Up until five years ago New Orleans was just a name to me, but when media outlets began broadcasting that the gulf coast could be home to one of the worst hurricanes in the history my eyes became glued to the area that we’ve called home for the past week. Fast forward to just a few months ago when I first learned about this Hillel led trip. New Orleans is home to some ragin’ Cajun cuisine, a Mardi Gras celebration like none other and a great French and American history… what wouldn’t I like about this trip? Sure I’d be doing some volunteering down here and helping out, but the first thought in my head was, “How much more work could honestly still need to be done down here?” Boy could my initial thoughts be anywhere farther from what is the truth.
Pulling in on the train into New Orleans my eyes were met with brown lines on buildings I could only assume were water marks from flooding. Decrepit buildings and houses in shambles. I learned a new word, blight, described by Merriam-Webster dictionary as the deteriorated condition of an urban area; something many sections of New Orleans have a lot of. The message of pictures, videos and now what I’m truly seeing with my own eyes has hit home. It’s time to get down to business.
The first day of our work involved us doing what our leaders referred to as mold remediation. It involved scrubbing wood with dormant mold on it, shocking the mold with a chemical and killing it, then painting over it with a water protective paint all before a service comes in to smoke the building to make sure all the mold’s gone. Although I wasn’t able to help much more on the remediation project due to a newly discovered mold allergy, the rest of my group did the job. It’s rather amazing to figure that we barely finished our project with more than 20 people on the job, and that’s just one of thousands of buildings in great need of repair.
Throughout the week our group worked on various projects in and around New Orleans. I helped to get a community park ready for opening in St. Bernard Parish and worked to help retile a VFW ceiling in the city. I cleaned up trash from swamplands around Shell Beach and helped install sand and clay for the in-field on the new baseball field at George Washington Carver school complex in the Desire Area of New Orleans (sort of an odd name for the location considering the amount of blight [I love using new words] in that neighborhood).
While on the site of our last project, the project leader, a former high school teacher and New Orleans native made a comment that stuck out to me. In an effect to commend the work my group and I have done all week he mentioned he probably wouldn’t have come to my community and helped out in our time of need. Although that struck me as sort of a mean thing to say, the point he was trying to get across is that he is grateful that we have it in our hearts to do something that he probably wouldn’t have done.
I definitely understood that message, but it also made me think about my home community. I call east central Illinois home now. I live in a fraternity house there, go to school there, work there and intern there… I guess I’m an Illinoisan now. As a journalist I have the privilege and hard job to see many of the issues that face my community. I have only worked at my broadcasting internship for a little over a month. Through that time I’ve been able to see the immense amount of crime, education deficiencies, poverty and corruption that exists in my local community. And back to the train ride down here, the towns and cities we passed along the way through Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana were all pretty awful looking, portraying an immense amount of economic strife. The point is that New Orleans is not the only place that needs help. Not every community may need it as much as the New Orleans metro region, but poverty is a huge issue all across our country, something I believe kills what every U.S. citizen knows as the American Dream.
So what do I implore not only my fellow Jews but Americans to do? Give back to your communities. If we are able to help positively affect one person’s in our community it may give them the opportunities to one day also help someone else. It does not need to be in the form of money; money is scarce for everyone at this time. Confucius says, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Aspire to this knowledge and the world will hopefully be a better place.
Hillel ASB 2010 has been an experience that one cannot forget. Great friendships made in the name of giving back. What more could G-d ask for.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Day 4: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
For the past three days, our group of twelve from Hillel at Davis and Sacramento has been working on a house at 922 Forstall in the Holy Cross neighborhood of St. Bernard Parish where a lot of the flooding occurred. Our homeowner is named Doreatha Pierson. She is an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s and her granddaughter takes care of her when not at school. The house is one of the few in the neighborhood that has a second story and it was used for refuge by some neighbors during the hurricane. One of the reasons Doreatha has had such a hard time rebuilding her house was that when she returned from evacuation in Georgia, she was a victim of contractor fraud and theft. We haven’t had a chance to meet her, but we’ve been told that she is grateful for our help.
On Monday, the house only had the most basic interior structure with bare walls and cement floors. It was so cold when we got there we played human knot to keep warm and bond with our group.
We started by cleaning out the rooms, painting walls and ceilings and scraping the floors to make an even surface to prepare for flooring. Then we laid down tar paper in the rooms to prevent humidity from rotting the floorboards. Some people in our group got creative with the tar paper and were able to insert some of their personality into repairing the house.
The following day we started putting in tile and bamboo floorboards which required a lot of precision and patience.
