1-17-09 New Orleans

Today was an efficient day for me. I got a lot done doing so many different things. It was our last day in New Orleans and it was the last time I would see Marlo. She truly is an inspiring person, she really should be the spokes person for New Orleans because she has so much character and is a very unique individual. 

I worked in the home of one of her properties, I cleaned out insulation and de-nailed part of the home. Climbed in the attic and swept the floor. It was fun to get down and dirty today. I got to bust some more s*** up today. Lol. I also went on top of the sheds roof today and cut off the vines that were growing on the side of the shed. It was really fun climbing on a steel roof at an angle and cutting roots of vines. :) I was kind of scared at first but I got use to it after a while and just cut away. The after all of the long work the rest of our group went over to Marlo's home and met up with the other group and got to say their last goodbyes to Marlo. I got to hug her again! :) When we walked into her house and she began talking everyone stopped doing what ever they were doing and just listened to her talk. She is a blessed person and a beautiful speaker. I was so glad to see her smile in a home that needed so much more work to get back to what it used to be before Katrina. Her positive attitude about Hurricane Katrina and life in general is something that I admire and will never forget from this trip to New Orleans. 

1-15-09 New Orleans

Today was different from any other day. We worked with a non profit group called Greenlight New Orleans that replaced peoples light bulbs with fluorescent light bulbs because they were more environmentally safe. We did a lot of vanning around the city today but thanks to Maggie we found a way to get to every house. It was very strange for all of us at first because we were just walking into peoples homes and replacing their light bulbs for free. Most of the people we did were grateful for what we were doing for them and the environment and I met one of the sweetest women I have ever met in my entire life. 

Her name was Augustine Deluis. She was 80 years old and you would never have noticed. She was under 5 foot in height and she was very interesting to talk with. She was a very open individual about Katrina and the aftermath of the disaster and it was just fun listening to her talk about her family. She had an incredible energy about her and it made all of us smile. Her entire home was in 8 feet of water and you would have never noticed. She had her home rebuilt and she came down 2 years after the disaster. It was so great to see a success story in NOLA when we are seemingly surrounded by sadness in New Orleans. She for sure made my week even better than it already was before. 

I think project green light is a great idea not only to save energy and to protect the earth but to bring people together from different walks of life. Who would have thought that some crazy students from a small private school in Iowa would have walked into a strangers home in New Orleans to change light bulbs. Not only do we just change light bulbs though; learn about their lives. So if we came from Iowa, I'm sure there are other groups out there like us that I want to do this same thing. I hope Green light can expand into more cities because it is a great idea for the environment and the people in the city of NOLA. 

1-13-09 New Orleans

Today I didn't feel like a tourist and I felt like I was making some sort of difference. We went down to the 9th Ward and worked with a neighborhood association called NENA and they help maintain homes and yards for people in the 9th that cannot afford to pay for those necessities. It really is a great program. 

While we did get a lot done, I still feel like we got a late start on the work; I guess it was the Louisiana time that I am not used to. Anyways, we worked with one of the leaders of NENA named Lavan and he gave us all the necessary supplies to help maintain these two properties we worked on for the day. I have never been more excited to cut someones lawn today and the funny thing is I never met this family once. There was sooo much trash and dry wall left in this yard it was nuts! But we finished this house in less than an hour. We really did kick some a** today in the 9th. 

While it was great to not feel like a tourist and it was all about work work work, there was a somber moment. Pat had found this backpack underneath the home and he opened it and there were some clothes and supplies and a picture of Jesus in the bag. I was working hard at the moment but I just had to pause and think about the person that packed the backpack and then possibly lost it in the midst of Katrina. But then I got back to work!

1-12-09 New Orleans

Today we got to sleep in a little and it was a informative day to say the least. We took a tour around all of New Orleans pretty much and it was soo much fun. However, at the same time is was sad and a little frustrating to see the destruction from Katrina. We went all over the place today; we went to the lower 9th Ward and got out of the vans and walked around a little and saw the levees. It quite literally seemed like a ghost town. There were some houses there were being built and some that were already built. That destruction and feeling I got was something that I expected but what I did not expect is what I saw in the upper middle class area of NOLA. 

I will admit that my eyes did tear up when I saw what the homes looked like in the upper middle class part of NOLA. There were still empty homes and there were still FEMA X's written on the homes. It looked like my neighborhood was hit by a hurricane and no one came to help my people. It got real emotional for me when I just pictured my home and my neighbors homes being destroyed and then those people not wanting to come back to their homes. When I still saw destruction in this part of New Orleans, it really did hit me and made me realize how poor of an area New Orleans really is and how much these people got screwed over by their own government. 

Overall, the tour was great and it was great seeing everything that we did but it really did suck to just be a tourist for the day. We rode around the 9th Ward while there are neighbors busting their butts to rebuild their homes. I just felt like I should start doing something in the middle of the tour. Like get out of the bus and just help someone else rebuild their home. I can't wait til we get to the 9th Ward so that we can do something to help these people of NOLA. 

1-11-09 New Orleans

Today was COLD! I sound like a pansy saying that because I'm from Chicago but I really was not prepared for the weather today. It's great for us as volunteers to say "lets keep working!" Not only because we want to but because we need to in order to stay warm. Once I started picking up trees and moving around, the cold didn't bother me anymore. It was great listening to Jason talk about the wetlands and how it all works. Being from the Midwest I had no idea what the wetlands even were and he did a great job explaining how it is being destroyed and how we can help with the Christmas Tree Project. 

