Since I’ve been slackin on the blogging, I will do a quick recap!

Day 1: It was a slow day. About five hours of sitting and traveling with two transfers (well we didn’t get off the plane but we landed twice). I guess the first day is always the “settle in” day. After traveling for the whole morning, I wanted to get out on the town and do a bit of walking. So, a couple of us went grocery shopping while the other half went walking around the church (Carollton United Methodist Church) neighborhood. We saw a couple of shops and cafes, but only had an hour to walk around.  Nothing too crazy the first night.

Day 2: Our first day of work. We were mostly sheet rocking the house this day. A couple of people worked on insulation, but I sheet rocked with “The Dream Team”- Kirsten, Isaiah, Ruth (an AmeriCorps volunteer) and me! We were working with three AmeriCorps volunteers who have been stationed in New Orleans since September. Our construction boss is Will (a young chap who graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans). We are working with an organization called PNOLA (Phoenix of New Orleans) who only has 2 paid employees (!). Their main man-power comes from volunteers through AmeriCorps and other people like us. It truly is amazing what people have done here on their own free will.

Day 3: Today, we met the person that we were building for. It gave our hard work a purpose. All of the windows of the house were covered by ratty old American flags. There were probably 6 of them. At first I thought that they were a symbolic reference to Hurricane Katrina. So far, I’ve noticed that many people in LA hang American flags outside of their houses. Therefore, I assumed that these flags collected must have been flags that this person found  during the disaster and hung it up on their windows to be sarcastic. Now, you might think “What does she mean by sarcastic?” The reality is that the community feels like they did not receive any help from the government. By hanging these flags from a disaster that would just show that the people had faith in America, but America did not help them (which is why they have to put these flags on their windows-to make sure that no one robs or trashes this empty house).

Nonetheless, the reality is that the flags were all souvenirs from the battles of Sergeant Johnson. The flags were from various parts of the world from New Orleans during “the storm” (as the locals call it) to Iran. Sergeant Johnson is a wounded warrior. He is a tall, jolly black man who had a full camo uniform, a bad limp and an ace bandage around his arm. To know that I am working hard to build this house for him is priceless. Without volunteers like us, Sergeant Johnson would not have a home for Christmas five years after the storm. Unbelievable! I just can’t understand how people are not in houses after so much time has passed. Driving through Mid-City, we can still see houses with big “X”s counting the number of dead bodies. New Orleanians have had to live with this disaster for the past 5 years and it has turned their life upside down. Where are the people that we depend on for safety? Where are the people that have been taking hundreds of tax dollars from us? And why do NONE of them have a soul?

Day 4: Last night we went to Bourbon Street. You know, the popular Mardi Gras, crazy college kid scene… I think it’s a bit over rated. Sure, it was cold and the businesses were empty, but I was more appalled at the vulgarity that is open to the public on this street. This street abides by only a few of the laws that the rest of the US does and it just reminds me of what life would be like if we always gave into desire. I haven’t been to Las Vegas, but I assume that it would be much like Bourbon. Nonetheless, it was still a great experience to absorb the culture. Our day today felt accomplishing. We got a good portion of the living room completed by The Dream Team! Overall, the house is starting to look more like a house which means its heading in the right direction! Today we had some interactions with the locals. For lunch, we sit outside of the house that we work at. Today, a nice old fellow told us to go to the church for a free warm meal. And after him, a couple of ladies greeted us and told us the same. First of all, when does anyone say hello to someone else on the street??!? On Long Island, your supposed to look away or just look down and not say hello. The people here continue to open their arms to strangers in the simplest, but loveliest ways. I’m delightfully surprised to find comfort in the neighborhood we work in!!!

The past couple of days a group of nine of us have continued to help rebuild a gutted house from hurricane Katrina. When we first saw the inside of the house there was nothing but the main frame of the house and outlined portions of wood and clutter all around. The nine of us split into smaller groups, which included some Americorps volunteers as well. The first day we had to put fiber glass in the walls of the house for insulation and start measuring the walls for sheet rock. Day 2 and three consisted of all of us sheet rocking the entire house. Today (day 3) we manged to basically finish all of the sheet rock and we started putting special mud to fill in the sheet rock.

During day 2 while we were in the middle of  our lunch break, a man dressed in a army uniform greeted us and told our group that we were rebuilding his home. He told us he was in Iraq when hurricane Katrina flooded his home and has been waiting patiently to live in his home again. Recently, a member of the Saints football team has helped pay for the finances to rebuild his home while we volunteer to fix it up. He was wounded while in combat and he could not thank us enough for taking the time to lend him a hand. It was the first time since we arrived to really meet a local from Louisiana and even though he was not here during the disaster, the hurricane still had a large impact in his life. He was so thankful for what we were doing for him and listening to him helped me appreciate how lucky I am and everything that I have been blessed with.

