January 10th, 2011
Today was our first service day in the city of New Orleans. After witnessing the atrocities and horrendous conditions that still plague New Orleans citizens, all the Bonners along with other community service organizations dedicated themselves to lessening the hardships of reconstructing the neighborhoods that many have lost since the disaster hit. Personally, I became angry and eager to help as many as people as possible. Although the work would be difficult, I knew that it was necessary to endure anything that came our way to help make a difference, no matter how big or small.
After an early training session with United Saints, all of us went to work in various sites. I was fortunate to meet and work with an incredible man named A. Booker. He seemed to live by himself and he needed a lot of help trying to reconstruct the side of his house and so myself and three other Bonners worked with Mr. Booker and two AmeriCorps leaders. What amazed me about this man was that he was very agile for his age (He is seventy and his birthday is tomorrow). He easily climbed up and down the side of his house and built a scaffold entirely by himself in order to help him reconstruct his house. He had an amazing background where he used to be singer for a group named "Smooth Jazz and the Louisiana Purchase." Since the disaster, he is now focused on fixing his house while still waiting for some sort of response or aid from the government.
Today was long and exhausting but well worth the experience because not only did I learned how to help make repairs to the side of a house but was also given the opportunity to hear the stories from one of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. I was also happy to hear that Mr. Booker was very appreciative of all the volunteers for coming down and offer a helping hand. I cannot believe I learned so much in one day and we still have an incredible four days ahead of us. I look forward to tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next....
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