We also painted the outside steps with sand in the paint to prevent someone from slipping on the steps. Although the work is tiring, our experience here has been rewarding, especially when a stranger from the neighborhood stopped by to thank us for our efforts.
At this point, we feel like we’ve made a lot of progress. It’s amazing to see the transformation in such a short time and it made us realize how a few volunteers can make a big difference in the recovery effort.
Our house captain, Andy, handyman, Bart, and our hardworking, motivational Hillel leader, Maiya, all have a great sense of humor and have taught us many new skills while being patient with our lack of experience.
This attitude of patience reflects how Doreatha and hundreds of New Orleans residents have waited for help to recover from Katrina for five long years and many more are still waiting for help to return to their homes.
The Hillel groups have been discussing the work we are doing and reasons we came to New Orleans and how this relates to the Jewish vales and laws. We found the conflict between the command of the Torah telling us to help those in our hometown before helping those in other cities interesting because we feel that it is important to be in New Orleans fulfilling the commandment of Tzedakah, or restoring social justice.
These discussions have inspired many of our volunteers to seek other opportunities to help the Davis community.
Our worksite is fairly isolated from locals because we’re there during working hours, so we took the chance to experience the vibrant local culture. This helped us get a sense of what inspires people to keep working at the restoration effort and encourage residents to return to this city full of live music, divers and easy going attitudes toward life and hope for what the future will bring to transform the city.
On Monday, the house only had the most basic interior structure with bare walls and cement floors. It was so cold when we got there we played human knot to keep warm and bond with our group.
We started by cleaning out the rooms, painting walls and ceilings and scraping the floors to make an even surface to prepare for flooring. Then we laid down tar paper in the rooms to prevent humidity from rotting the floorboards. Some people in our group got creative with the tar paper and were able to insert some of their personality into repairing the house.
The following day we started putting in tile and bamboo floorboards which required a lot of precision and patience.
We also painted the outside steps with sand in the paint to prevent someone from slipping on the steps. Although the work is tiring, our experience here has been rewarding, especially when a stranger from the neighborhood stopped by to thank us for our efforts.
At this point, we feel like we’ve made a lot of progress. It’s amazing to see the transformation in such a short time and it made us realize how a few volunteers can make a big difference in the recovery effort.
Our house captain, Andy, handyman, Bart, and our hardworking, motivational Hillel leader, Maiya, all have a great sense of humor and have taught us many new skills while being patient with our lack of experience.
This attitude of patience reflects how Doreatha and hundreds of New Orleans residents have waited for help to recover from Katrina for five long years and many more are still waiting for help to return to their homes.
The Hillel groups have been discussing the work we are doing and reasons we came to New Orleans and how this relates to the Jewish vales and laws. We found the conflict between the command of the Torah telling us to help those in our hometown before helping those in other cities interesting because we feel that it is important to be in New Orleans fulfilling the commandment of Tzedakah, or restoring social justice.
These discussions have inspired many of our volunteers to seek other opportunities to help the Davis community.
Our worksite is fairly isolated from locals because we’re there during working hours, so we took the chance to experience the vibrant local culture. This helped us get a sense of what inspires people to keep working at the restoration effort and encourage residents to return to this city full of live music, divers and easy going attitudes toward life and hope for what the future will bring to transform the city.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010 - Day 2, Post 3
Today, as we first gathered together on the bus, we were once again intrigued by Alvin’s words of experience and knowledge of the cy of New Orleans. It was mind-boggling to hear how there were only a few hospitals in the city and how in some neighborhoods, the nearest hospital was twenty minutes away. When we arrived at the home, we were to work on, we were indubitably taken aback by its poor condition. I initially thought it would take more than a week to make even the smallest difference on the house, but by the end of the day I was pleasantly surprised by how far away from the truth I was. I took pride in our amount of teamwork and in how diligently we worked. We had performed all types of manual labor from scraping off cracked paint and to painting over new surfaces.
Many of us had the pleasure of meeting the homeowner, Warren, and hearing his inspiring stories about his daughter who rescued Katrina victims. One moment that stands out to us clearly was on our way back from the worksite. On the returning bus ride, Al pointed out lines on a supermarket that depicted how high the flooding of the hurricane had reached. While we all had some understanding of how severe the hurricane was, witnessing this exact mark in person gave us even more of an incentive to keep working hard to pick up some of the pieces left behind by this horrible tragedy.
