Outside all day

We had a group of 30 volunteers from an all-girls' Catholic school in Sacramento come in today. We bonded over the whole all-girls'-school thing. They were great to work with; they went at their jobs with such determination and vigor. I worked with them all day clearing three lawns (one was NENA's, two were homeowners). Lawn-clearing is actually more important than it sounds because the city imposes a tax if grass and weeds grow above eighteen inches. Needless to say, this is very stressful for a homeowner who is already barely making ends meet for the rebuilding process on a home they can't even live in yet. It's nice to know that we helped alleviate that anxiety, at least for a while.

Back at Xavier I went to my class about performing race and gender through architecture. We spoke about the manifestation of race and gender in public spaces, particularly through railway cars, theaters, and drinking fountains. I appreciated having a class that was half white and half students of color and a professor of color; unlike virtually all of my high school and college classes, I was able to get a non-white perspective on the issues.

We also presented our photo projects. Mine is too large to post on here, but it told the story of my frustration with the tension between bureaucracy and accomplishing humanitarian goals. I began the essay with a series of photographs around the office. I concentrated on blank and vacant spaces, taking pictures of empty desks, blank whiteboards, and unused meeting tables. I moved on to houses of increasing decay, from those which had been halted in the rebuilding process to those blocked my FEMA trailers to those which had been untouched since the storm. I ended the essay with a picture of a controversial memorial which stands in front of the Ninth Ward and a picture of graffiti in the French Quarter, which simply reads "LIES." To me, the memorial is an image of shallowness: from what I've heard, it was built by rich people from outside of New Orleans and is largely unwanted by Lower Ninth Ward folk. Rather, it seems to stand as a gruesome, unwelcome reminder of the storm. The "LIES" component is fairly obvious; it's to represent the accusations of those who haven't benefitted from relief organizations. Both photographs are pictured above.

Happiness and frustration

Above is a particularly beautiful house we saw on our six-hour tour.

Work was interesting today. We got a group of volunteers in from UC Berkeley. My boss decided that we had little for them to do today and that we could just have them cut the grass around NENA headquarters. Though last week was basically a learning curve, this week I decided to be proactive. I remembered a woman who had said she needed grass cutting when I surveyed her, called her, and organized the volunteers to head to her place. She was very happy. Needless to say, it made my day.

Unfortunately, NENA really liked my work on the Microsoft Word manual, so now they want me to make two more on Microsoft Excel and how to write a business letter. Ugggggh.

I had a tense moment with someone today when he informed me that "women are softer than men." He was surprised that that proclamation offended me. Perhaps I've been in the women's college bubble too long, but I'd forgotten how statements like that can sting.

Getting back on the wagon!

I fell off the blogging wagon for a few days, but I have returned! It's hard to keep up with it Friday and Saturday nights because my group members and I usually go out, so I'll probably be skipping those days in general. Not incidentally, above is the view from my dorm.

Friday at work was strenuous. I learned that the Microsoft Word manual I was writing was meant to be for ten forty-five minute sessions for residents who had rarely or never used a computer. I spent almost the entire day writing the manual. It certainly wasn't interesting work, but it felt good to know that it would be useful for those who will learn from it. That night we headed out to the French Quarter and then back to the dorms just to hang out and chat.

We were outside of the dorm at 9:45 on Saturday for our six-hour tour of the city with Professor Rich Campanella. It was really a gift to experience such an in-depth look at the city. Though we went to many places that I've already spent time in, such as the Ninth Ward, St. Bernard's Parish, and the French Quarter, we also visited several places I had only heard of or didn't know existed. It was fascinating to see the vibrant Vietnamese areas of the city, several areas undergoing extreme gentrification, and the little-known truck highway. Here is Professor Campanella with his mic:


Some parts of the tour were emotionally draining. Though I've been in the Ninth Ward several times, the unparalleled destruction in the area never ceases to shock me. All of us also grappeled with the fact that we were sitting in a comfortable, air-conditioned, twelve-passenger van to view one of the worst tragedies in American history. It's a good question to ask oneself: is the awareness gained from viewing the devastated areas of New Orleans worth the embarassment or anger of those citizens who are being watched?

