"It's the dawn of a new day--New hopes, new dreams, new ways."
I woke up this morning around 6am, while everyone in the Chicago hostel was still fast asleep. I'm looking up at the white ceilings and realized that we were to leave at 10am. So, I began to think back to our reflection question for the last night. "What did we learn, will remember, and what issue impacted us the most."
For me, this trip has taught me to open my mind and heart to others. People may look at what we did in Chicago and say "Ehh, you didn't do much." It's not all about the physical accomplishment and I think the other women that spent the week with me would agree. Community arts has a way of touching so many social issues---Ageism, racism, social class discrimination, gang violence issues, sexism, etc. Each night we were able to sit around in a circle and discuss many issues that effect Chicago. We were also able to talk about how it impacts our lives at home.
I've seen these women grow. Old flames of hope and determination--passion, for community service was reignited within myself. Our service was to educate ourselves more, and to take all the knowledge we've received from amazing Chicago organizations and apply them to our lives to help better the Hamline community, as well as Minnesota.
People say drawing a picture isn't important.... artistic skill wont get you far.... but what if that skill can be transformed into a tool to help uplift an impoverished neighborhood? What if one mural could help spark a social movement-- notify people outside of the community as they drive through on their way to work? Is there something wrong here? If so, how can we all come together and fix it?
For me, this trip has been an eye-opening experience. I'm glad I was able to spend it with some amazing women and know, as do they, that we all have walked away from this trip with new goals and a willingness to go out into the rest of the world and make a positive change-through art.
--Simone <3
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The Weekend, of End of the Week
So it's here, the week's end. Where to begin and how do I reflect at this point, especially because it's 6:15 am on the final Saturday and I just don't know where to start. The week has been long to say the least, working everyday starting Monday up through yesterday afternoon. We did manage to have some time to enjoy the beauty of the town, within the French Quarter, St. Charles Ave, the hopes within the Vietnamese Community. If I was to write about my entire week, I would simply just photo copy my journal and post that, but seeing has how I can't, I'll probably write just on highlights of the week.
My week began with a kick, with our first night out, we ate with Ms. JoAnn, a contact of Hamline and Sharon. After ordering our food, we were able to relax a little bit. We had everyone from the two groups there, so we filled out half the restaurant. But the real kicker was once the food came out, the waitress said something with pasta and both Jess and I ordered something from the pasta section. Jess thought it was hers right away, so she began working on it. About ten minutes later or so, our waitress came out with the Creole Pasta, which was actually Jess' order and what she had been eating was mine, which was a Shrimp Alfredo Pasta. On that note, that happened again last night, on our group's final dinner. We were eating at the Cheesecake Bistro and I had ordered, again, a Shrimp Pasta. And unlike last time, it wasn't Jess, it was Christina's. The funniest part was when the food came out because, like last time, both Jess and Christina thought it was theirs, but Christina began by saying that she didn't order shrimp and told everyone at the table that the shrimp was up for grabs, so everyone ate MY shrimp because everyone even realized that it was my plate and Christina's hadn't arrived yet.
The work within the week was long, with many of the work days starting by 8:30am at the latest. The one day that really began it all was probably Wednesday when Karine, Christina and I worked with Mrs. Janet Bell. She ran a small garden two blocks away from First Street UMC. We got there and were able to be outside and enjoy the weather/humidity, but she told us that she had a nightmare and that if we could make it go away, she would really be happy. Her nightmare was that of a fallen trestle that had been that way since Hurricane Gustav. She had spoken about the number of people that had been in prior to our group and said they didn't have any idea as to how to get it up.We told her that probably after lunch, we could get more of our group there and get it up by days end, and we did exactly that. After that day, I felt a lot better in being able to do as much as we can and also being to surprise the people in our abilities. She asked us not to leave without seeing her, she had made flower arrangements for us, five to be exact, and one of herbs--which was great because on Wednesday, I made dinner and I used some for stir-fry.
I wish I could continue to write more, but seeing as how I have only a half hour to get ready to run to the airport, I need to get my stuff in order. But stories like the couple above, are within everyone on any of the CSI trips, so I look forward to the many questions about and the group together and laughing at the fun times here, but until then--
--Teng Lor
My week began with a kick, with our first night out, we ate with Ms. JoAnn, a contact of Hamline and Sharon. After ordering our food, we were able to relax a little bit. We had everyone from the two groups there, so we filled out half the restaurant. But the real kicker was once the food came out, the waitress said something with pasta and both Jess and I ordered something from the pasta section. Jess thought it was hers right away, so she began working on it. About ten minutes later or so, our waitress came out with the Creole Pasta, which was actually Jess' order and what she had been eating was mine, which was a Shrimp Alfredo Pasta. On that note, that happened again last night, on our group's final dinner. We were eating at the Cheesecake Bistro and I had ordered, again, a Shrimp Pasta. And unlike last time, it wasn't Jess, it was Christina's. The funniest part was when the food came out because, like last time, both Jess and Christina thought it was theirs, but Christina began by saying that she didn't order shrimp and told everyone at the table that the shrimp was up for grabs, so everyone ate MY shrimp because everyone even realized that it was my plate and Christina's hadn't arrived yet.
