Unforgettable Thursday, May 17 2012

NOTE: Was unable to post this on the day it was written. These words reflect my thought process on Thursday, May 10, 2012.

As I sit in the driveway of the opportunity house we have been working on this week (which others in our class worked on last week), I find myself daydreaming about the family that will one day purchase this home and begin a new life here. Will they have children who play with chalk in the driveway? Will they have a car? And if so, what type of car? Maybe they’ll set up a BBQ in the backyard and have neighbours over once they settle in. Although we do not have the opportunity to meet the home owners of this house (tragically they passed after Hurricane Katrina in 2006), I am fulfilled knowing that our hard work will benefit someone’s life and provide them with the opportunity to come home.

A man who owns the lumber yard in St. Bernard Parish struck up a conversation with me in the Family Dollar parking lot the other day and remarked that in life there will be ups and downs no matter what and one must be prepared to fall down into the valley when hard times hit and be willing to WORK to make it back to the top of the mountain as no one – even God, if that fits your beliefs – will lift you up if you are not positive and determined to make an effort to climb your way out of that valley.

To quote a lovely gentleman I met at the The Green Project last week (he was searching for wood-framed screens for his home), “You only live once, might as well live right”. Luck (or whatever you want to call it) comes and goes, seasons change, lives are birthed and lost… but with ALL this comes a new beginning. The areas in New Orleans that flooded after Katrina hit are now once again experiencing regrowth, rebuilding, reintegration, and return. Being here has caused me to really appreciate the meaning of YOLO.

My back reached a point of exhaustion two evenings ago (I experience chronic pain due to minor scoleosis, a curve in my spine) and screamed out for me to take a rest and pay more attention to myself. Part of me feels selfish and a bit useless – which is quite frustrating – but I know that taking it slow will be beneficial in the long run. Everyone has been so kind and supportive (walking to get me pizza when I stayed in one night, buying supplies from the drug store to help ease the pain, making my bed for me since bending under the bunk was quite taxing at first, checking in to see how I’m doing etc. etc.) and I just want to take this moment to give a shout out to y’all! Thank you so very much. Your concern and understanding has helped me keep my cool and avoid feeling guilty for having to take time off from our primary mission in NOLA as student volunteers.

I am itching to get back to work so I will quickly finish this reflection and continue painting the flat ends of the shoeboards in the last few rooms of this house on Seville in Gentilly. Miniscule work compared to some of the larger jobs that are taking place around me (in that the progress made is much more noticeable), however I continue to repeat the St. Bernard Project motto in my mind and I feel gratified with my work: “Quality, not quantity”. Although timing and deadlines are important, it is essential that these homes are built with care so that the family that moves in can be proud of their home and enjoy it for many years to come. As Pastor Randy said, you may really want to get that 2×4 up and get as much work done as possible in a day… but if the homeowner or another resident comes by and starts to speak to you, give them that time to have a conversation as they may need you more than that 2×4 needs to be installed. Toronto2Nola… forever in my heart.

Peace, love, happiness, and social justice… JMN

Something from nothing…

… and back to the earth.

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From the Big City to the Big Easy! Maria’s Going to NOLA ☺ Tuesday, Feb 7 2012

Welcome to my blog! My name is Maria and I’m one of the lucky few who are taking part in Ryerson’s 2012 Community Field Experience in New Orleans. I’d love to say I’m a seasoned blogger but, truthfully, this is my first one! The aim of this platform is to share my thoughts, questions, knowledge and insight on my upcoming New Orleans trip!  This May, a group of 22 multi-disciplinary students and I are heading to New Orleans, Louisiana to aid in post-Katrina and BP Oil Spill relief efforts. Over the next few months, we will be fundraising, publicizing and educating as many people as possible on our goals for the trip, as well as share some bits of New Orleans from our studies that may be new to some of you.

Baby Aiden from the D.R! Loved this little guy!

As a 3^rd year Criminology student at Ryerson University, I’m no stranger to being exposed to new and unfamiliar material. The vast majority of my studies include learning about people, places and circumstances that I have never seen nor experienced before. And while theoretical knowledge is useful in many academic respects, I find that some of the best learning experiencing I’ve had were the ones where I got my hands dirty, so to speak.

While this is my first time to New Orleans, I participated in a similar trip, a few years ago. In 2006, a group from my community and I ventured to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and assisted in relief efforts in some of the area’s poorest villages. We met the locals, listened to their stories and had the opportunity to do some really great work with some wonderful people who just needed a few sets of extra hands to get by. It gave a group of small town kids the opportunity to connect with people that we would have, otherwise, never had the privilege of meeting and connecting with.