Amanda and Jon (UCLA Hillel)
Many of us had the pleasure of meeting the homeowner, Warren, and hearing his inspiring stories about his daughter who rescued Katrina victims. One moment that stands out to us clearly was on our way back from the worksite. On the returning bus ride, Al pointed out lines on a supermarket that depicted how high the flooding of the hurricane had reached. While we all had some understanding of how severe the hurricane was, witnessing this exact mark in person gave us even more of an incentive to keep working hard to pick up some of the pieces left behind by this horrible tragedy.
Amanda and Jon (UCLA Hillel)
Monday, March 22, 2010 - Day 2, Post 2
Luckily for us, our second day was sunny and warm, a stark contrast to the windy and cold weather we’d previously experienced. We continued our work on the house either painting or preparing parts of the exterior of the house to be painted. A lot of us had the opportunity to talk to Warren Miggs, the warm and friendly owner of the house. This support and approval means a lot and we were cheered on throughout the day by the honks of passing cars.
After our day of work, we visited the Lower 9th Ward, and area devastated by Hurricane Katrina, to have our daily discussion about poverty, housing and the government’s role in alleviating poverty.
Later in the evening, Dan Shea came to speak to us, explaining in more detail the process of New Orleans’ flooding resources, and media coverage.
Our wonderful bus driver, Alvin, also known as “Chocolate Thunder” took good care of us, as always. In addition to telling us stories about New Orleans before and after the hurricane, he shared a hilarious story about his nephew, all in his distinctive New Orleans twang. It’s fund to share our trip with such a character!
Ali Fitch (UCLA Hillel)
After our day of work, we visited the Lower 9th Ward, and area devastated by Hurricane Katrina, to have our daily discussion about poverty, housing and the government’s role in alleviating poverty.
Later in the evening, Dan Shea came to speak to us, explaining in more detail the process of New Orleans’ flooding resources, and media coverage.
Our wonderful bus driver, Alvin, also known as “Chocolate Thunder” took good care of us, as always. In addition to telling us stories about New Orleans before and after the hurricane, he shared a hilarious story about his nephew, all in his distinctive New Orleans twang. It’s fund to share our trip with such a character!
Ali Fitch (UCLA Hillel)
Monday, March 22, 2010 - Day 2, Post 1
Today was the 1st day of work. We arrived at Warren Meggs’ house on Bank Street. The project was to paint the exterior of the house. I was surprised how much we were able to get done so quickly. our supervisors from Rebuilding Together were Diana and Sandy, who gave us our tasks. The inside of the house was pretty bare and looked untouched for years. We also worked with students from the University of Rhode Island. Luckily, we got some sun later in the day, which was a relief compared to how cold yesterday was.
Some of us were lucky enough to talk to Warren, who is an elderly man resembling Morgan Freeman. He moved to New Orleans at age 10 and has lived here ever since. He is now 66. His daughter is in the navy and has a grandchild. He was retelling the story of when Katrina hit. He said he waited for help in the attic of his house for days until a boat came to rescue him. He was pretty shy but very willing to tell his story. He was very appreciative of us and took pictures of us working to document our service for him. We worked until 4pm and then took our bus back with Al. he showed us a shopping mall that was destroyed by the hurricane and a water line on a tall building that showed how high the water level was. This was one of the highlights so far since it helped me realize just how drastic and terrifying Katrina was. We had past a for dinner and now we have a speaker. Peace
Sara Zerehi (UCLA Hillel
Some of us were lucky enough to talk to Warren, who is an elderly man resembling Morgan Freeman. He moved to New Orleans at age 10 and has lived here ever since. He is now 66. His daughter is in the navy and has a grandchild. He was retelling the story of when Katrina hit. He said he waited for help in the attic of his house for days until a boat came to rescue him. He was pretty shy but very willing to tell his story. He was very appreciative of us and took pictures of us working to document our service for him. We worked until 4pm and then took our bus back with Al. he showed us a shopping mall that was destroyed by the hurricane and a water line on a tall building that showed how high the water level was. This was one of the highlights so far since it helped me realize just how drastic and terrifying Katrina was. We had past a for dinner and now we have a speaker. Peace
Sara Zerehi (UCLA Hillel
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sunday, March 21 - Day 1, post 2
(Multiple participants from the University of Washington Hillel group contributed to this post)
Lauren always starts our team meetings with a 3 word check in, so here are a few of ours at the end of our first day: exhausted, smelly, inspired.
Diriving today through St. Bernard Parish, we saw traces of innumerable stories left untold. Appearances were initially deceiving. Blighted homes encroached upon by invasive weeds could be confused for roof gardens. Holes in the roofs turned out not to be from Katrina damage but rather from escape attempts of house residents. Vast, empty green lots, bursting with colorful, sprawling plants lay bare the landscape that once held together communities.