The work within the week was long, with many of the work days starting by 8:30am at the latest. The one day that really began it all was probably Wednesday when Karine, Christina and I worked with Mrs. Janet Bell. She ran a small garden two blocks away from First Street UMC. We got there and were able to be outside and enjoy the weather/humidity, but she told us that she had a nightmare and that if we could make it go away, she would really be happy. Her nightmare was that of a fallen trestle that had been that way since Hurricane Gustav. She had spoken about the number of people that had been in prior to our group and said they didn't have any idea as to how to get it up.We told her that probably after lunch, we could get more of our group there and get it up by days end, and we did exactly that. After that day, I felt a lot better in being able to do as much as we can and also being to surprise the people in our abilities. She asked us not to leave without seeing her, she had made flower arrangements for us, five to be exact, and one of herbs--which was great because on Wednesday, I made dinner and I used some for stir-fry.
I wish I could continue to write more, but seeing as how I have only a half hour to get ready to run to the airport, I need to get my stuff in order. But stories like the couple above, are within everyone on any of the CSI trips, so I look forward to the many questions about and the group together and laughing at the fun times here, but until then--
--Teng Lor
N.O.( i dont know how to blog.)
Like the title suggests... I don't know how to blog but I do however write poetry.
My pictures alone cannot tell the story of how nature ran its course and dropped a bomb of destruction all over New Orleans beating spicy heart. If we ring out our sadness and look past the sinking sights of Katrina's horrible path you can dive and submerse yourself into a rich culture that sucked me in the minute I stepped out the New Orleans international Airport. How is it that if I just stand outside and look up at the sky, I can feel every one's struggle but also find peace that only emerges from a beautiful community. New Orleans is like a body and its people are the organs that keep moving along although Katrina kicked it down recklessly. I hope that I have helped to keep healthy blood in its veins and take a slight load off if its already strained wise back. A stroll down the french quarter is like breathing in a breath of sweet cultural air. Every one's smiles and laughs fill my heart with appreciation. But I look at burdened people and pass the the ancient houses that have been robbed of their beauty and I feel a sense anticipation. With a humbled spirit I pray that my poetry will bring me strength. On my tear stained pages I wrote of the lower ninth ward and how there seems to be hardly any life within every heart that beats from my weakened ribcage and as my knees buckle I am hopeful for the wonderful community to come back and claim their bit of the beautiful world. New Orleans has been imprinted in my mind and like clockwork I will be reminded of its song. May New Orleans rest in life and with that I rest my pen because even the pages in my journal are starting to feel as heavy as my heart.
signed b.l.
My pictures alone cannot tell the story of how nature ran its course and dropped a bomb of destruction all over New Orleans beating spicy heart. If we ring out our sadness and look past the sinking sights of Katrina's horrible path you can dive and submerse yourself into a rich culture that sucked me in the minute I stepped out the New Orleans international Airport. How is it that if I just stand outside and look up at the sky, I can feel every one's struggle but also find peace that only emerges from a beautiful community. New Orleans is like a body and its people are the organs that keep moving along although Katrina kicked it down recklessly. I hope that I have helped to keep healthy blood in its veins and take a slight load off if its already strained wise back. A stroll down the french quarter is like breathing in a breath of sweet cultural air. Every one's smiles and laughs fill my heart with appreciation. But I look at burdened people and pass the the ancient houses that have been robbed of their beauty and I feel a sense anticipation. With a humbled spirit I pray that my poetry will bring me strength. On my tear stained pages I wrote of the lower ninth ward and how there seems to be hardly any life within every heart that beats from my weakened ribcage and as my knees buckle I am hopeful for the wonderful community to come back and claim their bit of the beautiful world. New Orleans has been imprinted in my mind and like clockwork I will be reminded of its song. May New Orleans rest in life and with that I rest my pen because even the pages in my journal are starting to feel as heavy as my heart.
signed b.l.
The True Faces of Oppression
I decided to come on this because I thought it would be an excellent way to spend my spring break. I would be in a new city and I would also get a chance to help people. Coming on this trip would mean serving two of my greatest passions in one week, traveling and helping humanity (any way I can). From the first day I got to DC, I felt energy unlike no other state I've ever been to. I felt a renewal of strength, and a spirit of hope had awakened in me that I couldn't quite understand. I was in the nation's capital! This is where the hope of a nation is born! Although this was true, something was very wrong! All through the city there were homeless men and women camped outside in every single corner and on every street, even on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. People with nowhere to go laid outside the nation's capital waiting for hope to be awakened. How can a city that arises so much hope contain so much disparity?