I went out on the boats to see the way the cribs were set up and it was very interesting how it worked and it was great to talk to different people that were volunteering. Overall, the Christmas Tree Project is a great idea and it is something that I plan to do some more work with when I finally get the chance because it is such a simple idea and task that makes such a difference in the long run. After the work I took a loooong nap and enjoyed every minute of my rest. It was a long day and I can't wait for more work and more fun. 

1-10-09 New Orleans

Alright, so today was pretty interesting, from eating at Cracker Barrel to eating on eventful Magazine Street. The car ride was pretty boring for the most part lol. Lots of bumps in the back and lots of Ipod usage. But I must say when were driving on I-10 for the first time I turned off my music and just stared outside and thought about the people that were stranded for 5 days on that interstate. I thought about the people that thought that they were going on a bus and were suddenly stopped by another Parish. 

Anyways we eventually got to the church and we immediately went out to eat and walked along Magazine. A group of us eventually settled on a place called Buddha Belly and it was an eventful first New Orleans experience to say the least...we got there and the place was nearly empty except for one women. We order our meals and we sit down and this lady is drinking...a lot. She had 3 drinks all at once and she just kept on drinking. Then once we got our food she suddenly fell out of her chair and she got up and the had trouble lighting her own cigarette. It was kind of amusing actually. Then the bartender called her a cab and she was walking next to our table and she fell on Joe's food but I managed to catch her arm and some what save her from destroying Joe's dinner. At this point I just wanted her out of the bar and I carried her out to her cab and she left from there. 

I would have to say it was a great way to break in our trip at New Orleans and it gave me a story to tell...which is always good.

Day Four - Race, Poverty, and Hurricane Katrina

Today's class was a bit easier on all of us. Yesterday was a bit rough after watching the third act of the movie. It was all about excitement for going to NOLA tomorrow and I am extremely excited for that. I am of course excluding the ride down there when I say that I am excited. But today was the last act and this one dealt with the aftermath of Katrina. People started to realize...wait a minute who's going to pay for my stuff man?

The hardest part about watching this film was the death, destruction and sadness that I saw, but probably one of the most frustrating things about this whole situation is the aftermath and how people were just so down right selfish. Who was selfish? I'm talking about the Federal government, I am talking about the President of our country, I am talking about the insurance companies, and I am talking about the fortunate people in this country that don't give a damn about the underprivileged people on NOLA.

 In today's discussion a fellow student mentioned about the white conservatives and how they feel about the poor and the victims of New Orleans. She said something along the lines of the conservatives believing, "we can take care of ourselves, why can't they do the same? Why should we help them?" Now I'm not mad at the student in our class that said it but all I have to say is screw you man. Not everyone is as fortunate as you to make the money you have made and sometimes people don't even have to earn their money. Sometimes it is just given to them because of social class, or because their mother or father is passing down the business and money to you. Now I obviously don't know how they got their money so that may not be true all of the time. But what happened to being an American? What happened to caring for others in this country? If we are such a fantastic country then why do we have these pompous pricks/politicians thinking that they can sit there and say and do whatever asinine thing they want? 

I have one problem with capitalism and that problem is that capitalism creates selfishness. People start looking out for themselves more than they look out for other peoples lives; remarkably, even in the face of millions of Americans that are drowning and starving. Politicians don't give a hoot on who is drowning, they have to stop and think how they are going to protect their votes before they protect their people in the face of danger. The Federal government has to make sure that they cannot send out too much help to save their own people because it has to fit their "budget" and they are currently spending money to make Iraq a "democracy". Lastly, insurance companies have to make sure they are making enough money and don't give out too much financial help for the people because they need to make a profit. By the way, I want to give the person who thought of making insurance companies "for profit organization's" a swift kick in the balls because that has screwed over many peoples lives in NOLA and just made every one's life in general complete hell sometimes. 

Now that's off of my chest I would like to talk briefly about the reading I had to do for tomorrow. My reading was called, "25 Questions about the Murder of New Orleans".  This reading was captivating for me because it simply asked questions that have not been any answered about New Orleans'  preparation and evacuation/aide following Katrina. 

The number one question that just makes me furious at our government is:

"Why did Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff not declare Katrina an "Incident of National Significance" until August 31--thus preventing the full deployment of urgently needed federal resources?"

Why? What made this guy hold back on pushing the almighty button of sending help? I don't really have an explanation for this. The only one that has the answer is Michael Chertoff and I don't even think he will give you an answer. He might just give you some political answer that never really answers the question! Who knows...But I do know that one thing that made the situation worse was how our governments between Federal, State, and Local communicate with each other. I like to think of the Federal government as having the only authority to push the gigantic green button. What does the green button do? It tells the State and Local governments as well as anyone that is working for the Federal government that its okay to do what ever they need to do. In this case, why did FEMA have to wait for Michael Chertoff to push the big green button?!?!?!? They had all the resources right? They are the people we depend on to save an entire city that is in devastation. I just want everyone who is reading this to forget the question, why didn't Chertoff declare Katrina an "Incident of National Significance"? The real question is "why in the world does FEMA and the rest of our governments have to wait for the Federal government to say its okay to save millions of lives?" Why? People are dying here and our institutions that we depend on are waiting for some dude to push a big green button! That's Insane! That needs to change in my opinion and it needs to happen before another disaster decides to come along and take out another city like New Orleans.

To kind of sum everything up, what I am saying is that I believe: our President and his administration is a joke, our federal government is a joke, politicians are a joke, rich white supremacist pricks are a joke, insurance companies are a joke, FEMA is a joke and most importantly Michael Chertoff is a joke! And boy am I glad someone else is in office this month because something needs to change. I didn't care if it was John McCain, my grandmother or Barack Obama that ran this country, just as long as we can make some progress and I hope we can with a fresh new face sitting in the oval office.