It’s been eye opening to see the drastic differences between the houses in the neighborhood – but mostly between the neighborhoods. It’s raised questions around privilege, poverty, politics of location, and made me question where I fit in. Above all, I really appreciated hearing from our speaker tonight! Loved bonding with this fabulous ASB group…(Awesome Since Birth).
After one day I can see how important the work we are doing really is to this city. Something as simple as painting a house can bring color to an individual family and community. I am proud to be able to do this work and am looking forward to the rest of my time here!
I have been noticing many things such as the watermarks and the “X”s on all of the houses. The experiences I have had since I have been here for 2 days is phenomenal. I am really looking forward to exploring the lower ninth ward tomorrow and doing some fabulous painting.
Lauren always starts our team meetings with a 3 word check in, so here are a few of ours at the end of our first day: exhausted, smelly, inspired.
Diriving today through St. Bernard Parish, we saw traces of innumerable stories left untold. Appearances were initially deceiving. Blighted homes encroached upon by invasive weeds could be confused for roof gardens. Holes in the roofs turned out not to be from Katrina damage but rather from escape attempts of house residents. Vast, empty green lots, bursting with colorful, sprawling plants lay bare the landscape that once held together communities.
It’s been eye opening to see the drastic differences between the houses in the neighborhood – but mostly between the neighborhoods. It’s raised questions around privilege, poverty, politics of location, and made me question where I fit in. Above all, I really appreciated hearing from our speaker tonight! Loved bonding with this fabulous ASB group…(Awesome Since Birth).
After one day I can see how important the work we are doing really is to this city. Something as simple as painting a house can bring color to an individual family and community. I am proud to be able to do this work and am looking forward to the rest of my time here!
I have been noticing many things such as the watermarks and the “X”s on all of the houses. The experiences I have had since I have been here for 2 days is phenomenal. I am really looking forward to exploring the lower ninth ward tomorrow and doing some fabulous painting.
Sunday, March 21 - Day 1, post 1
We arrived today! UIC rode the train with DePaul for a fun 19 hours! (U of I joined on later.) the train ride was fairly uneventful, except for Doug being called nasty by the train lady and the train speaker who reminded us of snoop dogg. When we arrived to the Marina Motel we dropped off our bags and walked around the docks. It was so windy you would have thought we were back in Chicago! The 150 of us piled in our dining hall for dinner and introductions. Everyone was in good spririts to excited to be here! After that, we were free to do as we chose… of course everyone was back at 1am curfew so we could be refreshed for our 1st day of work! We are all happy to have made it! we survived DAY ONE! Love UIC
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 17 - Day 3
Hi from the Big Easy! We’ve been here for two workdays and the students of Franklin & Marshall, University of Iowa, and University of Arizona Hillels are having a great time. Today, we finished painting awnings, started priming lattice, and have generally been working hard. In the past two days, we’ve painted the siding of the house, the doors, and foundations, and done other various tasks. Our fabulous site captain is named Josh and has been a great inspiration. He told us of the woman who will come back to her house when it is finished being repaired. Mrs. Jones is an elderly woman who was evacuated to an assisted living facility and shortly thereafter lost her husband and suffered two strokes. She is now wheelchair-bound and the renovations on the house will help accommodate these new needs. This heartbreaking story is truly inspiring to us all.
At night, we’ve been having some great speakers. Last night, we heard from a Hillel international representative and a reporter from the Times Picayune. They told us the story of the Hurricane from a new angle and explained the difficulties of taking care of a family and surviving in the aftermath.
We’ve also had some free time at night. Some of us have explored the French Quarter and city of New Orleans while others have taken some much-needed rest from a hard days work. Whatever we’ve chosen to do so far has been amazing and we look forward to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day tonight by watching the parade and having a group dinner.
Time to get back to work! Hope to hear from you soon!
-Franklin and Marshall, Iowa, and University of Arizona Hillels
At night, we’ve been having some great speakers. Last night, we heard from a Hillel international representative and a reporter from the Times Picayune. They told us the story of the Hurricane from a new angle and explained the difficulties of taking care of a family and surviving in the aftermath.
We’ve also had some free time at night. Some of us have explored the French Quarter and city of New Orleans while others have taken some much-needed rest from a hard days work. Whatever we’ve chosen to do so far has been amazing and we look forward to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day tonight by watching the parade and having a group dinner.
Time to get back to work! Hope to hear from you soon!
-Franklin and Marshall, Iowa, and University of Arizona Hillels
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Tuesday, March 16 - Day 2 of rebuilding New Orleans.
