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June 29, 2008
We just finished our final reflection; as always, the guys shared some insightful and profound observations. Part of our reflection is to talk about where we saw God in our day. They remarked that they saw God in many places in this city. They saw Him in the hope and optimism of the people here. They saw Him in the many people who work to bring justice and equality to the people of this city. They saw Him in the many white vans, just like ours, that drive around the city carrying people who want to give a small part of themselves to bring New Orleans back to life. They saw Him in the streetcar that just began running again this week; and in the celebration that took place today to mark the return of this longtime mode of transportation. (we rode it into downtown to attend Mass at St. Louis Cathedral). They saw him in a man whose skateboard shop was lost in the storm. He has reopened for his loyal customers even though his little shop, located in his home, only brings in about $150/day. They saw him in Rick, an incredible young guy who volunteered an hour and a half of his time on Friday afternoon to take us on a tour to see the levees and to learn more about the inequality that exists in this city. Rick is originally from Chicago and came here for college. He has never left, nor does he plan to leave. He is a kind and compassionate person who loves this city and works to do his part in making it a better place for the poor and mistreated. They saw Him in Barbara Jenkins, a woman who put her children through Tulane by working there as an administrative assistant. Barbara lost a husband and has fought two battles with cancer. She lived in the lower ninth ward in 1968 during hurricane Betsy where she almost lost her son in the waters when she dropped him as they tried to get to safety. She now lives in a more comfortable house in New Orleans East where she takes care of her granddaughter, Kelsey, while Kelsey’s parents are at work. Her family is her life, and she feels blessed that they all survived Hurricane Katrina. That is a sentiment that you hear often down here, people feel blessed simply to be alive.
I too see God in all of these things. In addition, I see God in everyone I traveled with this week. I see God in my colleague, Mrs. Stasson, and her gentle, motherly way with the boys. She sat in the passenger’s seat next to me all week and, when Tom wasn’t showing off this navigational skills, she helped me by reading directions, maps and street signs. Many of the guys remarked on her kind and calm manner that held us together throughout the week. I see Him in Jim and his sense of humor and his ability to make us all laugh. I see him in Brandon and his soft spoken gentle way and his wonderful smile. I see him in Garrett and his incredible optimism and upbeat nature that always lifted the spirits of the group. I see Him in Doug and his quiet way and great smile. I see Him in Tom W and his perseverance and determination. I see Him in Andrew and his kindness and willingness to work hard. I see Him in Tom M and his warm smile and his ability to see what needs to be done and to be the one to step up and make it happen. As I said earlier this week, I feel very blessed to have had this opportunity and to share it with these young men. I will actually miss them when I return home, and I am looking forward to watching them experience their senior year at the Prep.
New Orleans still needs our help.
Filed by digitaled at June 29th, 2008 under Uncategorized
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June 28, 2008
Have you ever met one particular person or a group of people who are so talented and gifted that you are in awe of them? Well, I have been blessed this week to be in the company of such people on this service trip. Individually ,each of these young men from SJP brought to the group their own uniqueness, whether it was humor, positive energy, patience, persevance, calmness, inquisitiveness, or determination. Together, with all these qualities, they moved mountains. Everywhere we went, whether it was in Picayune Mississippi (which I never thought I would be), or in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Thompson Center, or sightseeing and attending Mass in the French Quarter, I was proud to be with these fine gentlemen who demonstrated what it truly means to be “men for others.” They reached out beyond themselves every day. They challenged themselves in the hot, humid weather and when I thought they couldn’t sustain the heat any longer, that’s when they would surprise me. They were all like the “energizer bunny”; they kept going and going and going…. They worked extremely well together and supported each other when needed.
We began the week clearing a lot of a home in the lower ninth ward and we ended today back at the same lot finishing up our work. The back yard was about 8feet high of brush and debris. The boys actually pulled out car parts from the yard. It was unbelievable! The group was happy to be able to finish what we had started earlier in the week. This family now will not get fined, and it is a good feeling knowing that!
