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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Support the NOLA students Wednesday, Mar 23 2011

Interested in what my students are doing? Want to help out? Ryerson issues charitable receipts for amounts over $20.

(Americans who wish to donate should support the St. Bernard Project directly).

To make an online donation to the entire group please see the following steps:

1. Go To
http://www.ryerson.ca/supporting/onlinegiving

2. Go down the section that states

Step 1: Gift Information
Your gift may be designated for use in multiple areas. Choose the designations for your gift by clicking on the link below.

Choose Gift Designation

Click here to choose the designation(s) for your gift
(Click the bolded line above that takes you into a fund destination tree)

3. This brings you to the Fund Selection Page
You will see that New Orleans Community Services Trip has been added as a direct link to select to make a gift.

Click New Orleans …. and make the gift. Help us rebuild!!

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Parks Canada Tuesday, Mar 22 2011

Recently, I worked with Parks Canada to promote their speaker’s bureau and work that they are doing. Several members of Parks Canada were in New Orleans last week to attend the George Wright Society biennial conference.

 

 

 

 

While we weren’t able to garner as much publicity as we would have liked, one of the speakers bureau members – Denyse Lajeunesse – spoke at Tom Sherry’s Conservation Biology class in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University about Canada’s parks, bio-diversity and species at risk.  (They have a Dr. Darwin there even!!)

 

 

I learned a lot I didn’t know about Canada’s parks including that camping is on the decline, in part, because many new Canadians come from backgrounds where living in tents may have been part of an unhappy experience, rather than the fun experience it was for me as a child. We used to camp across the country when younger, and then set up a tent in my parents backyard for fun.

I also learned a lot about species at risk, and the success Canada is having rebuilding populations of endangered animals.

There was also a Parks Canada booth set-up to provide information about the work that is being done.

2011 is the 100th anniversary of Parks Canada. So there was also cake presented by the President of the George Wright Society board. Parks Canada is the oldest national park service in the world!! Go team Canada!!

The CEO of Parks Canada and the US National Parks Service spoke at a plenary on the future of parks. Both spoke about some amazingly innovative programs that are taking place across both countries to draw attention to both the wildlife aspects of parks and historic sites (which fall under the purview of parks). In New Orleans for example, Jean Lafitte park includes the Wildlife Preserve in Lafitte, the French Quarter and the Chalmette Battlefield, site of the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, where for some reason the US thinks it won  the War of 1812.

I also took Parks Canada folks on tours of the areas hardest hit by Katrina. They were able to see firsthand some of the devastation that continues here, as well as the impact of environmental degradation in Bayou Bienvenue.

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It’s the small stuff… Saturday, Mar 19 2011

I gave 5 Katrina tours this week; 4 for Parks Canada staff and one for guests of the Creole Inn. In three days. Basically the same tour each time. It allowed me to really take a look at New Orleans through fresh eyes.

I think New Orleans is really coming back as a tourism destination. The French Quarter and the CBD are back to “normal”; whatever normal is in this crazy-ass town. But just outside the Vieux Carre is the devastation of the Lower Ninth that too many tourists never take the time to see. Even most of the tour companies no longer run Katrina tours, they just incorporate them into their city tour.

So I took folks through the Upper and Lower Ninth, out to Arabi and Chalmette, and up Esplanade to City Park to show them what was and wasn’t here. They were mostly shocked. Stunned. At least one was in tears.

But I saw the small stuff. Lots of groups of youth out working; building, cutting grass, digging, creating a path along Bayou Bienvenue. I saw a house being worked on that wasn’t started a few weeks ago. A house finished. A family moving in furniture from Rooms to Go.

I went to my branch of Whitney Bank in Chalmette between tours on Thursday and it had moved from a trailer into a real building. Lots of digging is happening at the site of the new St. Bernard Parish Hospital.

There were stores open. People on the streets. A couple old guys fishing and crabbing in the bayou.

And my tour guests got the message that New Orleans is back, and it isn’t back, at the same time. A message I trust they will carry home.

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schools and such Friday, Nov 12 2010

Was at a candlelight vigil today with A Community Voice Louisiana calling for safety for students travelling by bus. It is often dark when they leave home and return. Just recently a young teen was dragged into a blighted house and raped after being dropped off by a school bus at 7pm in the Lower Ninth ward. I’ll post some videos and photos later this week/end.