We went back to our houses and continued our work there. At my house, we continued scraping the old paint off the house and began sanding down the house in preparation for the painting we’re going to be doing soon. It was another bright, sunny day filled with camaraderie, cliff bars, and hard work. After our long day of work we loaded the busses for an eye opening tour of the lower 9th ward, New Orleans most devastated area after Katrina. Our bus driver and tour guide, Al, pointed out the visible water lines on buildings in the area. The water reached up to 30 feet on some of these buildings. As we drove more into the the area we saw the ravaged homes that remained and the barren lots. It was sobering to see the holes cut in roofs, and the spray painted windows and doors. Al explained to us that only one school was still in operation. The neighborhood seemed empty and desolate, it really drove home the severity of the devastation that lower 9th ward experienced. There were however, some new houses built by the Brad Pitt ‘s foundation Make it Right. The environmentally friendly, solar paneled houses are built in a unique architectural style and added brightness and hope to the community. The busses stopped and we broke off into campus group discussions where we discussed the importance of community, volunteering and the future of New Orleans. We drove back to the motel, and ate a hearty vegetarian dinner, no beans tonight, thank god. After dinner we were privileged to hear, Dan Shea, managing editor of the New Orleans Times Picavyune. He gave us an in depth analysis of Katrina and its devastating aftermath. He told us his personal story of living in a FEMA trailer for 11 months after the storm. His dedication to journalism and serving and informing his community was inspiring. Overall, today was a great day and I learned even more about New Orleans and the impact of Katrina on the great people in this city. Looking forward to more hard work and fun on this trip!
-Kaila Stein, University of Maryland
-Kaila Stein, University of Maryland
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 15 2010 - Eagle Street in New Orleans
This morning we had breakfast at 7am. On the ride here we got a tour of New Orleans from Bus Driver Al. We had no idea what we were going to build today but we were nervous and excited. Our tour of New Orleans (drive to our site) was an amazing site to see. We got to see the levees and other areas. Al also told us a little bit about his story on our drive. We hope to learn more about his story and history throughout the week. Later this week we are going to learn more about his dad who lives 3 blocks from our worksite.
Our goal for the week is to take down a fence, take down a shed, clean up the yard, calk the window, and build a security fence. The homeowner for the week is living off site for the time being. We walked into the trip today not really knowing what to expect. Bryan, Noah and Carl have all been on the trip before, but the rest of us decided before the trip not to have any expectations. Tessa thinks it is weird that only some of the houses on the street are being rebuilt. The reason that some houses are not being worked on is the financial status of the homeowner. We learned that if the people leave the property, the city may come in and send something to the address of the person in the house, the city give the homeowner about 90 days to respond before the house goes on the demo list. Many of the houses down here are owned by people, and don’t have he actual deeds. They usually pass down the house from generation to generation. The other issue is that people don’t always have official deeds to the house, and therefore it is sometimes difficult to prove ownership. This makes it very difficult in order to rebuild the house. We didn’t really find an answer to the issue of squatters. Mostly these houses are abandoned.
So to start off this morning, the four guys took down the shed, while some girls took down the fence, and finally other girls were working on glazing windows. The boys made knocking down the fence into a game, taking turns smashing the shed with a sledge hammer. They each took one hit and then passed it on to the next member. The girls working on the fence worked together as a team to cut the chain linked fence including knocking down the metal poles. After the fence was down, the girls went back to help the boys knock down the shed. With a group effort the shed came down. Now we are currently working to clean up the back area where the shed was. Moving our large pile of wood to the front dumpster (which is full). We hope to be able to complete all the tasks put before us by the end of the week.
Tonight we are hearing from a speaker who was a mayoral candidate, James Perry. He is an activist in the city. We look forward to hearing from him and learning about his experiences and passions.
Peace, Love and Happiness
Springfield College Hillel
Our goal for the week is to take down a fence, take down a shed, clean up the yard, calk the window, and build a security fence. The homeowner for the week is living off site for the time being. We walked into the trip today not really knowing what to expect. Bryan, Noah and Carl have all been on the trip before, but the rest of us decided before the trip not to have any expectations. Tessa thinks it is weird that only some of the houses on the street are being rebuilt. The reason that some houses are not being worked on is the financial status of the homeowner. We learned that if the people leave the property, the city may come in and send something to the address of the person in the house, the city give the homeowner about 90 days to respond before the house goes on the demo list. Many of the houses down here are owned by people, and don’t have he actual deeds. They usually pass down the house from generation to generation. The other issue is that people don’t always have official deeds to the house, and therefore it is sometimes difficult to prove ownership. This makes it very difficult in order to rebuild the house. We didn’t really find an answer to the issue of squatters. Mostly these houses are abandoned.