Trips like these bridge gaps, open minds and allow for a deeper understanding of cultural, economic and environmental issues around the globe.  I’m sure our two weeks in NOLA will fly by, but I intend to soak in as much of the experience as possible. I believe it’s important for our NOLA group to understand the hardships that the community of New Orleans have undergone as a result of Katrina and the BP Spill. However, I also think it’s equally as pressing to work together and formulate plans that will aid in regaining their sense of pride in their community to move towards a brighter future. My upcoming New Orleans experience is one that I’ve been pining for since getting accepted into the course, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to not only be a part of it, but to share my reflections and experiences with all of you, along the way.

Take Care!

Maria

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NEW ORLEANS! I’m gonna blog the crap outa y’all! Monday, Aug 29 2011

Rebuilding the City

Hey Everyone!

Hope everyone is well! As some of you may know, I have been back in New Orleans since Aug. 19th and will be staying here until the 31st. I must say it has been another roller coaster ride of experiences and emotions as I get pulled deeper into the vibes and rhythms of the city. But I am going to keep this short and sweet…for now Just wanted to get everyone excited by letting y’all know y’all have 10 blogs coming from me over the next few weeks on my adventure here and different things I have come across. I will definitely be writing a blog about Robert Christy’s welcoming home party as well as topics including “Neighborland”, The New Orleans Healing Centre Grand Opening, and a brief look into the interviews I did with some citizens. If anyone would like to see any specific topics PLEASE let me know and I will get them in there! <3 And everyone please comment and share what you think about what I have to say and share it with friends. The more help everyone gives me with this series of blogs, the better my next set will be from my next visit!

Bryan McGill (5th Year Environmental Studies Student @ York University, Toronto)

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My Katrina Anniversary Project Saturday, Aug 27 2011

I’m heading to the East Coast on Monday or Tuesday to work with the American Red Cross response to Hurricane Irene. Not sure where I’ll be placed yet or any real details beyond the fact that I’ll be working as a Shelter Supervisor. Wish me luck…

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New Orleans: A collection of photos Tuesday, Aug 16 2011

I’ve been back to New Orleans now 3 times since my first trip down in 2009, with one more visit planned for the end of the month. I still can’t explain what it is about the city that gets under your skin and refuses to leave your head, but it has to be something about the character and personality of New Orleans, the spirit and resilience of its inhabitants. As a volunteer, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to meet people from all over the world who are just as baffled as me. How can this place seem so much like home? How can spending any amount of time here change your life so completely? In all honesty, if I could, I would pack up and move there for good.

I last spent months at a time living in the Lower Ninth Ward, but with every visit, no matter the length, I am still as completely captivated by the neighbourhood as I was the first time I stayed there. There is a quiet, eerie beauty. With every intersection, another empty lot. Around every corner, another house sitting abandoned. But the pace of change surprises me. A year after my first visit, a small community has popped up with more houses than empty lots at one intersection. Granted, the recovery is soon entering it’s 7th year, and with the anniversary of Katrina looming around the corner most residents of the city should be home. This isn’t the case, so I try to see every individual homecoming as a small victory. People haven’t given up trying to come home yet, and I can’t help but feel optimistic.

This is a series of photos taken since 2009, mostly in or around the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish.
© Amanda Fotes 

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Do You Know What It Means? Monday, Aug 15 2011

A two year out reflection from Stephanie – one of the 2009 NOLA students.

Stephanie Cleaning post-insulation installation. Her favourite job.

This is my attempt to fully articulate  the impact New Orleans has had on me. First of all, I’ll start by admitting that going to New Orleans was tough, but coming back was a lot tougher. Preparing for this trip took more courage than I ever imagined and I really had to step outside of my comfort zone in order to pursue this two week journey. I went back and forth debating whether or not I could actually go through with it until one day I bought a plane ticket and locked myself in… No regrets since that day.

I’ll begin by saying that I have extreme anxiety when it comes to flying and I’ll never forget my traumatizing experience flying home from NOLA. It was a small plane, a lot of turbulence, and we went through a thunder-storm.

Royjan, Stephanie and Jo land in Buffalo after an eventful plane ride

I cried a lot that day, but when I sat down and reflected on that experience, I felt selfish. How could I possibly feel traumatized traveling by something that is way safer than being in a car? How could these irrational feelings actually compare to the devastation, physical and emotional trauma the residents of New Orleans almost 6 years ago? How could anything I’ve ever been through compare to the pain and suffering thousands of people endured at this time?