In the past three days I have learned so much about sheet rocking, power tools, rebuilding home, and the stories people went through during this disaster. After each work day when I have called a family member back at home it is hard for them to image how I am a part of a group that is rebuilding a home for a person affected by hurricane Katrina!

Today we went to a local church that was near our work site and many members of the community just went up to us to thank us for taking the time out of our lives to visit their community and reach out to help them. Hearing their stories and receiving their kind words made me feel so grateful and excited to fix homes in their neighborhood. The people in Louisiana we have met so far have been very kind to us and cannot thank us enough. This continues to make the community service mini term so much more rewarding!

Today we learned the great power of communication, teamwork and reflection. Last night we were able to go out to Bourbon street and walk around the french quarter which is an experience that everyone should have. We are truly a group that functions as a family with all the pros and cons attributed to such a characteristic. In the end all was well and we made it home safe. I’m saving the dirty little secrets of the night fpr myself wahahahaha. As for today, the morning was quite cold but decent considering we are from the northeast where it has already snowed. We went to work to discover a car accident near our house. This was both startling and powerful. Seeing the americorp volunteers that we work with running to aid those in need really showed the power of the human spirit and just common decency. The day progressed as usual the DREAM TEAM was amazing, had lunch but this time the location changed. The local church does free meals on Wednesdays from 12-2 and some of the locals invited us to go with them. The meal consisted of white rice, beans, hamhock, salad and bread. It was really cool to do this. We then headed home and got to talk to a powerful speaker. He addressed many of the issues that we as a campus community generally do not talk about. The ideas of racism and sexism were discussed in a way that made us all really analyze the issues. Although I now feel more uneasy about attending Tulane fro graduate school I know know my opposition. The idea of not being at ease in my own neighborhood and wondering when and where I an going to be stopped by the police due to my skin color has me weary of such a vibrant location for higher education. The idea of power and the rest of the themes I hope to address in my blogs come from the new CD by Kanye West. His song “Power” which addresses responsibility and power in the pop culture can be directly applied to the Police of NOLA. They have been granted this pass to do whatever they please. The question now is how will they handle such a gift or curse. As of now they have not handled it well which leaves me feeling as if the pressures that come along with being a Black Male will never end. I have fought so many battles and I’m still here but how much longer can I fight. When will enough be enough and I will no longer have to think about what area I am walking in, who I fall in love with etc. Once again my class has amazed me in this Dark Fantasy known as New Orleans.

Talk about a powerful day.

Today was an amazing day not only because of the warm southern weather but because of the moments that occurred in the Mid-City neighborhood of NOLA. We had a chance to meet the person that used to live in the house that we were reconstructing. The owner is a military man that has traveled all over the work in the US ARMY. He was full of jokes and laughs. He also showed a real appreciation for the work that we were doing. I am starting to realize that people here only like us “community service tourist.” The day continued to be quite successful for the DREAM TEAM aka TEAM SUPREME that consists of Shabana, Kristin, and myself. We once again were able to be really productive. The night continued to be just as special as the day that proceeded it. We had the pleasure of meeting a Professor from UNO. She had a lot to say about race, class, and society all topics that I am really interested in. She spoke about the dynamics of a city that was in the midst of trouble that no one realized or paid attention to until the storm surge made the story that had been buried was resurfaced. Hearing a middle class Caucasian women discuss topics that are frequently addressed in neighborhood barber shops and in the homes of most minorities was a refreshing experience. Seeing the class reaction to all the things said gives me hope for the future and says that we are far from where we need to be but on our way.

I’ve been working on this house the past two days with 6 students from the class.  Sheetrocking is hard work — the stuff is heavy, and none of these homes have square corners.  But, we are getting pretty good at it and just about finished it all today, Tuesday, our second day.  The Americorps workers were hot on our tail with the taping and mudding.  Tomorrow, we’ll be doing that, too.  It’s been in the 30’s each morning, pretty cold for this kind of work. But, can’t complain when we hear about sub-zero temps back home.

Today (Dec. 7, 2010) was the 3rd day that the group has been in NOLA. It was also our second full day of work! The entire mini-term group split up into two groups and are working at two different sites, where we are putting up insulation and sheet-rock. We have been fortunate to have the assistance of the members of Americorps! It has been great to see the progress which our team has made on the house over the past two days! Even though the conditions are tough, it is well worth it to struggle through them.
Today was especially exciting because the man whose house we are working on stopped by. Sargent Johnson was very pleased with the condition in which his house was coming along. He showed us several moral boosting strategies that he learned while being in the army. Being able to meet Sargent Johnson really helped being emotions into the work that we were doing since we now knew exactly whose house we were working on.
It always feels great to shower off a day of successful work!

Till next time . . .

