Blessed is the person who sees the need, recognizes the responsibility, and actively becomes the answer. This is my motto since I came back from New Orleans. And its the way I want to live each day.
You are probably all gonna get tired of hearing me talk about this... but here I go again... last time I talked about the emotional part of the experience but now I just want to try to talk about the actual experience that all of us went through and talked about while there.
The damage done that still exists almost 5 years later is astonishing. Although FEMA was supposed to help people get back to New Orleans/Mississippi and into their homes, they definitely failed them. Most people were put into FEMA trailers only to be asked to leave before they could demolish houses, do mold removal, etc. Most insurance agencies had failed and still fail to pay people for the damages done to their house. Or better yet, they hurried to pay for the damages before the REAL damages started to show...aka the cracks in the houses, the mold that came later, etc. Contractors were taking money from people, and leaving the state.One thing that really bothered the people of New Orleans is when the president started referring to them as refugees. They made sure we knew they were citizens, not refugees! And as citizens, most of them were very proud to be there. One said, "I will not leave. This is home. Whether I die or this town drowns me, I will stay in New Orleans." We met VERY humble people, which I am sure were selected very carefully by the HandsOn network.
If you get a chance, you should rent "Trouble the Water". I wish I could watch it with each of you and explain everything in my own words. Its a documentary on the storm. Quite a bit of bad language, but if you can put yourself in these peoples shoes and realize the real life devastation they are going through, you might be able to continue to watch. I watched it with KC Sunday and explained to him throughout the movie how we witnessed those same things that went on 4 years ago. It was set in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans where the storm hit the hardest. While we were in the Lower 9th Ward, we walked along the levee that failed. We saw the house that a boat crashed into as the levees broke. We walked past the houses where people drowned because they thought they could ride out the storm in the attic and ended up not being able to get out. We saw the painting on the house showing how many dead people and how many dead animals were found inside each home. Some people spray painted over it to try to forget, some people had spray painted "RIP" with the names of the people who passed. We saw caved in roofs, houses where only a stairway now stood, or even a single wall with a window was the only thing left. I didn't expect to see all that 5 years later. There was a lot of controversy about the government allowing the levees to break to get rid of the poor, predominantly black neighborhood that surrounds the failed levees. If you watch the documentary, you can see most of what we heard on our trip. The government had done mandatory evacuations twice before Katrina hit. Both times, people came back to their homes to witness burglaries and such and no flood damage. When Katrina was coming, a lot of people decided they didn't want to leave again. Some because they couldn't afford to keep leaving, some didn't have transportation, and some believed what they were hearing on the news...that it was aimed for Mississippi and it wasn't going to hit New Orleans at all. We met the wife of a reporter who stayed and she told us about the heat exhaustion her husband went through and the delusional state he was in for so long. One guy I met told me that he was in his house as the water started filling up the attic. Unlike many people who drowned cuz they couldn't get out, Isaiah was able to get out an attic window. He swam from Sunday to Thursday when a helicopter came. They yelled for him to stay there cuz they'd be back. He knew they wouldn't so he had to swim to find a boat that would take him to a freeway, where he could get on a bus to get help. He travelled to 4 states before he was able to find a place to stay. Everything was filled. When he came back a year later, his house was destroyed, mostly by mold. His insurance told him, "prove you had an up to date policy and prove you are who you say you are." He was stuck paying for a mortgage of a house that no longer stands as well as renting...just to keep his credit good enough to have a place to stay. There was a man with a small fishing boat who was taking as many people as he could to a local school to get them out of dangers way. We saw the school and last year Kaiser actually had built a deck to give the Seniors a place to hang out at on their lunch so we went back to see that. The boat that carried people (seen in the movie) to survival was no longer there but you could see where the water level had been on the building. It was well past the 1st floor, which was already built up on a foundation to protect it from flooding. The water level was a good 15-20 feet up. Being a beach bum and seeing and being in 6 foot waves, I couldn't