Relfection, by Squid( Sydney)

Hey y'all. It's sydney. I really do not know what to say, it is so hard discribing my experiences in New Orleans. I have never felt so at peace in my life while we were there. This week I have been writing my Laws of Life essay i have to do each year in English, and i decided to write about our trip. And my quote i used was,

"If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else."

Booker T. Washington

This quote speaks the truth, helping other people and meeting such grateful and beautiful people is what makes me happy and what lifts me up. Strangers are just friends you havent met yet. My favorite memory from New Orleans was definatly meeting Betty MaGee. Monday we walked around the Lower 9th Ward getting petitions signed for more schools. This woman really did change my life. She was just so full of life and willing to talk to us. I am currently writing her a letter, and i hope for one in return!

I also enjoyed planting trees, i was the master hole digger in my group! Haha, I gave credit to my mom for teaching me most of the skills i used on this trip. :) So tanks mommy!

What surpised me the most about New Orleans were the X's on the house's that have not been touch since Katrina. And some houses with the X's people lived in! It's so surreal until you acutally witness all this. And when our tour guide Nick would not go to parts of the city, its weird living in a city where there is barely ANY crime at all, then being in a city where people are afraid of being killed if they venture there.

I really love my family, they are a blessing to me. I am so grateful for them. Dana is the cutest little button i have ever seen in my life. She is so funny and a great person to be around. :) She is so sincere and you cannot have a bad time when you're around her!! Invisible football as well, haha. I love all my family members, keep on groovin :)

One thing i loved was working, and then being tired because you know you accomplished something :) and then taking a shower, feeling accomplished is such a great feeling :)

Burbon street...haha. When i'm 21 i am definatly going back!! :D

This trip has changed my life, i can tell a different spring in my step and way i approach people now. I have been looking for volunteer organizations in Carrollton, and i am signing up for Habitat for Hummanity. I have even gotten one of my best friends on the bandwagon and we are both going to the soup kitchen to serve food! After college i am joining the peace corps as well :)

I want to give a special shoutout for Laurel for getting all this together, you are an amazing woman! :)

-SQUID :)

Monday Reflection

On Monday, we woke up thinking that we would be gutting a church in the upper 9th ward. We ended up having an incredible day meeting some residents (old and new) of the lower 9th ward, learning about them, their experiences and their hopes for their community.

While Mom, Allie, little Dana and I were walking down Royal Street, it was immediately obvious that barely half of the street was occupied. The homes that some lived in were kept with a lot of love and pride. You could tell that the residents were happy to be back in their old neighborhood or to have moved to the community to help the original residents rebuild. In the middle of our time walking the streets of the lower 9th ward and talking to the residents, I was filled with hope for the area in the midst of the abandoned houses and after learning about the real destruction that happened.

After we had spoken with everyone we could on our street, we headed back to the cars and on the way back we met two amazing women who returned to their life-long neighborhood with grand hopes for the future. These are the women who I will remember most from that walk down Royal Street. The women who were grateful for any help being given to their neighborhood. The women who open their homes to others in need of love. The women who desperately want to bring their community back to life.

Upon returning to the cars and meeting up with other parts of the group we realized that they had spoken with individuals with incredibly inspirational stories and we felt like we kind of got a dud of a street. In some way, I felt like I had missed out on the truly inspiring, life-changing stories and people. I felt jipped. But after reflecting upon our day, I realized that I walked down Royal Street for a reason. I met those people for a reason. I am changed by their presence and stories for a reason.

Even though I was not touched in the way many others were, I know that my time was well-spent helping the people in that neighborhood. Because, when I stepped back from it, I realized how selfish I was being. My focus became the experience I was having rather then the help I was providing for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. After walking through the middle of a neighborhood wiped out because of human error and in the middle of a community hopeful for their future despite setbacks, I was worried about what I was getting from it. I think this is the reason I was on Royal Street...to bring me back to reality, to remind me of what is really important and to humble me.

Our experience this past weekend in New Orleans is one I will forever keep with me. The faces of the people we met at All Souls Episcopal Church and on the streets of the lower 9th ward will forever be etched in my mind. The nature preserve that was once under 8 feet of water will be something I always remember. My realization of how selfish we can be even when we have the best intentions to help will be a lesson I carry with me everywhere.

