannot even emphasize this enough. There are still cars and boats in the middle of yards--and FEMA doesn't plan to remove them, unless they block a levee. It will have to be at the owner's expense (estimated $50,000) and who the hell has that kind of money, after losing EVERYTHING? We gutted out houses in St. Bernard Parish...cleaned out the insulation, broke down the walls, shoveled up all of the water-damaged stuff, dealt with the mold and snakes (each house still has the refrigerator, with the seven-month old rotten food!), broke the windows, took down doors, and left each house a bare structure.
Everyone was so appreciative. There was quite a few tears and emotional moments. One man came up to us before we began our first house, to tell us to move onto another house, since the homeowner hadn't been back. He got on the phone with the homeowner's contact and said, "I'm here with some of the greatest youth of this nation..." and it was something I never expected to hear of us. There was a lot of talking last week, about how we shouldn't be that special for coming down to New Orleans--how, in the face of any natural disaster, every American should feel obligated.
And a priest at the Catholic church in New Orleans, upon offering us a quick tour, told us he had read of us in the local newspaper--college students who gave up their spring break to come down. There were SO many of us!! The entire city was bustling with college students and Americorps kids on Friday.
And speaking of the city--it is so beautiful! Granted, I basically only saw the French Quarter, but the city is still so infused with culture and French influence and beauty. Its one of the best cities I've visited in the country, and certainly my favourite of the South. Its the original Sin City, which you definitely see on Bourbon Street, but theres also SO much culture--its not one of those cities full of shops and museums and not much else. I loved it. We ate benyagts at Cafe du Monde twice, and the second time, I was ranting a bit on how we shouldn't even be DISPUTING the rebuilding of New Orleans & how beautiful it is, and the black busboy nearby heard me and raised his hand to cheer at what I was saying. He made me smile.
I plan to go back this summer, in May. Hopefully I'll be able to drag my siblings down with me, or my mom. Its hard work, but theres a lot to be done!
Ah. There's so much to say, and so much that I experienced, but I don't want to bore anyone with the details. Plus, its one of those kinds of experiences thats so hard to materialize into words.
One of my most vivid images that I'll never forget is a house we passed on the way to Tent City--it was run-down and clearly damaged, but still standing. And someone had spray painted on the front of the house: "We'll be back!"
There has been so little progress made in the Gulf region. I cannot even emphasize this enough. There are still cars and boats in the middle of yards--and FEMA doesn't plan to remove them, unless they block a levee. It will have to be at the owner's expense (estimated $50,000) and who the hell has that kind of money, after losing EVERYTHING? We gutted out houses in St. Bernard Parish...cleaned out the insulation, broke down the walls, shoveled up all of the water-damaged stuff, dealt with the mold and snakes (each house still has the refrigerator, with the seven-month old rotten food!), broke the windows, took down doors, and left each house a bare structure.
Everyone was so appreciative. There was quite a few tears and emotional moments. One man came up to us before we began our first house, to tell us to move onto another house, since the homeowner hadn't been back. He got on the phone with the homeowner's contact and said, "I'm here with some of the greatest youth of this nation..." and it was something I never expected to hear of us. There was a lot of talking last week, about how we shouldn't be that special for coming down to New Orleans--how, in the face of any natural disaster, every American should feel obligated.
And a priest at the Catholic church in New Orleans, upon offering us a quick tour, told us he had read of us in the local newspaper--college students who gave up their spring break to come down. There were SO many of us!! The entire city was bustling with college students and Americorps kids on Friday.
And speaking of the city--it is so beautiful! Granted, I basically only saw the French Quarter, but the city is still so infused with culture and French influence and beauty. Its one of the best cities I've visited in the country, and certainly my favourite of the South. Its the original Sin City, which you definitely see on Bourbon Street, but theres also SO much culture--its not one of those cities full of shops and museums and not much else. I loved it. We ate benyagts at Cafe du Monde twice, and the second time, I was ranting a bit on how we shouldn't even be DISPUTING the rebuilding of New Orleans & how beautiful it is, and the black busboy nearby heard me and raised his hand to cheer at what I was saying. He made me smile.
I plan to go back this summer, in May. Hopefully I'll be able to drag my siblings down with me, or my mom. Its hard work, but theres a lot to be done!
Ah. There's so much to say, and so much that I experienced, but I don't want to bore anyone with the details. Plus, its one of those kinds of experiences thats so hard to materialize into words.
One of my most vivid images that I'll never forget is a house we passed on the way to Tent City--it was run-down and clearly damaged, but still standing. And someone had spray painted on the front of the house: "We'll be back!"
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