So to start off this morning, the four guys took down the shed, while some girls took down the fence, and finally other girls were working on glazing windows. The boys made knocking down the fence into a game, taking turns smashing the shed with a sledge hammer. They each took one hit and then passed it on to the next member. The girls working on the fence worked together as a team to cut the chain linked fence including knocking down the metal poles. After the fence was down, the girls went back to help the boys knock down the shed. With a group effort the shed came down. Now we are currently working to clean up the back area where the shed was. Moving our large pile of wood to the front dumpster (which is full). We hope to be able to complete all the tasks put before us by the end of the week.
Tonight we are hearing from a speaker who was a mayoral candidate, James Perry. He is an activist in the city. We look forward to hearing from him and learning about his experiences and passions.
Peace, Love and Happiness
Springfield College Hillel
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Thursday, March 11 - Day Four
Today we participated in Serve Green. We spent the morning building animal themed benches for parks. In the afternoon, we planted trees in Chalmette National Park. This evening, we had some speakers. The first set of speakers talked about the Avodah program, a program for Jewish young adults in which they do community service for a year in cities around the United States. Next, we heard from Iray Nebetoff, the volunteer director of the Community Center of Saint Bernard. Mr. Nebetoff presented his ambitious four year project, the Community Center of Saint Bernard, which provides food, clothing, communal resources, and access to important services for re-establishing life in Saint Bernard Parish.
After Mr. Nebetoff spoke, he introduced us to Barbara, a local resident of Saint Bernard. Barbara gave a rousing speech about her life experiences and overcoming life’s challenges before and after Katrina. She faced many challenge’s including the death of her child and the rebuilding of her home, twice. The home of Barbara and her family was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and the rebuilding process had been emotionally and financially burdensome. As time passed, the family reconstructed their new home. Yet, all was not well in the new home. The kitchen appliances began to break and family members began to bleed through the nose. These effects resulted from the defective drywall sheets used to construct their home. The drywall had unusually high levels of sulfur, which corroded electrical wiring and created health hazards for people. Barbara labeled the defective drywall “Chinese drywall.”
Barbara is a very faithful woman. She prays and works hard to better her situation, taking every day one step at a time. Her faith helps her overcome the death of her ten year old son when he was fatally struck by a car. Amid the anger and aggression of the neighborhood towards the driver, Barbara grounded her emotions in her faith; she was not angry at the driver and she forgave her. Her positive attitude is endearing and contagious—winning her many community service positions in Saint Bernard including Justice of the Peace. As our group leader Taha suggests, “[She’s is a] strong advocate for change, despite all that she’s been through.”
After Mr. Nebetoff spoke, he introduced us to Barbara, a local resident of Saint Bernard. Barbara gave a rousing speech about her life experiences and overcoming life’s challenges before and after Katrina. She faced many challenge’s including the death of her child and the rebuilding of her home, twice. The home of Barbara and her family was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and the rebuilding process had been emotionally and financially burdensome. As time passed, the family reconstructed their new home. Yet, all was not well in the new home. The kitchen appliances began to break and family members began to bleed through the nose. These effects resulted from the defective drywall sheets used to construct their home. The drywall had unusually high levels of sulfur, which corroded electrical wiring and created health hazards for people. Barbara labeled the defective drywall “Chinese drywall.”
Barbara is a very faithful woman. She prays and works hard to better her situation, taking every day one step at a time. Her faith helps her overcome the death of her ten year old son when he was fatally struck by a car. Amid the anger and aggression of the neighborhood towards the driver, Barbara grounded her emotions in her faith; she was not angry at the driver and she forgave her. Her positive attitude is endearing and contagious—winning her many community service positions in Saint Bernard including Justice of the Peace. As our group leader Taha suggests, “[She’s is a] strong advocate for change, despite all that she’s been through.”
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Wednesday, March 10 - Day 3: Volunteering at 2116 Mehle
After two days, we were finally able to perfect our skills in most efficiently installing an entire 15 foot wall on our own. The walls and ceilings are almost entirely in place, and the skeleton of a house we were presented with on the first day is nearly looking like a home. From learning how to drywall without puncturing the delicate sheets to filling the imperfections with "mud," this experiential learning has been more hands-on than our day-to-day classroom learning and is allowing us to explore skills we never thought we had.
