As Tina has explained we spent our day at the Southeast Louisiana Boys and Girls Club. Our supervisor there, Mike is a fellow AmeriCorps member- so it was fun to see one of my own :-). We all had a variety of different jobs in and outside of the B&GC- including cleaning, organizing, landscaping/gardening, and more. Tomorrow we will go back to clean off a neighboring field that has been donated to the Center but is still littered with concrete, litter and other sorts of debri.
I'm starting to completely fall in love with New Orleans and its unique but amazing culture. Though I will admit I'm still trying to get used to how SLOW things are done down here (like 2 hours to rent a car), the strength of this city amazes me. It is hard to imagine that many of the areas we are driving through and working were under 10 feet over water less then 5 years ago. Nevertheless like many of us have already posted, the devastation of Katrina is still extremely apparent. Tonight at dinner we watched heartbreaking home movies that people shot during the worst of the hurricane. We learned that there are STILL people living in FEMA trailers and many who lost their homes in the lower 9th ward did not have flood insurance- leaving them completely homeless.
Looking forward to what's to come!
Emma, I met two people from New Orleans last night and told them all about the work you are doing there. They were so excited to hear about it and proud of their city. They said the food down there is some of the best quality they have ever had and recommended you leave any qualms about trying new foods at home - I said that wouldn't be a problem. Hope you're having an amazing trip so far and I love hearing about your days through your blog!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the warmth!