Coming on this trip, I knew I was going to be "helping" the homeless, but I didn't know how much I would interact with them. I had no idea that I was going to be working with them (as they are not helpless), instead of "helping them." I believed I was going to be "helping" the homeless, although my heart was in the right place, I believed I had something to offer, I believed I had some divine knowledge I would've offered, a wonderful talent I would've performed to give anyone who interacted with me a sense of peace and happiness! As I approached these homeless individuals, I came to see that I had so many prejudices that I had not been aware of. These homeless individuals weren't at all helpless! They are able-bodied people who are trying to pull themselves back up with the little resources they have. Suddenly it became clear to me, I wasn't' here to help fight for them because they had already began fighting for themselves. I came to fight with them! I came to add on to the many voices that have already begun crying out that homelessness is preventable and unnecessary. I added on to their voices to make it louder, massive and stronger.
As I interacted with these men and women I saw that they were exactly like us. They had once been to college and lived in the dorms. they've gotten degrees, they had once been wealthy and loss it all because of the bad economy. They have families who love them deeply, they have nieces and nephews who still expect their uncles or aunties to bring home presents when they go home occasionally, and in return these homeless uncles or aunties try their best to find valuables to take home to their loved ones! They have hope for the future, dreams for their lives and goals to achieve. These individuals are just like us, they laugh just the same and being homeless has not killed their spirits (thank God). They still joke and know how to be social. We're all the same, the only difference is that at the end of the day we have a place to rest our heads, we have a home and a bed to go back to, and they don't. I should add that I "helped" one individual at one of the shelters by giving him a hug! A man asked me for a hug as we were leaving and I was honored and couldn't believe he had asked me for a hug! I jumped on him and didn't want to let him go. I made someone smile that day from giving him a hug, I will be a part of his story for those few seconds I spent hugging him, that is wonderful!!
Working with these great men and women wasn't enough for us Hamline students. We had to see what it was like on the outside. In order to begin this story, I would like to clarify that, I wouldn't say I now understand fully what it is like to be homeless, because it would be an impossible thing, but I now have a better sense of what being homeless is like than when I first came on this trip. We spent twenty four (24) hours on the streets of DC learning what exactly goes on outside of what we've been told and outside of what we've seen from afar. For the first time in my life I had experienced what life would be like if I had nowhere to go. Please keep in mind that this does not mean I fully understand what being homeless is like, as this was not the intention of our trip. In order to be an advocate, we had to know more than what the textbook or statistics offered, we met the homeless and spoke to them and heard their concerns, they told us about themselves and treated some of us as friends, proving to us that we were all just the same and that there is no reason that anyone shouldn't get the best of life like we had been given one way or the other. We went to the different sites where they offered assistance for homeless men and women and saw what they are doing to help. We went in public areas to see how we would be treated if we seemed like the stereotypical homeless man or woman and applied to jobs to see how we would be treated. The answers were shocking.
We went into the fancy restaurants and bookstores and it was clear that we didn't belong. I went into a bookstore with my partner and I had a sleeping bag inside a trash bag and this attracted attention. I walked in and the cashier was looking to see what I would do next. I took up many magazines and sat in a hidden corner where I wouldn't be seen, but just when I took a seat, one a sales person came to another man who was sitting a few steps away from me, and told him to leave. He seemed as if he was homeless and seeing this broke my heart! We left the bookstore after about 3 hours and the same sales person who had told the man to get out looked at us and seemed very upset because we had entered this store and looked in every magazine we wanted without buying anything and as he caught a glimpse of my huge trash bag I said, "bye", but he didn't respond! As we passed through the streets I saw people watching me and I almost felt like I had to prove myself worthy of being in the same space as others with better clothes. Why should I have to prove myself worthy when it is clear that we are both of the same species with only the differences in appearance? People on the streets walked past the homeless as if they didn't even exist, the homeless asked for change and some would give them and some pretended like they didn't hear them, there is nowhere to go at the end of the day, there's nowhere to lay your head after a hard day and this is horrible!
Coming on this trip is one of the greatest decisions I've made in my life! This trip has put us on our way to being global leaders in combating social justice issues. It has made some of us activist, educators, some thirsty for knowledge and change, it has made some prioritize, it has made us re-evaluate what we do in our lives and the effect it has on others (like ignoring the homeless on the streets when they ask for a little change, you do see them so why not acknowledge them?). It has re-affirmed others knowledge of homelessness and re-affirmed others faith in the system by simply knowing that someone on Capitol Hill cares about the issues of homelessness and willing to listen to our concerns. Some of us came on this trip having little or no knowledge about homelessness and we're leaving having gotten first-hand account of homelessness from hardworking and empowering individuals which has inspired us to want to do more.
