March 26th, 2012
Today was our first day getting out
there and doing some manual labor. We got up bright and early (5:45 AM) and
drove to a group orientation. We joined about 5 other groups and learned about
how the St. Bernard project got started from curly-haired Simon. He told us a
story about a man named Frank who, after the storm, sat on his roof for a long
time, with a white flag, waiting to be saved. When he was finally saved, he was
taken higher ground (a bank’s roof, the highest point in the area), where
waited six days for rescue. He was finally saved by a Canadian Mounties, and he
was disappointed that his country had not looked out for him. This story
inspired the founding of the St. Bernard project. Simon told us that the St.
Bernard project has seen great success, rebuilding 437 houses in the past 5
years, but that the work they do is never enough. Until recently, they had a
135-person waiting list that they had to shut down because they did not want to
promise houses to people for whom they couldn’t build. Even 7 years later,
there are still many people in New Orleans who need our help more than ever.
We
then split up and drove to our specific work-sites. Most of us did the tedious
work of sanding drywall and skimming--applying a thin coat of drywall mud..
Although this was really tough and not so fun, we had to keep in mind that we
were still helping people out, and even the toughest jobs need to get done
somehow. On one site, we met the owner of the home, named Theresa, which was a
very meaningful experience. The house on the other site was the only house on
the street that was left to be rebuilt, as every other house had been
completed, so we were motivated to get it done. After lots of satisfying work,
we broke for lunch, and wiped seemingly tons of dirt and drywall off of our
clothes and heads.
After working, we paid a visit to
the Annunciation Church, which served as a recovery center during the storm,
which is run by two individuals who not only lived through, but prospered
through the storm. Jean and James were both able to view the positive side of
the situation. Jean talked about how she needed to take a step down to take
many steps up, and James said that the days he spent sheltered in the
Convention Center (where racial, economic, and governmental distinctions were
irrelevant) were “the best 5 days of [his] life.” Nevertheless, the two spoke
emotionally about their experiences in the storm, and were extremely grateful
to see us down in New Orleans. Jean said
that our service was an integral part of her mental recovery process. They
emphasized that the damage was great, but that our reactions to the storm is
what is more important. It’s hard to sum up how moving it is to hear such a
“survivor” speak about his or her life-changing experience.
Tomorrow, we will return to our job
sites ready to work, and continue our experience in NOLA.
-Haley Cashman, Carl Haber, Jacob
Slater
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