Tuesday, January 11, 2011

“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.” Andrew Carnegie.

This quote is posted on the soda machine in the common room at our host site, United Saints Recovery Project. It made me think a lot about what I wanted this week to be for me and for all of the Bonners that are here with me.

Inspiring Hope

For me, this is the first time I am staying in this part of the city (Mid-City) and I am excited to experience a new section of NOLA. I started off the week visiting an old homeowner, Laura, who I worked with in 2007 and have stayed in touch with over the years. Every time I visit her I am reminded of how kind, appreciative, and welcoming the people who have had volunteers help them put their lives back together really are. Laura invited Maria, my friend Andrew, and I into her home to visit with her and her family. Her son is now in his first year of college and her daughter in high school. As I was talking to her son Gavin about college I realized I first met him four years ago when he was in his first year of high school. Laura’s daughter, Lauren, even invited us to play her new Kinect games (which Maria loved). I had the chance to talk to Laura’s husband and Andrew played with their new dog Seven.

I tell all of these details because I did not only work on a house when I was in New Orleans that year, I made friends with an amazing family that I will forever keep in touch with and visit when I am in the area. When Laura thanks me repeatedly for helping her get back into her home, I can’t help but thank her back for being the person she is and inviting me into her home.

Beginning the work week with this visit really inspired my hopes for this weeks work and for the experiences the Bonner students will have. I hope they have the chance to become as close with a homeowner as I have become with Laura. On the other hand, I also know that us being here inspires hope for the New Orleans residents. I have been told many times, by strangers, homeowners, or friends that the site of volunteers in the city is really a sign of continued hope for everyone still trying to get back into their homes, even five years later.

Liberating Energy

The first workday of this trip allowed my team and I to liberate a lot of energy. We arrived at our site and began to tear down walls and ripe up floors. I was working with a group of great girls and we did some very good work. There was not too much conversation going on while tearing the walls down due to the safety equipment covering our mouths, eyes, ears, noses… but during lunch we were able to have some liberating laughs and some more serious discussion about the condition of the house we were working on.

Raymond’s house was under at least eight feet of water after the storm and the damage is, in most places, not repairable. We talked how much water there had to be in New Orleans during the storm for his house, one in the middle of the city, to be under eight feet of water, but I can’t even imagine it.

After every trip to rebuild, I have been rejuvenated for the coming months. Spending time and sharing this experience with new Bonners is unparalleled. I have the chance to share with them something that I have come to love: the city, the work, and the people.

Commanding Thought

A huge part of this experience is the conversations and reflections we have through the week. Each night we talk as a large group and reflect on the day and the experiences we are having here, but the conversations that happen outside of that guided time are just as meaningful. The questions that are presented during conversations really show that the Bonners are thinking about more than the daily tasks they are completing and more about the larger picture. Once presented with the problems, they want answers. Most I cannot give them. They want to know how the country has not pulled together to help those affected, why the government cannot help more, why some people did not come back, why the United States could not save the 1,800 people that died in the storm, and what we can do to fix it.

Having these conversations pushes the students, and me, to try to find the answers. Not just answers here, but back in Trenton where we work on a weekly basis.

I hope that the week continues to be as successful and meaningful as it has been so far.

Thanks for reading!

Britt

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