Day three on the worksite commenced and I have to admit that my own enthusiasm for filling nail holes and caulking base-boards had waned. However, my respect for our crew chiefs has grown exponentially. It is one thing to give up a week of my time and dedicate myself to long-overdue construction on a home for a deserving owner. However, the young people of ESCLA do this five days a week for a year or more. To be done well, it requires a deep commitment to discovering one’s most altruistic self. In my experience, this kind of self-exploration is all too rare. For Annie, Sophie, and all who are committed to this type of work, we’re thankful for your inspiration and your witness to all those whom you meet. We could use more folks like ya’ll!
[Just to be clear, we did do lots of great work today – baseboards are closer to being done, lots of quarter rounds were installed, and some folks mixed and poured concrete to create a foundation for the water heater. Go team!]
After work today, we joined with another group of college students from Missouri and received a formal orientation from Pete (mentioned in yesterday’s post.) Pete gave us a thorough overview of the cit of New Orleans before and after Katrina from a social, economic, environmental, and historical perspective. As you might imagine, the reductionist pictures that were often painted by the news media in the wake of Hurricane Katrina did not come close to giving a full perspective. I cannot possibly do justice to all we learned today, but I will try and mention a few highlights.
We were grateful to be reminded that the history of the United States can be traced on foot through the city of New Orleans. We discussed seminal events and people in light of the question that has frequently been posed post-Katrina, “Why bother rebuilding New Orleans?” New Orleans is truly one of the country’s treasure chests’ of history and culture. You can see it in the development of jazz, the fusion of the cuisine, and the diverse mix of people who call the city home.
There are lots of things you may not realize about Hurricane Katrina, or were misled to believe. For example, Katrina did not make land fall in New Orleans. New Orleans, while surrounded by several different bodies of water, is not a coastal city. There are many, many acres of wetlands between the coast and New Orleans. However, the wetlands are currently eroding at a rate of A FOOTBALL FIELD EVERY THIRTY-TWO MINUTES. Meaning, when powerful storms like Katrina make landfall on the Gulf Coast and move inland, the effect of the storm surge is far greater than it should be. Hurricane Katrina was only a category 3, not category 5, as was often reported. The list goes on, but I won’t try and recreate it from scraps of my own memory. Rather, I will encourage you to read books, watch documentaries, and most importantly, come visit New Orleans and learn more for yourself.
Pete also told us a bit about the NOLA service corps. (I mentioned it earlier in reference to one of our crew chiefs, Sophie.) The service corps is an opportunity that allows young adults to live in an intentional Christian community and spend a year committing to serving others. That can mean acting as a crew chief in the rebuild efforts, coordinating Mobile Loaves & Fishes, or teaching in one of the city’s literacy programs. Additionally, service corps members learn about New Orleans, and commit to participating in various activities designed to enhance spiritual and personal growth.
After gaining a deeper understanding of the undercurrents of the dynamics in New Orleans, we drove to the Lower 9th ward. The Lower 9th ward was one of the areas most frequently displayed in the news media following the flooding after Hurricane Katrina. It was the sight of the infamous barge breach in the levee. To date, it has not been determined whether the levee burst, letting the barge into the neighborhood, or the barge was the agent that caused the burst in the levee. Regardless, destruction was catastrophic. There are still certain blocks in the neighborhood that are completely sparse and bear no semblance to what used to be a bustling residential area. The Lower 9th was a working class neighborhood of 18,000 residents pre-2005. Nearly 6 years later, approximately 3,500 people have returned to the neighborhood. A good number of folks now residing in the Lower 9th moved in for the first time after the storm. Meaning, most of the original multi-generation home-owners have not returned. Brad Pitt’s project, Make It Right, accounts for the majority of the construction that has been done to date. While providing safe and sustainable homes for working class families is a noble goal, many residents are shouldered with tremendous mortgage payments. This project is certainly changing the shape of the neighborhood by limiting who is able to afford to come back. Yet, local and national government funding has completely dried up. Driving through the Lower 9th was a stunningly eerie and humbling experience. If the trees could speak, I’m certain they would, and we would weep to hear of all they have to tell.
After a long day, we made our way to a local favorite of mine, Miss Hystra’s BBQ restaurant in the Broadmoor district. We ate roasted chicken, and fall-off-the-bone-ribs, along with macaroni & cheese, green beans, home made corn bread, and baked beans until we were ready to burst. It was soul food in every sense of the phrase!
Finally, we were able to convince our birthday guy to let us do what he wanted to for a few hours. Aaron’s narrative all day captured the selfless spirit we were doing our best to live into all week – he didn’t want it to be his day at all. Instead, he wanted to spend time doing things for others. We could certainly use more Aaron’s in the world! We did have a rousing game of Frisbee – during which Aaron was the great rescuer of the disc that flew into the neighbor’s back yard (more than once.) We also went to the Rock ‘N Bowl for an evening of Zydeco dancing and bowling. Brian Jack & the Zydeco Gamblers were INCREDIBLE!!! They had the bonus effect of helping us bowl better. The Fried Bread Pudding Po Boy was a perfect end to the birthday celebration.
Goodnight, New Orleans!
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