I am grateful to the city and people of New Orleans for opening their arms to us. I am grateful to the 17 amazing women who rejuvenated my spirit. I am hopeful that the work we did helped the city and people of New Orleans.
-Pallie

No expectations/beyond expectations

I apologize for blogging twice in a row, but I want to offer my reflections on the Heard Girls' NoLa 2010 weekend while I'm still reflecting. I think it was Laurel and Bess who came up with theme of no expectations/beyond expectations; it really sums up this weekend. The amazing thing to me is how our projects and our experiences all seemed to interweave, despite that we started this trip with few (if any) plans. When Nick took us to the big pond where the wetlands had been, our planting the day before really made sense. (And, 4 sure our group did plant two more than your group...whoever you are.) At church, Lydia preached about using our gifts no matter how small, and Monday we met Patricia, who specifically talked about her gift with no prompting from us. She voiced her pride and frustration over the fact that she has such a gift for teaching but she has not been able to use that gift, or do anything productive, since the car wreck that left her partially paralyzed. Patricia literally cannot remember which house she lived in before Katrina, she has lost the mother who she was obviously very close to, and she is basically homebound. Yet, she talked to us about not being able to use her gift to help others! So, I leave this trip motivated to identify and use my gifts, but also really thinking about my blessings. For starters, I am so blessed to have three daughters who are so kind and caring and fun. And such good rappers! And I am blessed to be a Heard Girl. What an amazing group of women. From the youngest to the "most experienced," these women rock. To those Heard Girls who couldn't make this trip, we're still holding a spot for you. Finally, I'm blessed to have such warm and loving friends who would sign on for this trip with very little understanding of what was in store - who went on nothing but faith and a desire to help others. I love you all. Thank you, Laurel for being the best event planner ever! Let's keep this new tradition alive. - Dana

Circle time - from Dana D.

My circle felt not quite closed without the evening's sharing, so I'm glad to offer my most vivid memory from Monday. It was being with Ellis when we met Patricia. (This is not to suggest that I didn't love being with Laurel and Nala, too, of course! I thought Ellis might get with some others, as she'd been with me for each project, but she said she thought she'd just stick with me...it was kinda fun. That made me feel good. ) Anyway, Nala and Ellis had been talking to the resident of one house, Patricia, for some time, and Laurel and I made our way over there. Our younger Heard Girls were talking so nicely to Patricia, and it was obvious that Patricia really needed to connect with someone. We backed away from her house after a really long time, and as we closed the door, Ellis burst into tears. Instinctively, I started to cry, too. The moment was just too much for Ellis, and as her mother, that moment was just too much for me. Wow.

Unbroken circle

One of the best parts of each day was the reflection circle at the end of the day. Since we didn't get to reflect on our last day and were asked to post our reflections, I hope we'll continue to have the unbroken circle.

I'll begin with my reflection of Monday's events, which I admit I was a bit wary of before we started. However, it didn't take long to feel the spirit of hope and community and also see the sadness and frustration in the background. We knocked on many unanswered doors but those that did open were stories forever etched in my heart and memory. I'm so very glad we had the opportunity to talk with some of the people in the Lower Ninth Ward and hear their stories. For me, it put faces on and gave voices to the people in all the stories we have heard. After talking with one lady who is just now able to afford to get her house repaired enough to move back home, she said "thank you for coming here and caring about us. it's important that you are here and everything you do helps us." She's a foster parent and eager to open her doors again to those in need.

Back home with a few sore muscles and a blister or two which are hardly noticeable because of my soaring spirit. What an awesome few days with 17 incredible women, some who are relatives and some who are treasured new friends. There was an age difference of 50 years but not one difference as far as desire to help, commitment, eagerness to work, willingness to share and pure unmitigated fun.

Laurel has captured beautifully the events of each day but there is no way to describe the bond I feel with these women and the pride I have in being part of this group who really make a difference.

Janie Davis

sunday afternoon tour

As I mentioned in our post about Sunday, we were offered an unforgettable tour of the Lower 9th Ward by our coordinator Nick. We had no idea what this "tour" would consist of but we were up and open for anything. Nick came to New Orleans in 2006 as part of a service group from his college in Minnesota, it was then that he fell in love with the city and felt like it was a place he needed to be. He has lived here for a little over a year and will leave for medical school in Cuba in August...a really cool guy. So we loaded up in three cars and he told us that we would follow him to three different sites.



You have never seen a person more passionate about a place, a people and a problem. Nor a person keeping a fine balance of the harsh reality of the situation and devoting his days to making it better.

We first went to the edge of the Holy Cross section of the Lower 9th on the banks of the Mississippi River. He took us to what he kept referring to as a "good levee"...ultimately the levee that held during the storm. This was one that functioned properly, but in the most eye opening and factual description he explained how the levee system is supposed to work and how the levee system failed on August 29, 2005.