Teamwork has been tested in these past few days, as finding the perfect team for the job is sometimes just as hard as the job itself. Today we all seemed to settle into appropriate niches to accomplish what needed to be done. Joining our usual nineteen (and additional Americorps volunteers) were seven Church of the Brethren volunteers. Their skills and efficiency have been a great teaching tool for us, especially considering some of the men are in their seventies. It's also great to meet volunteers who hail from different corners of the country and talk about what has brought them to New Orleans.
As we pass mid point in the week, we can reflect on what we've done, but more importantly what we've learned about Katrina and New Orleans. With two days left, there's only so much morewe can accomplish here but are ready and excited to take these skills home with us to do good in our own communities.
Carly Freedman & Sara Mohler (Ursinus College)
Teamwork has been tested in these past few days, as finding the perfect team for the job is sometimes just as hard as the job itself. Today we all seemed to settle into appropriate niches to accomplish what needed to be done. Joining our usual nineteen (and additional Americorps volunteers) were seven Church of the Brethren volunteers. Their skills and efficiency have been a great teaching tool for us, especially considering some of the men are in their seventies. It's also great to meet volunteers who hail from different corners of the country and talk about what has brought them to New Orleans.
As we pass mid point in the week, we can reflect on what we've done, but more importantly what we've learned about Katrina and New Orleans. With two days left, there's only so much morewe can accomplish here but are ready and excited to take these skills home with us to do good in our own communities.
Carly Freedman & Sara Mohler (Ursinus College)
Tuesday, March 9 - Day Two!
Day Two!
Currently we are sitting on the cement floor of a house in St. Bernard Perish. We have spent the last day and a half installing insulation on the walls and ceilings of a house that was completely destroyed by Katrina. As we look out the window we can see a variety of interesting things. Across the street we see a beautifully rebuilt house complete with an outdoor patio and a stone face. On either side of us we can see the foundation where houses once stood. Some of them are even decorated with basketball hoops. During our education discussions later about our experiences, we felt that this practice was disrespectful because it appears that people have forgotten what these cement slabs represent. We have found it to be helpful to have time to reflect on all the sights and sounds that present themselves to us throughout the day.
As we have been working inside the house we have grouped with students from other universities around the country. This is unique to our site because all the other groups working with the St. Bernard Project are made up of students from a singular school. We have enjoyed getting to know the other students from Washington University of St. Louis and discussing similarities and differences between our universities.
While we have enjoyed getting to know the other students we are working with, we have also devoted some of our time to conversing with the locals of New Orleans. One particularly rewarding experience occurred during out taxi ride to Bourbon Street. Our taxi driver had been driving for 23 years and told us that he evacuated to Kentucky during the storm. He was grateful that we were giving up our time to help his city and seemed concerned with our happiness and safety outside of the Perish. To have somebody whose house had been destroyed tell us how much it meant to him made our experience seem that much more worthwhile.
We look forward to continuing our hard work and watching the transformation of this house throughout the time we are here.
Jamie Melnick (senior)& Erica Belgard (sophmore), University of Connecticut
Currently we are sitting on the cement floor of a house in St. Bernard Perish. We have spent the last day and a half installing insulation on the walls and ceilings of a house that was completely destroyed by Katrina. As we look out the window we can see a variety of interesting things. Across the street we see a beautifully rebuilt house complete with an outdoor patio and a stone face. On either side of us we can see the foundation where houses once stood. Some of them are even decorated with basketball hoops. During our education discussions later about our experiences, we felt that this practice was disrespectful because it appears that people have forgotten what these cement slabs represent. We have found it to be helpful to have time to reflect on all the sights and sounds that present themselves to us throughout the day.
As we have been working inside the house we have grouped with students from other universities around the country. This is unique to our site because all the other groups working with the St. Bernard Project are made up of students from a singular school. We have enjoyed getting to know the other students from Washington University of St. Louis and discussing similarities and differences between our universities.
While we have enjoyed getting to know the other students we are working with, we have also devoted some of our time to conversing with the locals of New Orleans. One particularly rewarding experience occurred during out taxi ride to Bourbon Street. Our taxi driver had been driving for 23 years and told us that he evacuated to Kentucky during the storm. He was grateful that we were giving up our time to help his city and seemed concerned with our happiness and safety outside of the Perish. To have somebody whose house had been destroyed tell us how much it meant to him made our experience seem that much more worthwhile.
We look forward to continuing our hard work and watching the transformation of this house throughout the time we are here.
Jamie Melnick (senior)& Erica Belgard (sophmore), University of Connecticut
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday, March 8 - Day 1: “The footprints might be covered by paint, but they’ll always be there.”