Dream Team Member,
Rob

The journey has officially began and all I can say is “Who Dat?” The day started off quite cool. I would almost say it was down right cold as Ice in the early morning of our church residence. Once my contacts were taken from there solution bath and replaced in the windows to my soul I navigated my way to the kitchen. Talk about a fest-HBO and 1% milk. This was followed by a sandwich train and resulted in a new combination-hummus, turkey, cheese and roast beef. It was so amazing that I might need to copyright its proportions. Next came the journey to PNOLA, an amazing organization with just 2 full time staff, where we learned from a former Minnesota girl about building houses for New Orleanians. We then split up again and headed to our respective work sites. I was blessed with the privilege of working with some of the taller students in the group which resulted in making us more efficient at sheet rocking the ceiling. I must also admit the the students who lacked the height advantage definitely added to the group dynamic by just being ever so helpful and cool and funny. We learned how to insulate a house and survive in a room filled with Sheetrock debris and fiberglass from the insulation instillation. What a great lesson to learn LOL. This steep learning curve was followed by an exciting lunch with great AmeriCorp volunteers from Kentucky, Illinois, and Long Island (Notice that I put the location from NY on the same level as a state). Had a great discussion about things ranging from Public Health School, GREs, Future Plans, Majors, and expectations for future outings. Best First Day Ever.

Could have only been better if I wasn’t missing something or someone.

After being on campus for a week I cannot wait to finally arrive in Louisiana! I am excited to leave cold Schenectady and get to work in warm New Orleans and Dulac. On Friday we learned how to handle and use power tools, sheet rock, and electric saws. At first I was a little nervous to learn how to use the tools, but now I am excited to put my new skills to use! I am really looking forward to meeting the people who live in the Dulac community and hearing their personal stories from Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for my thesis. I am interested in gaining an understanding on how their lives have changed since the disasters, how they are trying to cope, how they see their situation in the future, and how they see the government is helping them deal with the disaster. By going to Louisiana it is going to be much more of a learning experience to actually witness the situations people have been going through from what we have been reading and discussing about first hand .

This trip will be amazing cultural experience to learn about a different culture and community. I can’t wait to arrive this afternoon and begin the trip with our great NOLA Community Service 2010  group!

Hello!

My name is Shabana Hoosein. I am a senior at Union with an Environmental Science major and a music minor. Tomorrow I head to New Orleans, LA with 14 peers, one dirty dish loving RD and an enthusiastic sociology professor. I titled this day (-1) but we have been on campus at Union for the past 4 days preparing ourselves mentally and physically for the growth, obstacles and knowledge ahead. So far, it seems like we have a good, diverse group with us here and I’m looking forward to accepting this group as my family for the next 2 1/2 weeks.

I cannot express how excited and anxious I am. I have been waiting to go to New Orleans for the past 5 years. When I became aware of the immense amount of damage that had taken place after Katrina hit, I knew (even at the age of 16) that I had to get down there to help. Of course, my very strict parents  did not want me to go help at that time. Now that I am with a secure group of people and have traveled overseas by myself, my parents were confident that I would be safe on this trip. At first, my father was skeptical about our purpose in NO. He said “Katrina happened 5 years ago. I think they are finished with recovery.” After our weekly meetings fall term I confidently told my father, “You have no idea.” The reality is that I, myself, have no idea.

From what we have learned so far, help is needed. I’m glad that I have been granted the opportunity to live my dream. Community service is not only rewarding, but (more importantly) it is a learning experience. The world has so much to offer and we just have to get out there and grab it. I have faith that I will learn sooo much from this trip. The itinerary  caters to a variety of things such as wetland vegetation restoration, domestic violence, construction work and urban farming.

This is my first sociology class. I am a science major and haven’t taken many classes outside of math, science and music. I feel like my science background will positively contribute to the group’s learning experience and I hope to absorb a massive amount of knowledge from the social perspective. Overall, this is experience will be a journey for all of us. Can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anywho, I should probably hit the sack. I’m all packed and ready to rock. Open the curtains and let the show begin!

Well, technically it was lentil soup. None-the-less, it was a terrific evening. Jan (Professor Grigsby) and her husband were kind enough to invite our 2010 NOLA group to their house for dinner this evening. There really wasn’t too much left for the “dream team” (2010 NOLA group) to discuss as we waited like anxious children preparing for Christmas.

The group seems to be bonding quite well, however we definitely still have a ways to go. As of now we are comfortable with our territory, but tomorrow this will change. We will enter the southern part of the States with open arms, with hopes to be received the same. I feel well prepared for what adventures head our way both emotionally and physically. Luckily, my greatest concern at this time is my packing situation. I know what your thinking, “It’s 10:40pm and you have to get up at 5:45 am and you haven’t packed!” I can assure you that I am packed. What I’m concerned about is whether I packed too much or too little. Only time can tell, or Joe might be able to tell in the morning, either way there is nothing I shall do about it now. Other than that I am more than excited to finally get back down to NOLA to help out the community! On that note I am off to bed and in a few hours our adventure will truly begin.

Signing off from Schenectady, NY.

Goodnight fellow bloggers!