In other school news this is the 50th anniversary of Ruby Bridges going to school in New Orleans and leading the desegregation battle. She looks good!!!

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Wanna go to New Orleans? Monday, Nov 1 2010

It’s that time again…we’re accepting applications for the 2011 New Orleans trip. Deadline is Nov 12th 2010. Leave a comment if you would like more information.

Students at any university in Ontario – and anyone interested who is not a student – are welcome to join the trip (non-students still need to register for the course and pay tuition, attend classes etc),

‘Community Development: International Field Experience’ CINT912 provides an
opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of development issues,
and to experience part of their learning in an interdisciplinary, international, and
intercultural setting. For May 2011, Canadian students will work with organizations
in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following a brief in-class orientation at Ryerson, the
field experience portion of the course takes place in New Orleans. Canadian
students will work with local residents, NGOs, and other volunteers on specific
projects related to post-Katrina recovery work.

This course is based on principles of experiential learning, namely that in addition to the classroom, learning also occurs through individual and collective critical reflection and analyses of practice. Through this process, students are expected to acquire skills essential for change and lifelong learning.

Continuous reflection on the learning process itself and on its objectives will help students develop skills in critical analysis, appreciation for interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives, as well as awareness of their roles as professionals and world citizens.

The course will provide opportunity to experience the following:

•     Learn about community development in a unique socio-political setting

•     Build relations within lower-income neighbourhoods

•     Gain an understanding of the interconnections between class and race

•     Participate in small inter-disciplinary teams while gaining professional experience and
knowledge

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5 things to do times 2 Friday, Aug 20 2010

Hard to believe it’s just 9 days to the 5th anniversary of Katrina.  My ongoing back problems (pinched nerve) has made writing at the computer challenging…but I think I am well enough to start playing catch-up.  So expect a few posts in the next few days…

Today’s post is about the initiatives the great folks at the St Bernard Project have going on for the anniversary. There are 5 things they are doing and 5 things you can do from home!

As regular readers of this blog know, SBP is one of my favourite organizations to volunteer with. My students and I have volunteered on all three trips and my partner and I have volunteered a few additional times as well.

These folks work hard with great results. More importantly, they “get it” – they use locals in their work, listen to locals and understand the needs of the community.

There are also 5 ways you can be a part of SBP’s team from home and help solve these solvable problems:

1. Vote for SBP to win $250,000 in the Pepsi Refresh Challenge – It’s easy. You can vote once a day from each email that you may have…they’re in third and the top 2 win $250,000 – help push them over the edge. The money goes to expand mental health services and to provide jobs for people affected by the oil spill.

2. Host a fundraiser in your community for SBP – This doesn’t have to be elaborate. Bring together a group of people to watch When the Levees Broke or Trouble the Water or any of the other amazing Katrina-films. Share a supper at home instead of going out and donate the money  you would have spent. Skip your coffees and lattes for the next 9 days…every penny counts.

3. Commit to volunteer in New Orleans in the coming 12 months – If you’re a friend of mine, don’t forget, I provide a free couch or futon or floorspace for folks who are coming to volunteer. I can also help you obtain cheap housing in the community. New Orleans is a wonderful town to visit – but give of yourself while you’re here!

4. Spread the word; 1,000+ families are still living in FEMA trailers because they own homes
they can not afford to rebuild, thousands of uninsured residents suffer from mental health problems related to the oil spill and Katrina. Tell your family, friends and community these stats and SBP’s solutions. Use Facebook, Twitter, blog, email, newspaper and other outlets and ask them to do 5 for 5.

5. Donate directly to SBP or via text by sending NOLA to 50555 – The texting  only works in the US. Tell all your American friends about this great opportunity to send $5 to NOLA. Otherwise, send a US money order or you can paypal/email transfer me the money and I will take it over to them. Don’t let a border be an excuse!!

**

It’s easy to forget, when you’re not here, just how much devastation occured, and continues. So we’ll end with a few photos…of loss and of hope…

Picture your school gymnasium. Ceilings of at least 20 ft. This is how high the water reached at a school (now Camp Hope for volunteers) on Aycock Street in Arabi, St. Bernard Parish, May 2010.