It is also important to realize that when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans it was only a Category Two...barely a threat. It was at this point, our first stop on this tour, that we learned that the City of New Orleans did not suffer at the hand of a natural disaster, they are continuing to suffer at the hand of the Army Core of Engineers.

He also told of the distress and violence between an adjoining parish just over the bridge you see in the picture below. There are several accounts that many groups of African Americans, who were stranded in the Lower 9th with their houses under water, started walking miles and miles to cross the bridge in order to find any help, any humanity. They were approached by armed law enforcement telling them to go back or they would shoot them....and shots were fired and people were killed.



There has been no investigation and this is certainly nothing we heard on the news, eh?

Our second stop was along the levee that did not hold and where the popular Make It Right 9 housing has begun {organization started by Brad Pitt}. This levee did not function properly and the water that overflowed wiped out the houses a multiple mile radius.



There was a shipping barge found sitting within a group of houses and many authorities claimed that the barge came loose and busted through the levee which caused the wall to collapse. However, after investigation it was determine that the levee broke first which allowed a natural pathway of water for the barge to float on land.

Our third and final stop was at the Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle. This plot of land {that is in the shape of a triangle} started as a swamp in the 1930's filled with a plethora of living plants and animals. In the mid 20th century the US Army Corps of Engineers decided to build a channel to serve as a more efficient and direct avenue of travel for ships between Lake Ponchatrain and the Gulf of Mexico. This canal was called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MR.GO).



The MRGO never functioned as planned and simultaneously the wetlands were destroyed as it filled with salt water and killed all the plants and animals. It ultimately became a body of water that created incredible storm surges during Katrina and inevitably flooded the area around it.



Due to numerous engineering failures and other issues it was advised to close down the canal prior to Katrina, however it was not. The MRGO is now shut down, after the disaster, and they are going to try to pump it with fresh water in an attempt to revive the habitat.



Nick shared truths and stories that were shocking and unbelievable. His knowledge, passion and devotion to sharing the facts and not sugar coating the situation was humbling and heart wrenching. We were incredibly thankful for his enthusiasm and the time he took to give our group this unique tour.

our monday.

Today was a surprise. We woke up early and put on our down & dirty work clothes in preparation for our project which was to help gut a church in the Lower 9th Ward that hasn't been touched since the storm.

That was the plan until I got a call from our volunteer coordinator offering another project if we were interested. We talked about it, discussed the pros and cons, the safety issues, learned a little more about the actual events taking place and unanimously agreed that this new project was what we wanted to do and what we needed to do today.

So today we walked the streets of the Lower 9th Ward and into the houses and onto the porches of the amazing people who call this devastated but hopeful community their home. We also knocked on doors of folks who did not answer and walked past as many lots that once were homes but are now nothing but a concrete slab and a few wooden beams.

We volunteered on behalf of the Lower 9th Ward Community School Board to go door to door to get residents sign a petition in hopes of having enough signatures to prove to the government that more schools need to be revitalized and reopened in the area.

The situation and statistics are outrageous, infuriating and sad. In a nutshell, prior to Katrina there were about 8 schools operating within the Lower 9th. Today only one is operating, it is overflowing with students and has a waiting list of 350 kids to attend that school. This school is the MLK Charter School and is only in operation because of civil disorder {residents busting open the doors, volunteering their time and money to get the school running again}.

You see, after the storm, FEMA allocated approximately 82 million dollars to go to the rebuilding of schools in this parish. However, due to a corrupt government and a variety of other unknown variables, the money has been granted to a handful of schools in other parts of town but none of the schools in the Lower 9th have been given any help. The Government has now identified 3 Phases of rebuilding and revitalizing. The 82 million dollars has supposedly been allocated to {undisclosed} projects in Phase 1. However, the schools of the Lower 9th Ward have been pushed to Phase 3....yet there isn't even any money on the table at all for Phase 2. From what we understand, the government's reasoning for not moving forward with any of the rebuilding is because there isn't any proof or hard facts about the number of people who are living back in the Lower 9th, therefore the "need" for the school cannot be justified.

So that's where the petitions will hopefully help...gathering signatures of residents and having those with children to identify the number of children along with their age and grade.

I wish I could write or even remotely scratch the surface and give justice to the stories we heard, the heartbreak the anger....the hope and support. The tears shed, the gifts given by strangers and most of all the new light and appreciation we experienced today.

Undoubtedly, we were all quite uneasy and a bit intimated about this task. We've heard the same things you have about the Lower 9th Ward...we've seen it on t.v., we've heard the statistics and we've had a taste of it the two days before. BUT, after gaining the courage and confidence to knock on doors, give a spill and many times be welcomed inside to sit down, we learned about a Lower 9th Ward you don't see on the news.

