After I wrote the blog last night, we ended up taking the street car to the French quarter. It was awesome to see the interesting shops and restaurants as well as all of the proud tradition and culture that is a part of every square foot. We made a stop at Café Du Monde which is an amazing (and popular) French outdoor diner. They sell beignets which are funnel cake-like donuts covered in powdered sugar. They come in a set of three for only about $2.50 and it's a great environment. We got in at about 10:30, had a quick reflection, and went to sleep!
The day today started the same as Monday - by packing our lunches and eating a breakfast that mostly consisted of apples and fruity pebbles. The difference was that Daryl, our site coordinator (and United Saints founder, I believe) needed our group to separate to accommodate the sites that needed served. So Gabriel, Jessica, Bri, Connor, Dara, and Jasmine went to Miss Daisy's house, and Eleanor, Marie, Austin, Jimmy, and Stephanie went to an urban community garden in the lower 9
th ward.
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Mrs. Daisy's house is a project that started by just wanting to replace some siding and repaint the home. However, as they were nearly completing, they noticed a particular area in the siding that looked like a problem. Well, it turned out that about an 1/8
th of her house had significant termite damage. So the day at Mrs. Daisy's started with half of the gang chipping away rotting wood while the other half painted. Eventually it was decided that the wood in some areas was a lost cause so we would need to call Daryl in for some extra assistance, and that ended our termite solving quest. It would be painting for all of us for the rest of the day. The best part of the day though was when Mrs. Daisy came outside to tell us that instead of eating our sack lunches that we had packed, that she had cooked for all of the volunteers (there were probably 12 of us total). When we started, we all had a goal of having some really authentic New Orleans food by the end of the trip. It doesn't get more authentic than a genuine home cooked New Orleans meal. We had jambalaya, chicken, green beans, lemon cake, and great company.
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Mrs. Daisy told us her story – She had left her home, where we were working, on the morning of the hurricane and drove to northern Mississippi where she has family. She didn't return for nearly two years. She told us stories about how New Orleans was lawless, that people were committing suicide in the Superdome, and how her daughter's
third floor apartment had lost everything due to flooding. The worst of all though was when we started talking about how her family was affected by construction fraud. Construction fraud is when you need aid and someone comes to you and says, "You could pay for all of this professionally or you could pay me half the price, say $5000. All you have to do is pay me half now and half later." Well, the fraud exists when they take the half and run, and apparently it was everywhere following Katrina. A United Saints staff member told me later that one of their families had been a victim of construction fraud three times and because of that, it made it difficult on United Saints to complete anything because that family wouldn't trust anyone. The lesson of this story for me is that you have no idea the story that some people have for themselves. When we see someone who is in need we often say they are lazy, or that they just need to get a job. Maybe, though, their family was the victim of something terrible (as was the case here), maybe the income producer had become disabled (as was the case here), and maybe the family is truly amazing and they just need some help (as is the case here). *We've uploaded pictures of the meal as well as pictures of Mrs. Daisy and her daughter Rochelle. Rochelle, if you were wondering, will be joining us for dinner (along with her family) on Friday evening. Also, Jasmine was outside painting, which is why she isn't in the picture!
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The story of the gardening crew:
We started our day at Supporting Urban Agriculture, a small urban farming project in the Lower Ninth Ward. We weeded pathways and moved a lot of mulch. Before lunch, we spoke with Jamal, the ringleader of the operation, about the farm. Jamal is a big believer in "Think global. Act local," which is the idea that small changes within a proximate environment can lead to a global impact.
Katrina hit the Lower Ninth Ward hard. Prior to the storm, it had the largest concentration of African American homeowners in New Orleans. After the storm hit, many of these homeowners lost their deeds and titles, or didn't claim the land In time, or just didn't come back. A few built new homes that sit two foot above the ground on concrete stilts. Some houses weathered the storm, and finally several homes remain in various states of deterioration. A few built new homes that sit two foot above the ground on concrete stilts. In the worst scenarios, buildings were washed away, dotting the area with empty, overgrown lots ten years later.
Jamal's garden sits on one of these. He works to improve the community by visually improving the lot and neighborhood he works in. He sells his organic vegetables to restaurants and customers who order weekly boxes of produce.
We breaked from our history lesson to eat some fresh strawberries that didn't sell. We then headed a few blocks east to eat our sack lunches in a pavilion overlooking the bayou.
After lunch, we met with Calvin, another urban farmer in the Lower Ninth Ward. We weed wacked his lot and dug up last year's overgrown plants to start a compost pile. Calvin said we cleared land like Daniel Boone. It felt like it, too. We even fought of dangerous critters… Fire ants! That didn't dampen our day, though. It was dirty, sweaty, and a lot of fun!
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For the rest of the evening we're going to stay in and recover. If Jasmine gets her way, we'll make an ice cream run. Thank you again for reading and supporting us!
MAB Love,
-Team NoLa NoFear
