A Volunteer's Viewpoint
07/01/2006 18:26
When my friend and I
first started looking for a place to volunteer for
hurricane relief effort back in April we knew exactly what we were
looking for. We wanted to help the people who needed us most. We wanted
an organization free from religious ties and constrictive political
agendas. We wanted to meet fellow Americans and hear different
viewpoints than our own. We wanted enough equipment to feel safe in
worksites contaminated with toxic materials. We wanted an organization
with an evacuation plan, a vehicle and supplies because of the several
predicted required evacuations this hurricane season. And finally after
a day of volunteering we wanted to be able to come home and take a
shower, eat a good meal, hang out and have a good night's sleep.
After many hours searching on the internet we found Bayou Liberty Relief and thought we would give it a try. We called Niki and she organized our pick-up from the airport. On June sixth we arrived in New Orleans. A car was waiting to pick us up. Shannon the driver had just come from a worksite and her clothes were speckled with paint. The cool air conditioning and joyful jazz on the radio contrasted sharply with the destruction we saw around us. Many buildings were missing roofs. Walls were crumbled and cars lay crushed under houses and half sunk in canals. It looked like a war zone and I have heard that Iraqi vets often describe it as looking worse than Iraq.
We left of bags in the car and went right to work in St. Bernard's parish clearing a building of debris to begin a future community center. We ate at Emergency Communities site in St Bernard. As we ate I wondered if Bayou Liberty Relief would also be located on a parking lot under the full sun. At 3 we were picked up and drove back to Slidell. I was happily surprised. Slidell is a fairly rustic town. Most of the damage to houses came from falling trees and overflow from the bayou. Relatively the town survived very well.
Once you leave the "main drag" in town you enter the swampy bayou. The houses are wonderfully old. They set back from the road and the trees are covered with creeping vines and hanging moss and the constant hum of cicadas and frogs almost engulfs you. Bayou Liberty Relief is has a large property that is bordered on one side by water. There are two main houses built in the shotgun plank board style on the 1920s. I am sitting in the central house right now with others around me working on the internet. From where I sit I can see a large turtle sunning itself on a log in the bayou.
We were given a room in a house with our "own" porch, shower and kitchen. Other volunteers choose from another bunkhouse, tents or a teepee. Several sleep in campers. The kitchen is full of a motley assortment of food from a food distribution site. With a little supplementation from the local Winn Dixie (Food banks don't usually have beer or soy milk!) we eat like kings every night.
The volunteer work has been varied. We have pulled out windows, put in floors, moved debris, worked in a food and supply distribution bank, painted, hammered, installed dry wall and generally learned a lot about how to build and repair houses. Today I am taking the day off from painting to work on creating a healthy recipes list that people at the food bank can use to spice up the same food boxes they receive week after week.
In our time off we have done a lot of reading and canoeing on the bayou. If you are lucky you can sometimes see beautiful egrets and small alligators. The camp dogs love to swim alongside the canoe and they can keep up quite a pace! We have also gone to the local library for a while or picked up some delicious Louisiana snowballs (like a snowcone but ten times more smooth and juicy.) We were invited to get in free at a big jazz show last weekend but turned it down to hang out with the other volunteers and watch a beautiful evening thunderstorm pass over us. The camp has a car available for use. Next Saturday we will go into New Orleans to see a benefit show for a member of one of the Mardi Gras "Indian tribes." Other organizations may be more centrally located but that also means sleeping around a lot of lead, mercury and mold. Volunteers in Bayou Liberty Relief are happily free from "Katrina cough" which is the health problem that comes from working and sleeping in contaminated areas with inadequate protection. Other volunteers sometimes leave their groups and come here because the stress of living and working in the middle of so much destruction becomes too stressful. I have really enjoyed my time here so far. We'll be here until July 15th so I hope to meet some of you (future volunteers) soon.
Jessie
hurricane relief effort back in April we knew exactly what we were
looking for. We wanted to help the people who needed us most. We wanted
an organization free from religious ties and constrictive political
agendas. We wanted to meet fellow Americans and hear different
viewpoints than our own. We wanted enough equipment to feel safe in
worksites contaminated with toxic materials. We wanted an organization
with an evacuation plan, a vehicle and supplies because of the several
predicted required evacuations this hurricane season. And finally after
a day of volunteering we wanted to be able to come home and take a
shower, eat a good meal, hang out and have a good night's sleep.
After many hours searching on the internet we found Bayou Liberty Relief and thought we would give it a try. We called Niki and she organized our pick-up from the airport. On June sixth we arrived in New Orleans. A car was waiting to pick us up. Shannon the driver had just come from a worksite and her clothes were speckled with paint. The cool air conditioning and joyful jazz on the radio contrasted sharply with the destruction we saw around us. Many buildings were missing roofs. Walls were crumbled and cars lay crushed under houses and half sunk in canals. It looked like a war zone and I have heard that Iraqi vets often describe it as looking worse than Iraq.
We left of bags in the car and went right to work in St. Bernard's parish clearing a building of debris to begin a future community center. We ate at Emergency Communities site in St Bernard. As we ate I wondered if Bayou Liberty Relief would also be located on a parking lot under the full sun. At 3 we were picked up and drove back to Slidell. I was happily surprised. Slidell is a fairly rustic town. Most of the damage to houses came from falling trees and overflow from the bayou. Relatively the town survived very well.
Once you leave the "main drag" in town you enter the swampy bayou. The houses are wonderfully old. They set back from the road and the trees are covered with creeping vines and hanging moss and the constant hum of cicadas and frogs almost engulfs you. Bayou Liberty Relief is has a large property that is bordered on one side by water. There are two main houses built in the shotgun plank board style on the 1920s. I am sitting in the central house right now with others around me working on the internet. From where I sit I can see a large turtle sunning itself on a log in the bayou.
We were given a room in a house with our "own" porch, shower and kitchen. Other volunteers choose from another bunkhouse, tents or a teepee. Several sleep in campers. The kitchen is full of a motley assortment of food from a food distribution site. With a little supplementation from the local Winn Dixie (Food banks don't usually have beer or soy milk!) we eat like kings every night.
The volunteer work has been varied. We have pulled out windows, put in floors, moved debris, worked in a food and supply distribution bank, painted, hammered, installed dry wall and generally learned a lot about how to build and repair houses. Today I am taking the day off from painting to work on creating a healthy recipes list that people at the food bank can use to spice up the same food boxes they receive week after week.
In our time off we have done a lot of reading and canoeing on the bayou. If you are lucky you can sometimes see beautiful egrets and small alligators. The camp dogs love to swim alongside the canoe and they can keep up quite a pace! We have also gone to the local library for a while or picked up some delicious Louisiana snowballs (like a snowcone but ten times more smooth and juicy.) We were invited to get in free at a big jazz show last weekend but turned it down to hang out with the other volunteers and watch a beautiful evening thunderstorm pass over us. The camp has a car available for use. Next Saturday we will go into New Orleans to see a benefit show for a member of one of the Mardi Gras "Indian tribes." Other organizations may be more centrally located but that also means sleeping around a lot of lead, mercury and mold. Volunteers in Bayou Liberty Relief are happily free from "Katrina cough" which is the health problem that comes from working and sleeping in contaminated areas with inadequate protection. Other volunteers sometimes leave their groups and come here because the stress of living and working in the middle of so much destruction becomes too stressful. I have really enjoyed my time here so far. We'll be here until July 15th so I hope to meet some of you (future volunteers) soon.
Jessie