This is a community. And a strong one.
These sets of city blocks are home to thousands of people. Made up of homes they had to leave but have chosen to come back to.
It's home to a set of caucasian women who made the choice to move from the suburbs to the Lower 9th because they loved the rally of the community.
There was a sense of calm in the quiet air that simply spoke volumes as we walked down the middle of the streets.
These people have a story to tell. Every single one of them. Their lives are different now and will never be the same. They lost neighbors who weren't able to leave, though everyday they must look at their dilapidated homes and the spray painted symbol accompanying the boarded up windows identifying the number of people and animals found dead. Some came back as soon as they could, yet one elderly woman moved back only 2 weeks ago, as she has spent the last 4 years in a FEMA trailer in Baton Rouge.

Some individual, some conversation or some image from our time today will be etched into the minds of each of we eighteen women forever. Hopefully we put even a small dent in the number of signatures needed...but this experience today was the perfect trifecta to a service project weekend we will never forget:
planting trees to help the environment
taking part in the effort to erect a church & community center
and
being humbled, inspired and educated by the people, the survivors and the heroes of a city filled with tragedy but overflowing with hope.

*several of the girls will be submitting reflections and reviews in their own words over the next few days....stay tuned.

Sunday: All Souls Episcopal Church

Today was a big day: emotional, tiring, productive and educational.

Through our main contact who is a Reverend with the Episcopal Church, we were connected with the kind people at All Souls Episcopal Church. A church that was brought to life in 2007 and inhabits an old Walgreens.

We were invited to the church service where we were humbled, saddened, inspired and energized. There were about twenty-five members there, of all ages and races. With a drummer, organist and song leader we clapped our hands, swayed and even cried as we sang the three hymns of choice today: "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands", "This Little Light of Mine" and "We Shall Overcome."


The Reverend spoke about Martin Luther King, our individual gifts we have to offer to the world, the devastation in Haiti and ultimately how to use what we have no matter the size to let our light shine.

The children of the church immediately took to all the sweet girls in our group. Prior to the service they read books to us and became instant friends. The interaction and connection between our girls and these kids, who obviously thrived for a little attention and a lot of love, was hands down the most popular topic of "meaningful parts of the day" in our circle time tonight.

We also took communion with the congregation.

Following church we enjoyed a feast that provided for us: turkey, rice w/ sausage, green beans that many of us are still talking about, salad, peaches and homemade King Cake. After we ate the work began.

You have never seen a group of girls people work like our group does. Nick, the volunteer coordinator, walked around with his mouth on the floor most of the time: we were fast, took initiative, keep a positive spirit and were happy to be there. For those of you that know us you understand when Dana D. put it best into words, "he didn't know he was working with 18 Chiefs, and no Indians!"

In a three hour period we conquered four different tasks...a feat they had suspected to be a two day project. The projects are featured in the post below.

This facility, an old drug store that was at one time filled with up to 18 feet of water, is now growing into a community center, a place of worship and a safe haven from the reality that lives on every street corner, in every home and every sidewalk in the forgotten community now nationally recognized as the lower 9th ward. And our work today contributed great strides in making this place a safe haven with potential to change a community.

all in a day's work....

Our first tasks at the church were to paint the Reverend's office and clear out every single thing out of the sanctuary because they are having the floors tiled on Tuesday. We immediately split up into groups and went to work.

Six of the girls spent the entire time painting two coats of paint in the office. It looked great. It was hard work, there were minimal supplies, they braved the fumes and did work to be proud of.

Before




During




Finished Product


While those girls were painting machines the rest of us had the task of moving everything, every chair, the heavy furniture, the pulpit, odds and ends, etc...








After the sanctuary move-out, we ventured to the lot behind the building to clear out the extremely tall weeds that had grown over the concrete. The church doesn't even own this property, it's just part of the initiative to clean up all areas to make it look a bit neater and so that it can potentially be used in another way.


Oh yeah...and we did this job with swing blades and machetes. Yes, you heard right, they gave those to us to use.










Ellis and Bess got in a rhythm with the blades and showed us all up. Nickie nearly lost a few appendages, but would not give up her machete.



This work was not easy and not particularly enjoyable, yet it was brought up by several different folks during circle time that this was their favorite part because it seemed so daunting, but the immediate results were simply fascinating and successful.

Our fourth and final project was to clean out their make-shift garden, pull out the weeds, till the soil and finish with new topsoil. Several of the "paint girls" came out in shifts between the first and second coats and helped with both the "swingblade" and plant project. Patti headed up the plant revitalization, she did a great job and sure loved getting her hands dirty!