That night we headed to the Central Business District in order to see the art gallery openings along the famous Julia Street. The art ranged from the extremely realist to the staunchly abstract; the forms included paintings, installations, sculptures, jewelry, collages, and more. Seeing all the art was wonderful, but I was particularly interested in the responses to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, of which there were many. One particularly interesting piece involved separate pages of a woman's journal post-Hurricane Betsy, all dyed variants of pink and red, neatly hung on the wall in ascending order.

Today was much more relaxed. I read a little of my book (The Autobiography of Malcolm X) before starting on my homework. I then watched the first disc (there are two dvds) of Spike Lee's documentary When the Levee Broke. The film is certainly emotionally draining, but I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in an intellectual, historical, and humanistic approach to Hurricane Katrina's origins, duration, and aftermath.

A Mixed Bag

Above is a picture of a house that I took from the car driving into the Ninth Ward.


Work today was different than usual because my boss, Nivan, wasn't there. As a result, I was assigned some busy work, namely calling a bunch of small business owners to ask if they'd like to come to a free seminar we're holding on how to increase their business. It took a long time, but it was nice to hear the excitement of some of the business owners.

I also typed up a list of instructions on how to use Microsoft Word for the business across the street. It was a strange experience; I certainly don't consider myself someone who is technically proficient. Still, my time here has taught me that it's a blessing even to have these small skills.

Work ended on a sour note when I spoke to a woman who was very upset with NENA's service. She was frustrated about all the documents she had to collect in order to get service. It's true, there are about fifteen things to be scanned, photographed, or retrieved in order to gain service from NENA, but most of them are reasonable. Even so, it was awful to hear the anguish in this person's voice. I spent much of the day trying to reconcile how I, as a low-level employee at a non-profit, could provide humanitarian assistance despite (necessary) bureaucracy. It's certainly going to be the subject for my first photo project for class. Below: My desk!



Tonight was fun. My friends and I hung out at the house of a few Xavier folks who were friends with someone in our program. Later, we went to the French Quarter. It was a typical French Quarter night: beautiful architecture, balmy weather, and scantily clad women practically throwing jello shots at us. Oh, New Orleans. Below is a beautiful alley in the French Quarter. My friend Petra took the picture for her photo project.

Out in the field

Above is a slogan that I fell in love with in the Ninth Ward. Unfortunately, the restaurant itself still isn't open.

Today was a business as usual at NENA. The beginning of the day was a little slow, so I called a few more folks I had hoped to survey before. With a little extra time, I compiled all of the spreadsheet data I had into graphs and pie charts. A word from the pseudo-wise: When in doubt, organize. That rhymes!

I went on to do research in order to publicize our Fight the Blight program. There were actually pretty fascinating RAND Corporation articles on the effect of blight and general uncleanliness on local business, public health, and youth violence.

At around 2:00, a local Salvation Army worker came to work with us on a neighborhood beautification program. It turns out that in late July we'll be receiving forty volunteers for four days. We plan to use the volunteers to provide free grass cutting, flower and tree planting, and other landscaping to ninth ward residents. We left NENA headquarters to walk around the nearby streets, surveying homeowners about what services they might like (if any). It was interesting to truly walk around the area; in my high school volunteering days I was always shuttered within one or two streets for fear of violence in the area.

It was difficult to accept the lack of change in the area. Though there were certainly vibrant, fully rebuilt houses on each block, countless others hadn't been touched since the storm. Our Salvation Army coworker described the effect of the area on her quite well, sighing, "it makes my soul weak." There were, however, a few gratifying moments when we informed the homeowners of our intentions. Some residents lit up at the mention of free beautification. Those moments were worth every minute of dispair. I'll be continuing to survey the area for those who want the beautification services as well as leading a group of volunteers when the day itself comes.

After we returned to NENA, I compiled a list of poisonous plants which are often mistakenly planet at homes. We don't want to get the residents sick after promising them a brand new lawn. . .

We just started our Urban Geography of New Orleans class. It seems like it will be fascinating. To introduce us to the concept of human geography, our professor showed us many maps which supposedly measured the density of a certain human factor and had us guess which factor they represented (for example, most males per country, most African-Americans per county, etc.). For now, I'm planning on watching When the Levee Broke, a Spike Lee documentary about Hurricane Katrina. Adios!

