So instead of recapping the day’s events, I just wanted to let everyone know how great this group of people we have compiled down here in N.O. is. Every day we spend together is another day we come closer, learn more about each other, and the more I am impressed by them. From the small things such as volunteering to make the pb & j sandwiches or wash the morning dishes, to taking the responsibility to drive a packed car/van for hours around an unknown city, we each contribute in a different way. This whole group seems to work so well together, so that you are bound to have fun, whether we are touring the city, staying in and playing an intense game of cards, or just driving around–lost. The leaders are fabulous as well, working so hard to keep everything organized and the rest of the group motivated, thinking, and having fun. I also love how passionate each one of us are about what we are here to do. Each of us have put our hearts into our environment, tasks, and to the people we are helping. It is not every day that your group tears up after listening to a survivor’s life story, or is willing to be a shoulder for another survivor to cry on. I am so impressed in how this group wants to do whatever it takes to make a difference, from a seemingly insignificant task of weeding a garden, to talking to a victim of a crook and spontaneously deciding to go and put up sheet rock in her house. All in all, I am having a great time, both working and relaxing, and this whole experience is even better with the people who I am sharing it with.

Today was probably the most exciting day I’ve had on the trip so far. After getting up bright and early, we all headed to St. Bernard’s Community Center where we spent most of the morning restocking shelves and organizing clothes. Around lunchtime several members of the group had the opportunity to chat with a local resident who told us her moving and tragic story. After speaking with her for some time, eight of us followed her to her house and helped clean up a bit and hang some sheetrock.

More than anything, today’s work made me realize just how much work was needed and how important every single volunteer is. As we rode through portions of St. Bernard’s Parish on our way to the Community Center and to the house we worked on, I couldn’t stop myself from staring out the window at the empty houses and damaged neighborhoods. Perhaps even more unsettling were the empty and gutted stores. It’s easy to forget as we watch news coverage of natural disasters and devastation on television that there are real people behind the faces and names. Today helped me begin to appreciate the reality of the situation. I was so excited after experiencing these emotions to be able to really do some work helping out. There’s so much need in New Orleans, and it’s difficult to get volunteers to the right places, but our work today really felt “right.” Before coming to New Orleans, I had convinced myself from the news coverage and articles I had read that the city would never be the same again. Tonight, however, I really have a feeling that this city will be thriving one day, and it will be because of the efforts like our group took today: working on one house at a time in one neighborhood at a time.

After a group reflection last night, a few important questions were raised by students about issues/topics that we encountered –

Why wasn’t I here 2 ½ years ago?. Why are areas like St. Bernard Parish not a focus for volunteering programs if they are the areas that have the most damage? Why are we having a difficult time finding volunteer opportunities if there is still so much need? Why is there disorganization amongst many of the agencies still 2 ½ years later? If everyone is focused on rebuilding, who is volunteering at common community organizations similar to those in Winston-Salem?

Our group was split in half between City Park and The Community Center of St. Bernard Parish. We began work at City Park with little background to the history of the Hurricane and its relationship to the area. We did a lot of maintenance and weeding to an area that is central to the park’s revenue and a beautiful main attraction. Halfway through the day, the head of City Park informed us that the area had been flooded with over two feet of water for three weeks, killing all of the trees, flowers, and grass. Many banquets and weddings are held in this area and these special occasions are one of the leading ways revenue is collected for the entire park. The City Park director’s information also helped reinforce what it means to be a volunteer. She expressed that thousands of volunteers have traveled to New Orleans this year imagining themselves building a house with hammer and nail in hand. But the present need is more related to maintenance and detail work for the upkeep of these aesthetic gardens. Hearing her insight allowed us to find more purpose in our work, and also sparked conversation amongst our group to think about how we might keep an open mind with our volunteer opportunities throughout the rest of the week.

The group that worked with the Community Center had a powerful experience in that they were exposed to one of the more visibly affected areas from the storm. St. Bernard Parish is the only U.S. County in the span of history that was 100% under water. The community center acts as a networking resource that serves the needs of the local people. Similar to a food bank, the center provides non-perishable food items as well as clothes for those residents that qualify. The distribution coordinator provided us with information about the incredible need in the St. Bernard Parish. Stephen, a local resident, gave his personal experience as a victim of Hurricane Katrina. His loss included his home, possessions, and his wife. He has now dedicated his life to rebuilding his own community. He told us that he felt like the volunteers were the true heroes of the storm. This empowered our group to become more motivated to serve our own local community of Winston-Salem.

I, too, had the opportunity to work in the Botanical Gardens. While I will let my co-workers’ brief synopsis of our endeavors there speak on behalf of what I did, I would like to take this time and say what all of what we did today meant to me, and to our services as a whole. Any ambitious volunteer coming to New Orleans might be a little disillusioned when faced with the, what some may interpret as, menial or insignificant tasks which occupied our time at the Gardens in City Park. Although, over the course of finishing our hours at the site, all our efforts came into perspective. One of the park employees let the volunteers look through a photo album of before-and-after shots of the park attractions. We were simultaneously shocked and delighted, for where we were was a direct victim of Katrina, mainly in the areas of flooding and water damage. The pictures showed how all of the bright greens of the grass and plant life faded into an ugly shade of brown, with broken tree trunks and limbs scattered throughout the acres. Having seen this, we could then realize the importance of what we were doing.