After sleeping in until the reasonable hour of 6 AM, Team Bojangles groggily fought for a few scrapes of peanut butter and bus seats in which to park our already-weary selves. The outskirts of the city, visible through the bus windows, gradually gave way to an assortment of homes uncertain upon their foundations. The bus dropped us off at a surprisingly chilly locale, where two young women from AmeriCorps (working for the St. Bernard project) were waiting brightly for us; they’d already been up for hours.
First, we got to know not only our leaders Sarah and Sophie but also the Doty House, our project for the week. Mrs. Doty, a widow, is the godmother of a girl whose family decided to leave New Orleans for Texas. As a result, their lot was for sale, and Mrs. Doty was able to sell the remains of her home (all but destroyed by the hurricane) and buy it. While we are reconstructing the home, Mrs. Doty and her teenage daughter are staying with family. If we hadn’t already, we realized how time-sensitive the reconstruction effort is.
Before learning how best to build a house, we had to learn how to build a house, period. Sarah and Sophie patiently took us through the process and our roles. After Katrina, many homeowners found that their homes were irreparable due to moldy frameworks, so a big part of St. Bernard Project and AmeriCorps’ building process is mold remediation so that areas can be used again. We would be taking up work in the drywall phase, with the house’s walls having already been insulated. Sarah and Sophie also discussed mudding, texturing, and paint, towards which we are working. Appreciating our own task was a challenge in itself. Despite the rad omnipresence of power tools, we were covered in a cloud of chalk dust before we ever touched an exacto-knife. Despite the struggles we greenhorns were sure to endure, we donned our traffic-cone orange work gloves and embarked upon hours of dusty labor.
Almost immediately, we learned that going through a briefing and successfully screwing in a screw doesn’t mean that we know what we’re doing. Bill and his partner, for instance, struggled to fit a large piece of drywall into a space; after going through the extensive cutting and sanding process three times, they finally succeeded. Lucky for us, our mishaps are already proving valuable. As Sarah said, “You learn through your mistakes. You’ll find that out quickly!”
During lunch, we learned that Sarah and Sophie are just out of high school – I was shocked. They were so self-sufficient and comfortable giving directions! In AmeriCorps, you grow up faster simply because you must. People ages 18-24 are expected to not only take care of themselves (which means regular early morning exercising and keeping order in 10-person homes) but groups of naïve volunteers like us. For one school year, they devote themselves to whichever service projects the government assigns them to and excel well enough to teach others. Our leaders had only been leading reconstruction efforts for two weeks, but their composed know-how belied inexperience.
Later, we took a trek to a bathroom in a finished version of a house like the one we are building. It was meaningful to have that vision as a goal for us to keep in mind for our labors. Also, we learned that Sophie is Jewish and can speak Hebrew – her mom is Israeli. We could connect with her not only as volunteers, but as Jewish volunteers. On our way back, a woman running through the neighborhood also caught my eye. I was surprised to see someone going about their life here, but I shouldn’t have been. New Orleans might have been devastated by Katrina, but it is still the same home it always has been to so many people, all trying to continue their lives as normally as possible.
The assortment of footprints on a wall left by Adam Yosim and Mark Abadi really struck me. In a process I usually think of as impersonal and regimented, the boys included a bit of their creative selves. I realized that houses don’t just happen- they are the results of the labor of real people. Every struggle I’d had with a screw while building the closet went into the heart of the house. Before anyone even lived there, it would have a story. As Adam Bush said in our meeting tonight, “The footprints might be covered by paint, but they’ll always be there.”
By the time the bus arrived, we novice builders had established full walls of drywall, all while listening to ‘90s throwback tunes courtesy of an aged radio. Tired and happy, we made our way back to campus for cold showers and naps.
All our best,
Hannah Weinberger, UNC-Chapel Hill Class of 2013
and the NC Hillel Alternative Spring Break delegation:
Bill Dworsky ('10), Shayna Bernstein ('13), Ariel Press ('13), Mark Abadi ('12), Danielle Litt ('10), Adam Bush ('12), Adam Yosim ('10), and Sheila Katz (Hillel Staff)
Friday, March 5, 2010
Hillel's Sol Goldman Charitable Trust Alternative Break 2010 is Underway!
From March 7-28th, 340 students and 35 staff will venture to New Orleans to partake in Hillel’s Sol Goldman Charitable Trust Alternative Break 2010 for a week of service, learning, and FUN! They will be building on the tradition of over 3,400 participants who have helped rebuild the Gulf Coast with Hillel since January 2005, and part of 1,300 Jewish students on Alternative Breaks this spring. Stay tuned for student posts, pictures, and stories throughout the course of each week.
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