There are so many issues here that continue to need to be addressed: socioeconomic issues, political issues and environmental issues. But in the midst of all this chaos, there is an ice cream truck that comes through the neighborhoods in the lower ninth ward, I guess trying to add some normalcy to people’s lives. I pray peace be restored to their families soon.
We overcame many challenges such as navigating from place to place. I don’t know what we would have done without Miss Conmy and Tom W. Other challenges were flying cockroaches, fire ants, heat, humidity, and the rain. It always seems to rain between 3:00 and 4:00 pm each day. I guess that was God’s way to help us cool off at the end of a very long day. Thank you God!
I looked forward to the evenings when the group would get together and reflect on the day. My favorite was when each person told another person in the group what positive qualities they noticed about them that day while they were hard at work. This was a great way to end the day!
Parents, thank you for trusting me to care for your sons this week. It has been a pleasure getting to know each of them. I know you must be very proud!
Mrs. Stasson
Filed by mstasson at June 28th, 2008 under Uncategorized
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June 27, 2008
Today was a fun day. We went to a house/community center (not sure which it was) and put in insulation. I, however, did not put in the insulation because of my asthma. Tom Warren and I went outside and stripped a door. The first time we put way too much stripper on the door and did not wait long enough for it to settle so it did not work. The second coat we put on had just the right amount of stripper and we waited long enough for it to actually work. After that Tom and I went to take apart a mailbox. It was a lot harder than it sounds. The nails were in really deep and were kind of rusted. Even with a hammer and a rock to use as leverage we could not get the nails out of the wood to take the mailbox off without damaging the mailbox itself. We decided that the mailbox was not important now and getting the nails out was. About an hour and a half later we finally got all the nails out, even though we partly destroyed the mailbox. Even though it was frustrating trying to get the nails out it was a lot of fun. These are the things that we remember in the future looking back, “Tomorrow is nothing today is too late the good lived yesterday”(Marcus Aurelius).d
Doug G
Filed by dougg at June 27th, 2008 under Uncategorized
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Today we woke up fairly late and had to hurry down to the van so we could be on time for our hour long drive to Mississippi. Today was much different from the rest of the days in that we were heading out of state to do our day of service. We were told we would be working on a community center but were unsure exactly what that meant. When we arrived we found out that the community center we would be working on was really just part of someone’s house.
We began our work putting up insulation on the walls and as the day progressed I moved on to stripping a door so it could be reused in the house. It took fairly long to complete after re coating it twice, but we finally finished the task. I was also asked to help replace a mailbox, and, at the time, it seemed like an easy task; however, I would find it more challenging then I ever imagined. It turned out that in order to replace the mailbox we had to take out six nails. They were stuck deep and really hard to pull from the wood. After about an hour and a half we finally finished and put the new mailbox on, but it was a different size and after nailing it in we soon found out it would not work so we had to take out yet again six nails. All together the job took over three hours but it was rewarding to finally finish and move on.
It was one of the more challenging days of the week, yet very rewarding on the drive home. I was worn out, but I felt good with my contribution. Tomorrow is our day off and I am looking forward to experiencing the city in a different way. I can’t wait to eat the food and see the sights. It’s a great time down here and a rewarding one as well.
Tom Warren
Filed by tomw09 at June 27th, 2008 under Uncategorized
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June 25, 2008
Today was a good day. As the guys described in the posts, we were split into two groups. I took 3 students on another day of installing energy efficient light bulbs for people within the city. I was somewhat apprehensive about the idea of splitting up, but, as I have come to learn about service work, flexibility is key. As it turns out, working in the smaller group gave me a better chance to get to know the students. It was a long day of driving around an unfamiliar city, a city that just recently got its street signs back. Some are still missing, and many u-turns have been made this week. I have to say a special thanks to Tom W for helping me navigate; he has excellent map reading skills! It was a different experience than yesterday’s work with Green Light, but it was most definitely another rewarding one. We heard stories from people who were displaced from their homes, a man who saw some horrible things at the Superdome, and a woman who was stuck on her second floor for 4 days without food or water because the water in her living room was 6′ deep. Even though they have all suffered, each of them thanked us and appreciated the simple task of installing some light bulbs.