So what do you say to someone you meet in New Orleans?
Nothing.
You listen.
You listen to the individual experiences people have prior to Katrina, during Katrina and their ongoing struggle to maintain the bright spirits that they have today.
You listen to the stories of strength, hope as well as what it takes to truly survive something so catastrophic.
You listen to how they were able to overcome obstacles that many of us will never have to experience in our lifetime.

You might even wonder how they can possibly be the most optimistic people you will ever meet.

Prior to leaving for New Orleans, I remember looking at as much footage as possible in order to prepare myself for what was to come.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. I remember thinking that after 4 years, every single house should have been inspected and at least well on their way to repair. There was an overwhelming amount of houses that had not been searched, or had been searched, but abandoned. One of the most intense moments for me personally was to see a yellow sided house that read, “Lisa + Donnie R OK” in person. This is an image that came up in several types of media and at this moment, I was actually standing in front of the house. It was so surreal.

One of the first days that our group was in New Orleans, we were touring around, taking in the scenery and I can’t even count how many people offered to grill us something on the barbecue or drive us where we needed to go. On our first day of work, we met a lovely lady that was rebuilding her house.

She was STILL living in a FEMA trailer and while we were putting up insulation in her house, she made us nine different Louisiana dishes (from her trailer). We definitely did not ask  her to do this for us, but we were grateful that she did. I know that it exposed me to many dishes that I might not have been able to experience and it allowed me to fully understand what Southern hospitality was…first hand!

MIss Rebecca's meal...

Over the course of two weeks, I met so many people who were willing to share their stories with me and I brought them home to my family and friends. For the first two months after coming home, all I did was talk about New Orleans. Over 2 years has gone by and it’s still a regular topic of conversation.

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?
I do.
Everyday.

Sign on the wall of St Charles Guesthouse

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A Reflection After 2 Years — Isaac Coplan Thursday, Aug 4 2011

A view from the mini-van mirror. Isaac is in the red shirt in the middle.

I was part of the 2009 group, the maiden voyage. Even after two years, I feel like NOLA is still with me, or maybe I’m with NOLA. When I’m walking around, and I see something I think of something that happened in NOLA. The other day I was having a discussion with a friend who I met in NOLA on the trip, Ahmad Taib. We decided that individually, our group had done a fair amount of work; however, the real change is coming through the dedication of Pascal Murphy and Tanya Gulliver who are amplifying the experience of our group through continuing the program. There is need for this to continue. Change, in this case really can start with a small experiment. This trip allowed me to be part of a group who cared about the world. I was dedicated to taking whatever actions I could to make things at least a little better. I was also motivated by curiosity and a desire to learn through experience; I invaded NOLA hungry to devour everyone’s information (and a few po’ boy sandwiches along the way).

The 416/647/905 to the 504 boy band – Isaac, Said and Chris.

There have been a lot of questions in my mind in the last two years about the volun-tourism industry. There is significant evidence that shows that in some circumstances, NGOs can bypass state plans and enforce top-down agendas on communities. However, what we did in New Orleans was very different. We were rebuilding houses that had stood there before the hurricane. A Hurricane that SHOULDN’T have done the damage it did. I didn’t arrive in New Orleans with answers, I arrived with questions.

In a strange way, if there had not been a Katrina I would not have met so many people. I would not have had the opportunity to go and work in the Lower Ninth Ward. Since I do believe in the ripple effect, I can say that Katrina has also changed my life. In response to the storm, I was part of a group of students and professors who share a similar compassion for the world.

Isaac and pals work on a house in the Lower Ninth Ward, May 2009. Left to right: Isaac, Chris, Said, Kevn and Ahmed.

I will be returning to New Orleans, Louisiana.

There, I said it publicly, no take-backs.

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Countdown to 6th Anniversary Tuesday, Aug 2 2011

Hard to believe it has almost been 6 years since Katrina. Over the next month, I’ll be blogging – along with some of the past NOLA students – about recovery and on-going work that continues. New Orleans and St. Bernard continue to suffer the after-effects of a storm long past.

If you have questions you want answered, topics you’d like to see covered, or picture requests, please post them in the comments section here and we will do our best to respond.

Lower 9th ward, January 2011

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Taste of a Hurricane Wednesday, Jun 29 2011

Taste of a Hurricane

 The sky is believe blue

and I am running

the taste of a hurricane

lots and lots of vacant lots

and glowing cat eyes dawn

through city streets gone wild

tall grass and empty space

cut short.

 

Sweating in Cynthia’s house

masked, air close, like a tomb

we scale ladders, balance the beams

Up, down, and side to side

circle, circle, cut the pie

scraping away the dead

skin of this place

attic, kitchen, closet,

leaving our hearts behind.

