Liz Rantz MD 1-11-06
01/11/2006 17:55
Greetings:
Somewhere in the heart of Texas, heading back
from Louisiana, probably my last trip. Been a
short stop with old friends, sharing the money and
goods that Missoulians have so generously sent
to the people of New Orleans. In many ways a
sad trip. I sense fatigue, despair in the
people there that I have not felt before. Little
things like the port-a-pottys aren't being cleaned
out downtown so they are filthy and foul. The
people from the Lower Ninth Ward and St.Bernards are
so conflicted, some want to rebuild, but don't know
if any of their neighbors are coming back, or if the
powers that be are going to decide to turn the area
into permanent wetlands and undo any rebuilding they
do. And still there are missing people, pets.
There is a 6 day Marti Gras planned (usually 12), but I have no idea how they will do it, There are still no hotels readily available. Some were trying to clean up after housing the evacuees and workers, and were told they couldn't evict them (a mixed problem). Sadly, the Jefferson Park tent city has been dismantled, so fewer places for volunteers and workers to live and eat. Harrah's plans to open Feb 17, and the French quarter businesses are about a quarter open with limited staff. However, a few of the trains are running, and some more busses, a few things are getting better.
A couple of schools are opened in the city. However, I visited with two principals who say the kids are becoming more troubled as time goes on, their friends are gone, they are living in strange places, and the future is uncertain. I did have the great pleasure to visit with the principal of the school in Dulac. This is the school for which the Missoula Gala for the Gulf was held that raised almost $25,000, organized by Kim Johns, Ann Guest and their many wonderful friends. The Principal wants to use the money to make the library a vibrant learning center and for an excellence in reading program. I delivered the first of the books on tape that have been read by Missoulians organized by Lisa Carter. We will be linking each of her preschool through 3rd grade teachers to a teacher in Missoula for resources and classroom exchanges. Interested teachers should contact me at mtkatrinah...@aol.com.
I also facilitated St. Patrick's Hospital providing supplies to a school nurse in Slidell. The school has had its budget drastically cut because of the decrease in the tax base, and the parents and PTA are too over stretched to raise money for thermometer covers!!!!!
The Algiers area where I have stayed the last two trips, and worked the Common Ground Clinic, is cleaning up some, but even there, there doesn't seem to be much progress since the last visit. The clinic has made tremendous strides toward permanence, new building and a community board of directors. Since the temporary medical licenses have expired they can no longer use volunteer "drop in" doctors like me. I delivered almost $2000 dollars to the clinic from generous Missoulians, especially the Missoula Folklore society and the staff at Missoula Bone and Joint. And while on the drive back I learned that we probably have another $1200 from another group on whose Board I serve. www.AAOMA.org
The most amazing thing is the Common Ground camp in the ninth ward. They have 150-180 young people camped there on any day, in a church, in tents, helping people clean and rebuild. A group of students from the University of Montana EVST program are going to visit Louisiana this week and they will be working with Common Ground for a day, as well as visiting the school in Dulac. Robin Saha and Tom Roy are organizing the class and I hope they will do a community presentation when they return.
Also found a wonderful fellow at CommonGround who is pulling bicycles out of the muck and rehabilitating them for volunteers and citizens; Bob Giordano and MIST have raised money to send repair supplies to them.
Common Ground volunteers are well equipped with protective garb. Unfortunately, the citizens and many of the Latino workers are not, and there are beginning to be a lot of "Katrina" coughs; I am not sure if it is reactive or infectious. The authorities are mostly denying there is any significant danger from mold or from the spilt petroleum products.
FEMA is looking for places to park 47,000 trailers, said to be the number of families who want to return. Still I believe the way to help the most is to go to New Orleans and work, live, invest, rebuild houses and sell them. There are tremendous opportunities and inflowing money, energy and creativity is the thing most needed.
The Charity Hospital is now officially not going to reopen, and care is being distributed to various hospitals around town. Both medical schools have temporarily relocated, one to Texas and one to Baton Rogue, which makes sense since that is where hospitals and the evacuees are, and there aren't many people in New Orleans, but it means a lot of health professionals aren't supplying care. The Board of Medical examiners say 80% of the MDs have returned, although none of the patients I saw had been able to get hold of their doctors. Many are back, but relocated.
One of the most interesting things to me is the surge of Latino workers into New Orleans. They are doing most of the dirty, dangerous mucky cleaning, which the community and the newspaper clearly recognizes. Most are illegal and the INS deports them whenever they can find them. There are no services available like health care, except what Common Ground provides them. So the city would not be being rebuilt without them, yet it is very difficult for them to stay! This is a small world; a large number of the more permanent Latinos are from Honduras after Hurricane Mitch, which was the start of Missoula Medical Aid whose umbrella I have been working under. Having been to Honduras it was fun to visit with them about their experiences in the US and about what they left in Honduras.
The destruction and attendant ironies are overwhelming. Part of me wants to stay there forever, and part of me knows it isn't what I am called to. I said from the beginning I was going there for me, not for the gulf, so what have I gotten out of this besides a stolen bike and a banged up tailgate? I have learned that it is time to free up my life to be able to go where and when the wind calls, whether work, play, love. And that joy in living comes from being present for others, not in doing things for them, but just in being there for them whether it is a school that needs thermometer covers or a volunteer who is overwhelmed with the day and needs to talk, be held. And for me happiness comes in small packages and in simplicity, not being tied to things. It can be found in a two person tent in a destroyed neighborhood if I have a reason to be there.
