video
Images from the Lower Ninth Ward and the rest of St. Bernard Parish (one of the hardest hit areas of New Orleans) + our work with the AMAZING Lehigh University crew and WCHFH in East St. Tammany Parish (Slidell, LA). Brilliant music (used without permission) is "Glimmer" by Don Peris.


windows media file, 38 meg
(be patient with broadband, don't try with dialup)
 

photos
links to photo albums on Google Picasa

Habitat work
Scenes from St. Bernard Parish

stuff & thoughts
) We worked with the East St. Tammany Parish Habitat for Humanity. If you wanted to make a donation there, that wouldn't be a horrible idea.

) A woman who worked with us read from this article on the last morning we worked in Slidell: One Dead in the Attic.

) ADDED 1/31/07: Came across this video from a church in Mississippi and think it's very inspirational.

) An amazing cross-section image of the New Orleans Levee system (explains a bit of the geography that came into play).

) I scribbled a few notes while I was there. I wish I had scribbled more. I pulled some of it out and have include it below...for what it is worth.

January 8, 2006
Everything is not OK.

I remember right after Hurricane Katrina it seemed everyone, everywhere was doing SOMETHING. I remember collections of socks, gloves, food – all sorts of care packages. And money. Lots and lots of money. I remember some sort of televised super-star event like a higher-end Jerry Lewis telethon, in which Harry Connick, Branford Marsalis and other headline-names performed with a phone number scrolling across the bottom of the screen to call in pledges and donations.

To be brutally honest I remember thinking, “Enough already. Surely they have enough support to make it through the recovery down there.” Being active in a few other non-profits all I could think was that the sooner the fervor died, the sooner we could count on our regular donors returning their focus to us. In fact, when one non-profit I am involved with sent stuff down to aid Katrina victims I thought, “well gee that’s nice of us, but c’mon already. 'Our' people need it!”

It seemed – to me – that everyone focused every ounce of fundraising and non-profit energy into this situation for quite a while there. And based on my experience, surely it was enough.

But here I am, one and a half years later and clearly it wasn’t enough. And here’s my minor rant about it: The money doesn’t help. (OK well of course it does, but much of it gets lost in all the wrong places and since you can't be sure what happens to money you send down...). This place needs people - working. As much as the Habitat sites are overwhelmed with volunteers, I still think what is needed is work.  This area looks – in some places - like a war zone. It’s creepy and scary. Like a set from some nasty movie (that Dave would really like). I know the problem is complex. I don't understand why some houses are abandoned...or why there are piles of garbage in some areas still or why traffic lights are still out. ONE AND A HALF YEARS LATER. But there has to be some way to fix it. There must. Everything is NOT OK.

January 7, 2006
What it is REALLY all about

I am amazed and overwhelmed by so many things here in Louisiana. I was moved to tears as a homeowner thanked her “Starlight family” – her church community – for all their help and support as she was building a new life for her and her son. I was moved to tears as we drove through the streets of communities that are STILL – one and a half years after Hurricane Katrina – STILL decimated. They are like ghost towns in some places. We drove through one area where several of the streets were completely abandoned. There were dots of people here and there – revealed by their FEMA-supplied trailers parked in the driveway or front lawn; or by the large piles of trash in front of what used to be their homes; or by the homeowners themselves dragging debris from their home. In that particular neighborhood, everyone we saw working on their home was decked out in head-to-toe protective gear – including respirators.

When we were working on the job site, I actually felt we were doing something. And I was so proud to be working with a small team of strong women. Paulette, Rhonda, Christina (little, itty-bitty Christina) and I kicked butt on leveling and then bolting stairs to the sheds. Even when things got slow and I wandered over to the drainage project to see if I could somehow help, I felt I served a little purpose in my own way manning the power. Marie (little, itty-bitty Marie) was covered in mud (and loved it). I hope the rain today didn’t set things back there.

And the amazing young people I have met inspire me. Jill and Tiffany are going to change the world for the better. Just like Will and Chris have.  I hate to say they will probably reach a point of saturation and get burned out and move on in some way some day, but look at Will and Chris now – they still can’t help themselves from doing things like this. 

I can’t believe I almost forgot to write about Miss Debby. We met her our first day here when Chris and I were preparing our grocery list and she was preparing lunches for the crew. She told us her story of how the hurricane came and she began to cry as she recalled the moment she and her 15-year-old daughter ran back into their home after stepping outside thinking the storm had passed (they were, in reality, in the eye of it). Her front door was torn off as she and her daughter ran for the bathroom. They continued to live in what was left of their home for three weeks after the storm with no electricity or other utilities (water most importantly), before evacuating to Florida. They returned two weeks later and their utilities were restored, but her home was too severely damaged. She is becoming a Habitat homeowner.

In addition to the people, just being here inspires me. I already know I want to come back and work some more.  The work, and the people here who need it,  and the friends I have made and the interesting people I have met—THIS IS WHAT REALLY MATTERS about this trip. I will not allow myself to be distracted by the sadness and the badness. I will NOT.