10 hour day

Sheesh. Work 9-5 and class 6-8:30. I'm fairly sleepy right now, so please excuse me if this is incoherent.

Work was interesting today, if fairly emotionally taxing. I did some form-making: questionnaires for residents who might want free landscaping from a NENA-Salvation Army partnership, surveys to see what goods or services homeowners are in need of in order to help NENA prepare, etc.

I used the latter survey to call one hundred (count 'em!) Ninth Ward residents to ask a) if they were living in their homes, b) how complete their rebuilding process was and c) what things were necessary to their immediate rebuilding needs. As usual, almost every person I talked to was incredibly kind and helpful. You know you're not in New England anymore when someone you've only talked to for a few minutes is referring to you as "sugar" and "baby."

Even so, some of the stories were hard to hear. Along with many residents who simply didn't have the time, money, resources, or energy to rebuild, many have suffered horribly from contractor scams. These scams have been rampant in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and are pretty much what they sound like: phony contractors requiring a down payment of several thousand dollars to supposedly fix a house before bolting with the cash. Quite obviously, losing this much money often makes it impossible for the homeowner to rebuild.

After work, we attended our first Creating Space: Race and Gender in Urban Spaces class. Today was very introductory, but we learned that our first assignment will be to create a photo essay of a space in New Orleans. I think I'll be using my photos to contrast the more run-down, neglected areas of the Ninth Ward with the few extravagant houses there. For example, the famous Steamboat Houses:
We'll also need to keep a weekly journal about the many readings for the class. Additionally, we have a photo montage of a space we've been working in (example pictured below) due once a week. Our final project will be a short movie about the place we've been working in. It should be a lot of work, but also lots of fun.

First day on the job

Today was my first day working at the Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association, or NENA. NENA's homepage (9thwardnena.org) best describes what they do:

"NENA utilizes an innovative resident-based approach to the comprehensive rebuilding of the Lower Ninth Ward, providing services and implementing sustainable programs in community outreach, case management, design and construction administration, home and school rebuilding, and economic development.

NENA has 17 staff members, in the areas of management and administration, Outreach, Case Management, Economic Development, Volunteer Services and the Design Studio. Its Board of Directors includes seven members, all of whom live, work, or worship in the Lower Ninth Ward.

In addition, NENA has ongoing partnerships the Loyola School of Law, Tulane University, Crescent City Alliance Recovery Effort (CARE), and numerous local and national organizations and supporters. NENA is the lead facilitator of the Lower 9th Ward Stakeholders Coalition, and is a member of the Greater New Orleans Disaster Recovery Partnership."

NENA has ten full-time employees (most of whom are from or live in the Ninth Ward).

I found out today that I'll be working in Volunteer Services, which is great. I've been a volunteer in the New Orleans rebuilding effort several times, so it will be wonderful to see it from the other side. I'll also be surveying houses to see how to best begin each individual building process.

Today was all about the learning curve. I shadowed the other Volunteer Services coordinator as he oriented a volunteer team from UC Berkeley. We took the group to the house where they would be dry-walling and introduced them to the homeowner and their NENA assistant.

I then did an inventory of NENA's extensive supplies for volunteers and Ninth Ward residents. In case anyone was wondering, counting a pile of rakes is very difficult.

I went on to create a backlog of all the volunteer groups we've had in the past few months. Predictably, months like May were very slow, whereas months like March and January have huge peaks in volunteers due to their school vacations. I happened to pick up a waiver filled out with volunteers from my church in my hometown, which was very exciting.

Just before leaving, I created a chart with which to assess the progress of each home in the rebuilding process. I then received my very own NENA t-shirt, which I apparently am supposed to wear every Friday.

NENA headquarters:

To be frank, the Ninth Ward is much as I remember it when I last saw it in 2008. Due to government neglect, few renovated houses stand in the middle of many, many dilapidated ones. Some homes are only half-redone as a result of their owners running out of the money or the energy to fix them. Often, what appear to be large fields of grass have, upon closer inspection, the grooves of lost house foundations. Needless to say, there is much to be done.