Today we finally worked on a house that was in dire need of help. We scraped paint off of the front and sides of the house. It was our first up close, real work with the houses destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Our work enabled final painting and renovation to fix up the house. We then listened to Lisa Wharton who talked about her experience in the superdome. She was working security and had a truly remarkable experience.
- Doug Greer
Today was the last full day in New Orleans and we had a very difficult job to do. This day we had to scrape the paint off of a house. It was very warm and sunny and it made it somewhat difficult to work in. The paint for some parts of the house was very easy as they were already coming off, but for the last hours of the day, the paint became very difficult to chip off. A speaker, named Lisa Wharton, also came by this night and gave us a little taste if her experience during Hurricane Katrina, as she was working in the Superdome. This really gave all of us somewhat of the devastating truth of Hurricane Katrina and the lives of the people that survived it.
-Molly Gallagher
We are truly blessed with a new understanding of the desperate situation here in New Orleans. Whether we are shoveling dirt for a new garden in a park or chipping paint off a house, what we do here will benefit long after we have left. Children’s memories live in the flower beds and monkey bars of parks that were turned into lakes. If only you could see the tears run down the speechless face of a loyal New Orleans woman in awe of the 15 San Franciscans helping rebuild the house. Nowhere else in this country is need for national support so great. As Californians, there is no understanding of the situation until you see the truth of the poverty in our nation. It’s all interconnected.
Fresh water tears
Flowed down faces
Mixing with bile and blood
Choking on lies
Drowning in a sea
Of fat ugly lies
Destruction
Reconstruction
Your tie hanging crooked
You hit balls
Back and forth
On your fancy courts
Shmancy court sports
While we watched your people die
Fresh water tears
Fell from the sky
Raining guns bullets and glass
Holding onto sweaty hands
Slipping away
Stretch out your hand
We sang
Holding onto
Living music
Coursing through my veins
Through my fingers in to you
Into me
Lift up your voice
And cry
Freshwater tears
-Jovel
Today was the last day that we would spend in the broken city of New Orleans. As the week went on my vision of what the trip would be slow dissipated into nothing. The heart-wrenching activities and reflections made my “vacation” into something more. As I drove around the flooded Lower Ninth Ward and Gentilly regions, I realized that the media had slowly turned the public eye away from a broken and destroyed city. As I worked on the park and scraped paint from a formerly flooded house, I wondered how I did not see or hear any of the emotions that were present all around me. My experience here has opened my eyes to the deception of our established government. I now understand why the people of New Orleans are angry. I now understand (more than I already did) my high distaste for President Bush and his negligent racist regime. However, I do not understand how any human being could see the suffering of those of his/her own nation and not do anything, how some in our established government could just carry on and even vacation.
-Nate
It was an overall eye-opening and awakening trip. Before I went on this trip I had no idea of what scale this disaster was on and the effect it had on everyone. It’s truly amazing how everything was tied in politics, class, race, and more. I think everyone should go on a service trip like this or see the Katrina video we saw at least once to open their eyes. The work itself was sort of repetitive and could seem insignificant but I had fun doing it and enjoyed the experience. I would love to come back but probably never will because of the convenience I have with the service sites I have near me. Still, I think it was definitely worth coming here.
-Kristijounas
-Annick
This trip has been very eye opening because what I heard about New Orleans in 2005 was covered in water for one month then it was over, which made me think the incident was over but I now realize that a lot has been done but there is still more to do. Visiting the French Quarter, it was a day I won’t forget because everything is about voodoo, clubs, and much more.
-Marco
I often wonder if doing community service in far away places makes much sense when there’s always so much to do at “home.” That’s a very logical and reasoned perspective. However, every time I go with students to Mexico and now New Orleans, I witness minds and hearts opening to a larger world. This happens because we leave our comfortable places and live in close quarters with one another in very different cultures. We meet people that we would never otherwise meet and their lives and perspectives help shape our own. I do not want to suggest that all students experience some deep transformation that changes them for life. That could happen but I do see their minds stretched by new information and their lives enriched by the goodness of others. This was very clear in their coming to New Orleans. Before this trip, it was just another far away city that had a bad week. Now, they know how bad it really was and continues to be and they question why while they continue to service. All of this does not necessarily happen at “home.” They also got the chance to see a new culture very different from their own. These things make serving in other places worth all the time, effort, and money it takes to organize them. So, at Convent-Stuart Hall we’ll continue to do them and much more.
-Mr. O’Connor