Inside the townhouses on Florida…social housing…neglected and mostly torn down (July 2010).

A stuffed animal in the mailbox of a house in Gentilly, July 2010.

Not quite straight, in the Lower Ninth Ward, May 2009.

My partner Michael building a home for seniors on Serpas St. (Oct 2009) with the St. Bernard Project.

The “boys” of CINT 912 – May 2009 – rebuilding with Common Ground in the Lower Ninth ward.

A Welcome Home party with the St. Bernard Project, May 2010.

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Disasters and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Monday, Jul 12 2010

According to the National Institute for Mental Health, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) ” is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, or military combat.”

This fall/winter I was diagnosed with vicarious or secondary PTSD. In this post I want to share a little about my experiences, as well as the broader implications of PTSD in a community following large-scale disasters.

PTSD is something that is quite common after a natural disaster but usually resolves (for the most part) within a few weeks or months. Primarily, that occurs because after the crisis, life returns to some semblance of normalcy. With Hurricane Katrina, the Earthquake in Haiti and now with the BP Oil Spill, normal no longer exists for many people.

Today is the six month anniversary of the earthquake, we’re a week away from the three-month anniversary of the oil spill, and just a little more than 6 weeks away from the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

I live in St. Bernard Parish (SBP), just a few blocks from where it meets the city of New Orleans at the Lower Ninth Ward. SBP or “da Parish” (as it is known, although all the areas around here are called parishes) and the Lower Ninth were two of the hardest hit areas.

In 2007, two years post-Katrina, Jerry St. Pierre (then President of the Central Association of Obstetricians Gynecologists)  said “Katrina has assaulted all the senses, and it is not over yet. This was not an acute injury, it is long-term. It is not a post traumatic stress disorder because we are still living it daily. One has the feeling that New Orleans is on life support and is struggling to survive.” These words really resonate for me. La Pierre stated them three years ago, August 29th will be the 5th anniversary of Katrina and yet, the city continues to suffer Katrina-related PTSD. Now with the oil spill, it can only get worse.

I recently wrote a chapter for an upcoming textbook and said “The mere experience of living amongst abandoned houses, or seeing the remaining signs of the disaster – destroyed properties, lack of trees, search marks on buildings – creates a constant reminder of the tragedy and loss.”  If this is true for me, a resident only for a few months, it must be remarkably so for those who have been here since before the storm.

This picture is a typical sight in this area. Empty lots, with just steps or broken concrete in front, are everywhere, especially in Orleans Parish. In St. Bernard blight removal funding has allowed the parish government to start removing the concrete slabs and steps, leaving grass. Quickly the dirt becomes covered with grass and plants. The memory of what was quickly disappears.

While I hadn’t directly experienced Hurricane Katrina I had fallen in love with New Orleans on my first visit. In the fall 2009, as I began my PhD work, I spent all my school time studying issues of post-Katrina recovery. Primarily I was studying the emotional, cultural, social and psychological impacts of Katrina on the residents. It wasn’t unusual for me to spend 40, 50, 60 hours a week immersed in readings about this. When I had extra time, I was studying disaster impacts more generally. And when it came time for more casual reading I was reading books (fiction or non) about New Orleans. It was basically all I did. 100 hours on Katrina, disasters and recovery. Every week, for months.

I began realizing that I was experiencing trauma. I was more emotional, disconnected, stressed. But it was pretty manageable. I joked about it. I have spent more than a dozen years working with homeless people, sex workers, psych survivors etc. I am familiar with vicarious trauma and figured I could manage it on my own.

Until the earthquake in Haiti hit. All my symptoms came to the fore. I couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t sleep. My anxiety was high. My appetite was off. I couldn’t focus on school work. I cried all the time. I watched the news because if I didn’t I got upset but when I did watch it I cried more. All typical PTSD symptoms.

I tried to manage it and couldn’t so I sought help with a therapist. We discussed coping strategies and I began to feel better. In talking to him I realized that my symptoms were less obvious, less intense, when I was actually in New Orleans. Each time I visited my stress decreased; when I was in Canada it increased.  As I talked to my therapist I realized that when I was there I was able to see the recovery taking place. When I was not there and just reading about it the research tended to be focussed on the negative and less on the progress and recovery so that was less visible.