After sitting in some traffic on interstate 10, we picked up the other group, stopped at the grocery store and returned home where Tom W and Garrett put together a spaghetti and meatball meal. Thanks to Doug and Tom M for their help in tossing the salad and setting the table. Brandon led us in a very insightful prayer before meals, and we had nice conversation and some good laughs. It was a very enjoyable meal and we can see that the group is “bonding” nicely, and there is growing sense of community among us.
I continue to be amazed by these young men with whom I have been blessed to share this experience. Each one of them has added something to the group, and each one of them is working so hard to make this a great experience. Every prayer that they lead is sincere, well thought out and relevant to the task at hand. Their reflections and observations are meaningful and insightful. I am learning things from them as well as from the people that I encounter on our work sites. Life is good.
Peace.
Colleen
Filed by digitaled at June 25th, 2008 under Uncategorized
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Hello From New Orleans!
Today was our third day of work and we split our group of seven students up into two groups. The first group woke up at 6:30 and went to an establishment dedicated to the service of New Orleans’ homeless. It is called the St. Joseph Rebuild Center and is run by various groups, including people from the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC). The second continued with Project Greenlight. I went to help the homeless along with Tom Mackell, Brandon Robinson and Garrett Barker. The work was split into three stations, laundry, showers and phone booth. I first went to help wash the laundry. I could tell how appreciative they were that the place would wash their clothes. One man named Tim told me that he had been wearing the same clothes for a week straight.
After the laundry I helped put out towels for the showers and talked with a girl named Steph who was a 23 year old Santa Clara grad whose job it was to work for the JVC, and with a guy named Will who was a student at Tulane. I told them about our expedition in Hollygrove down Eagle Street, the very street that Lil’ Wayne grew up on. They seemed impressed that we actually went to that part of town and advised not to go back at night.
After the showers I worked at the phone booth, which was hands down the most hostile part of the complex. However, once the people made their calls, they were very thankful for the opportunity. We then ate our lunch in the air condition and helped to serve lunch.
After this we were approached by a man named Kevin who told his story about moving to New Orleans before the storm due to family problems and going from successful employment to homelessness in seven months and then back to his current status of employment.
Today was a great day on our trip. I have already learned so much about the city and the events surrounding the storm that I could have never learned otherwise. I am looking forward to the final few days of our trip and learning even more.
-Andrew Weiser
Filed by andrewweiser at June 25th, 2008 under Uncategorized
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So today Andrew, Brandon, Garrett, and I went to help out at the homeless center across from the Superdome. It was an awesome experience because we met a lot of citizens from the area. We helped out with providing showers( at least 80), laundry( at least 25 loads), long distance phone booths, and meals. I had some pretty neat conversations with a man named Mario who talked a lot about Jesus. It was tough watching them walk out the shelter doors and back onto the streets. However it was nice to see that they were all so grateful to have a place like that to bathe, hang out, and eat. What a day.
-tom mackell
Filed by tmack12691 at June 25th, 2008 under Uncategorized
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June 24, 2008
Today we worked with an organization that is dedicated to helping the citizens of New Orleans save money by way of energy-friendly light bulbs. The light bulbs use far less energy than your standard ones, and you therefore save a pretty penny if you use them in your house. We were given a list of people who had signed up to receive these light bulbs, and we went to these people’s houses to install them. This was all done for free, of course, since Green Light New Orleans is a non-profit organization.
We met some pretty interesting people throughout the day. Every house we went to was very different; some houses were much nicer than others. However, every person greeted us with a big smile and great southern hospitality. It was nice seeing how happy we made a few people just by giving them some new light bulbs. We even gave a few to some random people who were on the streets while we drove around.