 

Running in the night

street-corner celebration

urine, vomit, beads, dance

to the jazz parade playing,

trombones long.

Band in a van

drum beat pounding

the taste of a hurricane.

 

Miss Josephine feeds us

jambalaya, bread pudding,

sweet and thick.

Thirty-six months to get back

to her kitchen

but she made it all

with thanks for her life, and us

and in one lunch she gives more

than we could ever return.

 

Juan carries pirate

in his blood, struggling.

His disappearing land: water, palmetto, silt.

Fish and oil, scarce and spilled

with recklessness.

He will work on the rig

once the shrimp and crabs are caught

running tours and calling:

Viens ici, cher bayou,

Viens ici!

 

We are running on the beach

like in Baywatch

diving in water and sand

after a lopsided ball

we will get sunburned

and see stars

bring home the Gulf shore, in our shoes

and sleep sound, through the snoring.

 

Mississippi rising

behind the sugar plant, too close to home.

and Tanya worries

the taste of a hurricane.

Sorting boards in the lumberyard,

muddy smell of cypress in the heat

No pools to cool kids in summer

and Joby has the car packed, just in case

he would swim, if he had to

because this is home.

 

May Day rain at Magnolia, students blooming

playing Duck, Duck Goose with Justin

and the beanbag toss, the dunk-tank.

Robert paints teeth, asks us to write

while Adam flips the bird, grins.

After the talent show we pick

out art to pack in our suitcases

learning like we never learned

at school before:

how the most valuable things

are packed up on the inside.

 

We are running along the levee

to the shore of the industrial canal

to see the ships, the shore

lifting with the bridge

climbing concrete in the sun.

If we could keep running

away from home

we would run to here

to find out what it means,

New Orleans, already missing

the taste of a hurricane.

 

-Daphne Paszterko, June 2011.

I wrote this poem as a series of flashes of our experience in NOLA – the different places we worked and some of the amazing people that we met during the trip.  I also wanted to capture how I think we were captivated by New Orleans, and how so many of us want to go back.

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Lessons Learned? Tuesday, May 17 2011

Prior to my trip to NOLA, I possessed only a limited understanding and appreciation for terms such as injustice, segregation, inequality and disparity. I knew what these terms meant, but only after visiting New Orleans did I realize that reading about these concepts is very different from understanding what they represent. What does a word like ‘injustice’ truly represent? If you did a google search on the phrase, you would see something along the lines of:

“Injustice- lack of justice; the violation of the rights of others; unfair acts”

Although accurate, the aforementioned definition does not give the reader a true appreciation for acts which may be considered unjust. The strategic decision of the local government in Louisiana not to reinvest in social housing, so that the poor have no place to return to- represents an unjust act. The American government’s annual decision to invest billions of dollars into the military while tax paying citizens remain homeless for six years because they can not afford to rebuild -represents injustice. The levees systems consistently breaching in the area protecting the Lower Ninth Ward, but not in areas that protect the economically affluent- represents injustice. Having no hospitals (public or private) available to service the 55,000 citizens living in the St. Bernard Parish and near by Lower Ninth Ward- represents injustice. Privatizing schools in poor, racialized communities represents injustice.

Sadly, my list goes on and one. Yet the worst part about my list is the fact that I am able to compile it as a non-citizen looking in. I can not fathom how much more intense the list would be if it were created by a New Orleanian. They have to live with daily reminders of injustice.

Before visiting New Orleans, I had mentally prepared myself to see a few broken homes and other small reminders of a storm which had occurred nearly 6 years ago. I was convinced that there would not be too much to look at due to the large span of time that had elapsed between the flooding and my visit. Upon my arrival, I was shocked to see how much work was still needed. Abandoned homes, schools, stores can be founded in almost every neighbourhood. Of course, a disproportionate amount is found in poor, racialized communities. Now with the most recent threat of flooding from the Mississippi River, I can’t help but wonder what lessons have been learned from Hurricane Katrina. The government is proposing the strategic flooding of smaller communities in order to spare larger metropolitans such as Baton Rouge and New Orleans. I question whether proper evacuation plans are in place for those most at risk. I question what type of compensation and support the government is planning to offer communities affected by strategic flooding. I wonder if the poor, old, weak, racialized and disabled will again be the hardest hit and the most affect. I am hopeful that the better mechanisms are now in place to protect the citizens of that live in close proximity to the Mississippi River, but unfortunately I don’t have too much faith in a government that strategically chooses to flood one city over another instead of investing in a means to save both.

Until Next Time…

-Gabrielle

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