I'll be home soon; hope to see you, may need a little holding myself. Liz
There is a 6 day Marti Gras planned (usually 12), but I have no idea how they will do it, There are still no hotels readily available. Some were trying to clean up after housing the evacuees and workers, and were told they couldn't evict them (a mixed problem). Sadly, the Jefferson Park tent city has been dismantled, so fewer places for volunteers and workers to live and eat. Harrah's plans to open Feb 17, and the French quarter businesses are about a quarter open with limited staff. However, a few of the trains are running, and some more busses, a few things are getting better.
A couple of schools are opened in the city. However, I visited with two principals who say the kids are becoming more troubled as time goes on, their friends are gone, they are living in strange places, and the future is uncertain. I did have the great pleasure to visit with the principal of the school in Dulac. This is the school for which the Missoula Gala for the Gulf was held that raised almost $25,000, organized by Kim Johns, Ann Guest and their many wonderful friends. The Principal wants to use the money to make the library a vibrant learning center and for an excellence in reading program. I delivered the first of the books on tape that have been read by Missoulians organized by Lisa Carter. We will be linking each of her preschool through 3rd grade teachers to a teacher in Missoula for resources and classroom exchanges. Interested teachers should contact me at mtkatrinah...@aol.com.
I also facilitated St. Patrick's Hospital providing supplies to a school nurse in Slidell. The school has had its budget drastically cut because of the decrease in the tax base, and the parents and PTA are too over stretched to raise money for thermometer covers!!!!!
The Algiers area where I have stayed the last two trips, and worked the Common Ground Clinic, is cleaning up some, but even there, there doesn't seem to be much progress since the last visit. The clinic has made tremendous strides toward permanence, new building and a community board of directors. Since the temporary medical licenses have expired they can no longer use volunteer "drop in" doctors like me. I delivered almost $2000 dollars to the clinic from generous Missoulians, especially the Missoula Folklore society and the staff at Missoula Bone and Joint. And while on the drive back I learned that we probably have another $1200 from another group on whose Board I serve. www.AAOMA.org
The most amazing thing is the Common Ground camp in the ninth ward. They have 150-180 young people camped there on any day, in a church, in tents, helping people clean and rebuild. A group of students from the University of Montana EVST program are going to visit Louisiana this week and they will be working with Common Ground for a day, as well as visiting the school in Dulac. Robin Saha and Tom Roy are organizing the class and I hope they will do a community presentation when they return.
Also found a wonderful fellow at CommonGround who is pulling bicycles out of the muck and rehabilitating them for volunteers and citizens; Bob Giordano and MIST have raised money to send repair supplies to them.
Common Ground volunteers are well equipped with protective garb. Unfortunately, the citizens and many of the Latino workers are not, and there are beginning to be a lot of "Katrina" coughs; I am not sure if it is reactive or infectious. The authorities are mostly denying there is any significant danger from mold or from the spilt petroleum products.
FEMA is looking for places to park 47,000 trailers, said to be the number of families who want to return. Still I believe the way to help the most is to go to New Orleans and work, live, invest, rebuild houses and sell them. There are tremendous opportunities and inflowing money, energy and creativity is the thing most needed.
The Charity Hospital is now officially not going to reopen, and care is being distributed to various hospitals around town. Both medical schools have temporarily relocated, one to Texas and one to Baton Rogue, which makes sense since that is where hospitals and the evacuees are, and there aren't many people in New Orleans, but it means a lot of health professionals aren't supplying care. The Board of Medical examiners say 80% of the MDs have returned, although none of the patients I saw had been able to get hold of their doctors. Many are back, but relocated.
One of the most interesting things to me is the surge of Latino workers into New Orleans. They are doing most of the dirty, dangerous mucky cleaning, which the community and the newspaper clearly recognizes. Most are illegal and the INS deports them whenever they can find them. There are no services available like health care, except what Common Ground provides them. So the city would not be being rebuilt without them, yet it is very difficult for them to stay! This is a small world; a large number of the more permanent Latinos are from Honduras after Hurricane Mitch, which was the start of Missoula Medical Aid whose umbrella I have been working under. Having been to Honduras it was fun to visit with them about their experiences in the US and about what they left in Honduras.
The destruction and attendant ironies are overwhelming. Part of me wants to stay there forever, and part of me knows it isn't what I am called to. I said from the beginning I was going there for me, not for the gulf, so what have I gotten out of this besides a stolen bike and a banged up tailgate? I have learned that it is time to free up my life to be able to go where and when the wind calls, whether work, play, love. And that joy in living comes from being present for others, not in doing things for them, but just in being there for them whether it is a school that needs thermometer covers or a volunteer who is overwhelmed with the day and needs to talk, be held. And for me happiness comes in small packages and in simplicity, not being tied to things. It can be found in a two person tent in a destroyed neighborhood if I have a reason to be there.
I'll be home soon; hope to see you, may need a little holding myself. Liz