Leslie's Week 5/28/06-6/3/06

I haven't blogged in awhile. It's not that I didn't have anything to write about... things have been moving just as fast. Coming home at the end of the work day I'm extremely exhausted. With the inch of dirt caked over my skin I have to rush to get a shower.. there's two total for 90 people! Then after I wait in line an hour or so for the shower I eat dinner and we have community meeting. Sometimes I have to help prepare dinner or clean up afterwards... which is a lengthy process for just short of 100 people in our living quarters. Then there's the computer line and the "20 minute rule". It's primarily late night when I am able to finally get online and typically by then I'm sound asleep. Community living takes quite a bit of work... flexibility! (-:


Wow- what a week, where do I begin? Monday we went on a tour of the city of New Orleans for 3 hours. I was able to again see the widespread nature of the devastation. On the bus I took 3 pages of notes from what the tour guide said. I do not have my notes near by, but I feel it is important to blog about them so I will do so at some point. We saw the roofs of homes with holes still in the top from where the axes were slashed to try to rescue survivors. Then there was the water line on each building- the reminder that never seems to fade. It was interesting that the water line actually does not represent the height of the water. Joe, our tour guide, told us that wherever we see a water line we need to add another 3 feet. The water line is from when the city was partially drained and then remained under water for another 3 weeks- that's when the line formed. I learned little details like that on his tour that are starting to fill in some of the holes in my minimal knowledge of the disaster.


Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday... all dedicated to Mrs. Green's house gut. It the heat was unbearable at times in our white Tyvek suits with the 96 degree weather topped off with heavy humidity. I was very touched however when Mrs. Green made a special trip to her house as it was being gutted of all its belongings and the framework of the house itself. She allowed herself to do this, just to give us volunteers a picnic lunch. I pulled her aside privately and thanked her and told her that I admired after all she's been through she still shares her spirit and joy with others. Her eyes were tearful and she said thank you and that she would not know what to do without us [volunteers].


Friday I took a half day because I was not feeling well and then in the afternoon went to Mrs. Green's house, known by us as "The Barone Gut". With what began with 13 workers ended up with just 3 of us. It was the heat and humidity that caused some to literally collapse. Others were getting ready to leave their trip and still wanted to see the 9th ward before departure. So 3 of us girls worked 2 and a half hours past normal-- I felt dizzy and weak. Toni gave me the rest of her Oreos and this helped a bit. All of us were tired and hungry but we just pushed through it and kept on working. We wanted to finish Mrs. Green's house that day and we knew we could. It was an issue of mind over matter. Two of the three of us ditched the Tyvek suit... mold poisoning or heat exhaustion? At that moment mold seemed preferable to heat exhaustion. We finally finished however and in the end it was all worth it. I am excited to see Mrs. Green at church this Sunday.


Today, me and Akudo (Boston) Sara (Minneapolis) went to "Islamic Relief Center" to pass out pamphlets on community resources. I was surprised upon giving people these forms that none of them had even heard of our organization, Hands On, and a number of other volunteer agencies. There are resources in the community for people in need but in such dire times how are they supposed to navigate the system single handedly? The resources are few and the wait lists are long, but we still wanted to communicate their existence with as many residents as possible. I noted that at the volunteer center Sara and I were the only white people in the entire place. This made me feel uncomfortable. I was constantly wondering if I was being judged and if they would accept the brochures or not because of my skin color. For one of the first times in my life this was in the front of my mind. I feel guilty that I felt this way, we always say things like "race doesn't matter." It shouldn't and I live by that motto too, which made me question why it was so distinct in my mind the entire time. During my stay here I'm going to explore that issue further.


I met two women, Lisa and Anne, who told me their Katrina survival stories. Anne spoke of lying on her bed with her husband watching the water crawl up higher and higher and the two of them thought they were living their final moments until a neighbor came by with a boat and saved them. Lisa spoke of appreciating the food she gets from volunteer organizations, but she has no stove, microwave, or refrigerator. She lives off what she can without these "luxuries." They both were very passionate to share with me their stories, which is something I consistently have found. I shared with them my story about my house fire and I could sense a feeling of ease in our conversation- a sort of common ground. Both of them spoke of their frustration with FEMA, and felt hurt that FEMA claims that their belongings were not worth anything and will not provide assistance. This is also a common complaint among residents. Not only did FEMA fail in the wake of the disaster- it continues to fail in the aftermath. Lisa and Anne shared with me that their faith in God is what has kept them going these past months and without Him they would have given up a long time ago.


I have many things I still would like to write about, but this is enough for now. Words cannot convey this experience... one cannot conceptualize it without experiencing it first hand. I am trying to share with you the stories, but there are just so many stories and so few listeners.

~~Leslie~~

P.S. Toni, Greta, Eric, Andreas, & Brittany... you better post again even though you're home!!!