This historical park was always maintained mainly through volunteer efforts, and, were it not for the volunteers in the years following the storm up until now, City Park and the Botanical Gardens may have possibly been lost amid the larger concerns of the city. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to give our time and labor to this important location, as well as, for the first time on this trip, witness first-hand and contribute to an affected area. It may have just been weeding, but it is still one small problem among many small and large in this area, so anything we can do can help. It was a great first day, and now we wait in anticipation for the busy week ahead of us.

Today I worked in Greg’s group at the City Park Botanical Gardens. When we first got there, everyone was a little confused about what exactly we were supposed to do, but instead of sitting around looking at the gardens, we dove right in and started weeding the gardens. It was a gorgeous day and I was very happy that I could be outside in the beautiful weather.

After about an hour, the volunteer coordinator for the park, Lisa, came out and spoke to all of us. She explained to us that, while unknown to most, City Park in New Orleans is actually bigger than Central Park in New York City and commands an annual budget of over $10 million a year. The park was completely flooded during Katrina, under almost two feet of water. Not only that, but the water stayed in the park for over 3 weeks, killing any and all living things.

Lisa explained that after that the park finally drained, it was taken over by squatters and because the local authorities had much bigger problems to address, these squatters stayed for a long time, trashing an already extremely damaged park. Before the storm, City Park had four 18 hole golf courses, a conservatory, children’s park, Botanical Garden and amusement park. Even after the storm, Lisa told us that almost 2,000 children come to the park each weekend.

After weeding in the children’s park for about four hours, I felt as though I was working in my own city, making small but necessary improvements to a park that thousands of children will enjoy in the future. It was a small change, but a small change in the direction of bringing this city not only out of the destitude that Katrina left it in, but restoring it the full height of it’s beauty before the storm, maybe even making it a bit better.

I was in the City Park group today (the group Jermyn wasn’t in) and today we headed to the New Orleans Botanical Garden. We were teamed with a rather large group; Emory, High Point, and Salem State (Mass., not to be confused with our neighbors in Winston-Salem) were all represented at the gardens today.

Today was definitely a day where patience was essential. After getting a little lost on the way to the gardens and not having a good feel of the work that we were stepping into, we were greeted to the task of weeding the garden. It seemed a little trivial at first, but after a speech from the coordinator of volunteers for the city park system, the task was painted in a new light.

Lisa (the coordinator) explained while this work seemed little and insignificant, to the people of the area that live in the area, these little tasks could make the difference of the world. She also mentioned how, while there was more glamorous work (gutting houses), it was the little work that had to be done to make the community thrive altogether and the resources simply weren’t always available to have all the volunteers painting or rebuilding a house. So for the rest of the day, we worked on cleaning out weeds from the gardens, working with the other schools in a surprisingly somewhat organized system.

Overall, the experience definitely reminded me to look at the overall picture. Is my job to do whatever work that is personally pleasing at the end of the day or is it to do the work, even if it seems little, that helps out the community the most with the means we have?

It’s about 9:40 a.m. and we are very lost trying to get to St. Bernard’s Community Center, but thanks to the city-wide internet we are able to blog from the car! The irony that we are blogging with city-wide Internet and driving past boarded-up houses resonates very deeply with the group and reminds us why we came here. We have been told that much progress has been made, but there is clearly still a lot of work to be done. It is quite amazing as we drive towards the St. Bernard’s Community Center that we are passing seamlessly through neighborhoods with huge new houses and immediately into neighborhoods with houses still falling apart and streets closed off where families no longer live.We are now waiting in the line to take the ferry across the levee and it’s hard to imagine that these streets and houses around us must have been completely under water during Katrina. So far, it has been great getting to know the city, and now, we are all very excited to do the work that we came down to do.(The people in this group includes Evan Raleigh, Matt Higgins, Katie Gomez, Katharine Wesley, Devin Cowens, Amy Bachman, Andrea Davis. The others are helping clean the City Park.)

So it’s 1:41 a.m. and we are finally here. Let me say, today has been rather interesting. We left this morning at 5:54 a.m. and I slept until we reached Hogansville, Georgia. I was supposed to be the navigator helping the driver, but I didn’t do too well at that task. We left Hogansville and once again I slept until we reached Mobile, Alabama. During our stop in Alabama I was informed that I missed the snow in Atlanta and all of the other beautiful scenery. After our pit-stop in Mobile, I took my turn in the drivers seat and drove until we reached New Orleans. The drive into New Orleans made me a bit nervous because we drove for several miles on a bridge surrounded by nothing but water. I wanted to close my eyes but unfortunately I was driving.Once inside the city limits we became a little lost but after about an hour of touring New Orleans, we finally found what will be our home for the week. We didn’t have much time to look at our place , but we did claim our air mattresses. From there we were off to dinner. During dinner we learned about the different schools in attendance and about what we will be doing during the week.Now we are at home and although I have slept the entire day, I am extremely tired.