Before




During




After


This planting project opened our eyes to see that it doesn't take a couple acres of land to have a garden. This church created this small space in order to bring life through healthy foods and herbs to their community.

By late afternoon, we were tired, really tired. But it was worth it, so worth it.


We were proud of the work we'd done. We not only saw the progress first hand and in just a few short hours, but had the privileged to be a part of the church and a part of their community. So that when we think back on this experience we'll remember and know the faces and appreciative smiles of the people who benefited today and will decades from now.

*following our work we were given an unforgettable and one of a kind hour long tour of the lower 9th ward. a new post coming tomorrow....

as promised: good digger performance

After dinner we were treated to a surprise when the girls that were in "Dana's Car" had a presentation....on their way home from the Audubon Reserve yesterday, they made up their own version to Dana's favorite song, "Gold Digger"...originally by Ray Charles and most recently Kanye West. This was an ode to our work on Saturday.

*the lyrics to their masterpiece are below...

she defeats the bunnies

when I'm in need

yeah she's a helpful friend indeed

oh she's a hole digger, way over town

that digs for trees

now I ain't saying she a good digger

but she's making the wetlands bigger

get down girl, go head get down

get down girl, go head get down

this morning we got up & we went to the barn

put a couple shovels under each of our arms

they said I can tell you clean by the way that you dress

so put on your boots and go clean up that mess

but I'm looking for the trees, have ya seen em?

no we ain't seen em since Katrina.

now I ain't saying she a good digger

but she's making the wetlands bigger

4 long years, 4 long years. It's been 4 whole years and it still ain't clear

drivin down the street & there's trash in the yard

pick it up girls! it aint hard

see it on tv, any given sunday

they still need our help and they need our money

so give it to em honey they need yo money

so give it to em honey.

if you aint no punk, holla we want clean-up

we want clean-up!

Saturday Project: yellow & blue

At our "round table" tonight, when we sit together after dinner and talk about our favorite, most inspiring or important part of the day, the resounding sentiment was "my favorite part was the yellow and blue".

And I'll tell you why.

Our project today was somewhat of a mystery as we didn't know the exact work we would be doing, we only knew we would be working with the Audubon Nature Preserve in East New Orleans. Our contact had told us that East New Orleans was in as bad, if not worse shape than the Lower 9th Ward however, it's gotten little attention and minimal recovery aid.

Our group of 18 girls {ages 12-62} loaded up bright and early with willing hands and an open mind. We were prepared for any job and had no expectations to witness a "start to finish project". Upon arrival we were instructed to put on rubber boots since we would be in tons of mud and grab a pair of gloves. About 40 other random groups of volunteers showed up and we waited to hear instructions.

We learned that we would be planting trees today in an effort to restoring the wetlands. The director of the Nature Preserve Storm Recovery team along with the Executive Director of Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana shared with us the history and pre and post Katrina status of these wetlands. In a nutshell, over the past 100 years, over 2300 square miles {the size of the state of Delaware} has been destroyed. And every one square mile that is created or preserved can prevent one foot of a storm surge. Staggering facts.

So off we went with shovels, instructions and groups of 3-4.





...we walked past desolate buildings that were once the Preserve Ticket Office and Gift shop but are now considered bio-hazard because of the take over of mold. Then we approached this plot of land:



It was once filled with tall, beautiful, new and old trees that thousands of animal species inhabited, but after being under nearly 8 FEET of water through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, these wetlands are nothing less than destroyed.

We dug & dug, got muddy, had a fierce tree count competition {one group of girls even named every one of their trees and had some attachment issues}, talked, laughed {alot}, and planted, planted planted.













In three hours, we volunteers planted over 400 trees and our group alone accounted for at least 100 of those trees.
So this is where the yellow and blue comes in.
After we planted our trees we had to put blue and yellow sleeves on the bottom of each tree to protect them from the rabbits....



...but to us, the pops of blue and yellow that we saw as we stepped back and looked around us were a symbol of progress, accomplishment, success and pride.



We did that. In just a few short hours, we approached two plots of land that had no hope and were absolutely dismal and created a space that in 5-10 years will be flourishing with life.

Ellis said it best when she said "what was most amazing about our experience and the project today is that it was unexpected. When you think of New Orleans, and the tragedy and devastation the city has experienced, rarely do you consider the environment. Though for immediate and long term preservation these wetlands need to be revived and saved as much as the people."

We enjoyed being outside, loved being together and were proud of every single tree we had a hand in giving a new life.

{stay tuned for a special and awesome musical tribute to our work today from some of our crazy gals...will post tomorrow!}

-laurel