I had hoped that my move to the area would help make things better. I’d be able to see  the changes and improvements. I would absorb the spirit of the people. I left for New Orleans on April 25th. On April 20th the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill had happened but at first the impact wasn’t reported as being as significant as we now know it is. Today, day 84 of the spill and BP finally believes it is contained. Testing will further determine this tomorrow.

But it is too little too late. The lower parishes, including the lower part of my own parish, have been severely impacted by  the oil. Coastal communities from Texas to Florida have had oil wash ashore. Last week it came into New Orleans itself in Lake Ponchartrain.  The oil spill is going to have more of an impact than Katrina had and will be made even worse if any serious hurricanes hit the Gulf this summer.

The effect of the oil spill isn’t just this fishing and shrimping season. It isn’t just this season of lost employment. It is a complete change in people’s way of life. This is going to change how people live. In fact today I saw a video (included below) where a reporter predicts a mandatory evacuation will occur within a week. I don’t know if I believe it will be that soon but I do believe there are communities – like Venice, and Grand Isle, where an evacuation is quite likely.

There is work being done to help people with the impact of the oil spill. I have volunteered a few times with Catholic Charities at food pantry/financial assistance programs. My lovely pal Joycelyn (Happy Birthday today darl btw) Heintz was featured in an article in the New York Times yesterday looking at mental aspects of the oil spill. She works as the coordinator at the Center for Wellness and Mental Health with the St. Bernard Project, the organization my students primarily worked with  this summer. Joycelyn was also the 100th home finished by the project – they have now finished 280 and have 50 under construction.  The St.Bernard Project has been a leader in rebuilding and providing mental health support to the local community, now they’re working on employment opportunities for vets and unemployed residents, as well as providing support to fishing families affected by the oil spill.

I’ve realized in the past few weeks that my PTSD isn’t as in control as it was in April before I left. But I hope that being here allows me to manage it better than I might have been able to do in Canada. Being able to volunteer will hopefully help me feel like I am contributing towards change. We’ll see. I do know I’ll feel a lot better if the cap holds up to testing tomorrow.

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Fundraising…send a student to NOLA Wednesday, Mar 10 2010

Hi all

This is a fundraising appeal to help send students to New Orleans this May to take part in rebuilding work. They will be rebuilding housing and replanting wetlands as well as other community participation initiatives.

Donations over $20 that require a receipt should be made out to Ryerson University. Donations that don’t require a receipt and under $20 also welcomed. You can also make a donation via PayPal using Visa or Mastercard – falcngrl@gmail.com (If you need my mailing address for a cheque, let me know).

For my American Friends – you can donate directly to the organization on our behalf and get a tax receipt https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=262189665 and put Ryerson University in the designation or dedication lines. This will go to their expenses but without funds there would be nothing for us to do when there

This trip is part of a course that I teach at Ryerson (co-teaching (now yay!) with Pascal Murphy). We are taking two groups of students – 20 in each class – for two weeks each. Just to give you an interesting breakdown of numbers:
* there are 5 York students, 34 Ryerson students (including continuing education) and 1 non-student.
* there are 4 male students and 36 female students (grl power!!)
* just over 1/2 have taken or are taking the homelessness course
* almost 2/3rds are students of colour (despite the racial make-up of New Orleans this is rare for volunteers).

Bios for students are on our blog at http://toronto2nola.wordpress.com as well as info about our experience last year!

Students are available to do a presentation after the trip in the GTA area. I am able, with past students, to do a presentation before the trip if you have a potential fundraising opportunity.

There is also a video made by some of last year’s students (about thirty minutes in length total) available at:
Part 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF2w3ZkhLZE

Part 2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3_YnZgdeC4

Part 3 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDLuzdNjHiM

Part 4 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAq_UnELoK4

Thanks
Tanya

PS Tweeters and bloggers – please spread the word!!

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Students for 2010…the bios begin Saturday, Feb 6 2010

Toronto2NOLA is pleased to announce that we have two classes of students who will be travelling to New Orleans in May to rebuild houses and wetlands. We will be working primarily with The St. Bernard Project which has brought 262 families home so far. Each class will be there for two weeks at a time.

We have asked the students to each write a bio for all of you to read so that you can learn more about them.

Check back regularly for updates.

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