My favorite part of the day was when we went to our second house. I did not personally go into the house to install the light bulbs, but I did stay outside to wander around because I decided that I wanted to talk to some of the neighbors. I encountered my new best friend, Samuel Nicholas, at this point. My man Sammy told me all about the hurricane, although he was in jail when it struck. He told me that when they evacuated the jail house, anyone who was under 5′7 had to get on somebody’s shoulders, because the water was so deep. Hearing the story of Hurricane Katrina from an actual NOLA native gave me a deeper insight than any newspaper, news story, or book could. First-hand accounts are the most credible source there are, and Sam-Man was kind enough to give me one.
It was overall just a very productive day, helping some people out and meeting some new people as well. We also drove through my favorite rapper, Lil Wayne’s childhood neighborhood, so I was pretty ecstatic about that. I really did enjoy the day, and it makes me look forward to the days ahead.
Peace & Love,
Jim Mahan
Filed by littleboymahan32 at June 24th, 2008 under Uncategorized
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Today was a very labor-intensive day. We had no idea what to expect since it was our first day of work. We found out that we would be working for a group called New Orleans Survivor Council, which is all about getting the communities in New Orleans to a self-run/self-sufficient level concerning the rebuilding of their area. Our task was to get rid of all the superfluous foliage in the yard of a man’s house who hadn’t lived there since the Hurricane. It seemed like a huge task at first: throwing away all the trash and broken glass, cleaning up hundreds of weeds and overgrown grass, and cutting down weeds that were eight feet tall. However, as the day progressed, it became apparent as we all worked together that our group was able to get a great deal accomplished. We would have some people bagging the loose shrubbery, someone would be cutting down tall weeds, many would be hacking away at the tall grass, and one or two people would be cleaning up trash. It was a long, difficult day and the sun was very intense, which made the work much more difficult, and made it harder to focus. When the work was complete, we were all ready to get back to our rooms and just fall asleep. We all felt that it was a productive day, but a challenging one.
It was very eerie to actually witness the Lower 9th ward for myself. I had heard about it and seen it on T.V., but I never actually was able to experience the place in person until now. It really made me feel very fortunate to live in a place were natural disasters rarely occur. Many of the lots that once contained houses are now empty, and there is still much wreckage even though it has been nearly three years since Katrina. I know that I have made the right choice to go on this trip and to help my brothers and sisters that are less fortunate than myself.
Garrett Barker
Filed by garrettwpb at June 24th, 2008 under Uncategorized
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Today was our first major outing in the city of New Orleans. N.O. is a beautiful city that has this old, southern charm that sets it apart from other cities. We are located at Loyola University, in Uptown, which is a very nice area and was less effected by Hurricane Katrina.
I did not know what to expect for our first day at work, only time would tell. Our first assignment was located in the lower 9th ward, which was hit the hardest and most of the houses were 10 or more feet underwater after the hurricane. N.O. is a really nice city, but as soon as you enter the 9th ward it is a whole different world, it is almost a culture shock. The houses were falling apart, and there was spray paint on the houses from when FEMA last checked them. The spraypaint showed the date FEMA was there, and if any people or animals were inside. Whole neighborhoods were obliterated, it looked like a war zone. When talking to the different people, they believed that the government destroyed the levees in order to protect the French Quarter, or the richer part of town.
Our job was to clear a house for a man in order to make his property look presentable or else he would have to pay 500 dollars a day to the city of the New Orleans (it was a new law that was just created). His front yard was a mess. There were clothes, weeds, and all sorts of different items in his yard that were just thrown all over the place. Every house on his block was like this, some of them were missing or moved. This is amazing because it’s been three years since the storm first hit. What is very interesting was that the whole house was underwater and the water only took 18 seconds to reach it from the levees.
It took us the entire day to clear out the whole yard; we were not able to finish the back though, which was 10x worse. What was most interesting to me were the items that we found inside of his yard. There were different trophies, and it seemed as though they were awarded to him by the church, and there was also a choir robe. It was cool trying to piece together someone’s life.
Overall today was a success.
Brandon “B-Rob” Robinson
Filed by brob24 at June 24th, 2008 under Uncategorized and tagged I
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