imagine 20 feet of water. Water is very powerful and I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the 40 ft waves that came crashing down to start the storm. There was one guy who told us of how he couldn't bring himself to go to the grocery store once the storm had hit. He knew it wouldn't be open and knew he'd have to steal to get food, and it took him so long to convince himself that it was what he had to do to survive. He finally went to a grocery store and nothing was there...everything had already been taken. Listening to him, you could just tell how demoralizing it was for him to think he had to steal. There was only one corner store open in the Lower 9th Ward when we visited with very few items and prices were outrageous. Just a couple months ago, they finally got a bus system (or more so a single bus) running again in the Lower 9th to take the poor people without transportation into "town" to get groceries and such. We saw the house where Louis Armstrong grew up...which had been untouched since the hurricanes. There was a lady telling us how humiliating it was to call credit card companies and try to explain to them she wouldn't be able to make payments, but pleading with them to not cut her off because she had to somehow survive.There was so much devastation to witness and with devastation comes a terrible crime rate as well as a rising suicide rate. People can't make it, so they take their own life, or worse...the life of another to get what they have. There was another guy who was telling us stories and you could tell he would just go back to the moment where he was most likely delusional. He was an older gentleman and he said things like, "there were these robots..." or "their faces were starting to melt as they talked to me.." and he was so deep in thought. He would kinda shake his head out of it and say, "maybe that didn't really happen. I know how bad it sounds. It was a terrible time for me." He was a sweet, elderly man probably in his 80's, so we let it pass...but I am sure this is not the only guy who was left with mental affects from all that he had been through. Beyond the gates of Bourbon street and the French Quarter (aka the tourist trap), it was like being in a third world country. Not even Six Flags has opened back up. Along the freeway, behind the tall grass and weeds, you see the tops of rollercoasters and the ferris wheel with a sign that reads, "Six Flags New Orleans: Closed for storms". We worked on a lady's house near there and she explained to us how much she misses the laughter and carnival music.
Between the sad stories and hard work, we also saw signs of hope. There was a banana tree in a gentleman's yard that he so proudly showed us because the newly budding leaves on this otherwise terrible looking banana tree symbolized a new start to him. The look on his face...I wish I could have captured it for everyone to see... he was one proud man of that tree. The best thing about meeting these people was their attitude toward life. Nothing mattered to them but the roof over their head, a chair to sit and sleep in, and a few things to wear. Brad Pitt has a foundation to build houses so we saw them going up. HandsOn and Make It Right Foundations were also building in the area, but these people pleaded with us to come back and remind people that although the news isn't interested in what has happened, they are still there...and they still need help. One lady we worked with...literally, she was there every step of the way...told us, "I don't want a Hand Out... I want you to lend out a hand." Another guy confirmed that as he said that the Dodgers had sent baseball helmets and cleats for the kids, but it was something else when the Red Sox with their organization physically came to haul dirt in and build baseball diamonds once again.
After Grandpa passed, I struggled with deciding if I really wanted to go. Using my personal time off to go work and coming back and being as broke as I am now from a plane ticket to Idaho, being away and spending money for a week, then turning around and flying away again for 10 days and trying to see the city on my free time there, was something I was worried about. But honestly, I went through some great experiences and can't wait to go back next year. I would even buy my own flight if I wasn't one of the 30 chosen for a paid flight (which is likely seeing as how there will probably be 2000 applicants next year.)There were so many tears being shed as we left one another Saturday. Nothing like 30 people with huge hearts all there for the same cause. Luckily, we have facebook to stay in touch and share our experiences. Its been awesome to see almost every single person posting how much they want to go back or how they wish they were still there with power tools, or even a toothbrush in hand to scrub mold away. It was definitely a humbling experience. I could write for days about what we witnessed while being there. And I have never been more proud to work for such a great company that provides these opportunities. I'm definitely blessed to be where I am at. I've wrote a lot...but not nearly enough to do it justice.
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