Jonetta Morris
Coming on this trip, I knew I was going to be "helping" the homeless, but I didn't know how much I would interact with them. I had no idea that I was going to be working with them (as they are not helpless), instead of "helping them." I believed I was going to be "helping" the homeless, although my heart was in the right place, I believed I had something to offer, I believed I had some divine knowledge I would've offered, a wonderful talent I would've performed to give anyone who interacted with me a sense of peace and happiness! As I approached these homeless individuals, I came to see that I had so many prejudices that I had not been aware of. These homeless individuals weren't at all helpless! They are able-bodied people who are trying to pull themselves back up with the little resources they have. Suddenly it became clear to me, I wasn't' here to help fight for them because they had already began fighting for themselves. I came to fight with them! I came to add on to the many voices that have already begun crying out that homelessness is preventable and unnecessary. I added on to their voices to make it louder, massive and stronger.
As I interacted with these men and women I saw that they were exactly like us. They had once been to college and lived in the dorms. they've gotten degrees, they had once been wealthy and loss it all because of the bad economy. They have families who love them deeply, they have nieces and nephews who still expect their uncles or aunties to bring home presents when they go home occasionally, and in return these homeless uncles or aunties try their best to find valuables to take home to their loved ones! They have hope for the future, dreams for their lives and goals to achieve. These individuals are just like us, they laugh just the same and being homeless has not killed their spirits (thank God). They still joke and know how to be social. We're all the same, the only difference is that at the end of the day we have a place to rest our heads, we have a home and a bed to go back to, and they don't. I should add that I "helped" one individual at one of the shelters by giving him a hug! A man asked me for a hug as we were leaving and I was honored and couldn't believe he had asked me for a hug! I jumped on him and didn't want to let him go. I made someone smile that day from giving him a hug, I will be a part of his story for those few seconds I spent hugging him, that is wonderful!!
Working with these great men and women wasn't enough for us Hamline students. We had to see what it was like on the outside. In order to begin this story, I would like to clarify that, I wouldn't say I now understand fully what it is like to be homeless, because it would be an impossible thing, but I now have a better sense of what being homeless is like than when I first came on this trip. We spent twenty four (24) hours on the streets of DC learning what exactly goes on outside of what we've been told and outside of what we've seen from afar. For the first time in my life I had experienced what life would be like if I had nowhere to go. Please keep in mind that this does not mean I fully understand what being homeless is like, as this was not the intention of our trip. In order to be an advocate, we had to know more than what the textbook or statistics offered, we met the homeless and spoke to them and heard their concerns, they told us about themselves and treated some of us as friends, proving to us that we were all just the same and that there is no reason that anyone shouldn't get the best of life like we had been given one way or the other. We went to the different sites where they offered assistance for homeless men and women and saw what they are doing to help. We went in public areas to see how we would be treated if we seemed like the stereotypical homeless man or woman and applied to jobs to see how we would be treated. The answers were shocking.
We went into the fancy restaurants and bookstores and it was clear that we didn't belong. I went into a bookstore with my partner and I had a sleeping bag inside a trash bag and this attracted attention. I walked in and the cashier was looking to see what I would do next. I took up many magazines and sat in a hidden corner where I wouldn't be seen, but just when I took a seat, one a sales person came to another man who was sitting a few steps away from me, and told him to leave. He seemed as if he was homeless and seeing this broke my heart! We left the bookstore after about 3 hours and the same sales person who had told the man to get out looked at us and seemed very upset because we had entered this store and looked in every magazine we wanted without buying anything and as he caught a glimpse of my huge trash bag I said, "bye", but he didn't respond! As we passed through the streets I saw people watching me and I almost felt like I had to prove myself worthy of being in the same space as others with better clothes. Why should I have to prove myself worthy when it is clear that we are both of the same species with only the differences in appearance? People on the streets walked past the homeless as if they didn't even exist, the homeless asked for change and some would give them and some pretended like they didn't hear them, there is nowhere to go at the end of the day, there's nowhere to lay your head after a hard day and this is horrible!
Coming on this trip is one of the greatest decisions I've made in my life! This trip has put us on our way to being global leaders in combating social justice issues. It has made some of us activist, educators, some thirsty for knowledge and change, it has made some prioritize, it has made us re-evaluate what we do in our lives and the effect it has on others (like ignoring the homeless on the streets when they ask for a little change, you do see them so why not acknowledge them?). It has re-affirmed others knowledge of homelessness and re-affirmed others faith in the system by simply knowing that someone on Capitol Hill cares about the issues of homelessness and willing to listen to our concerns. Some of us came on this trip having little or no knowledge about homelessness and we're leaving having gotten first-hand account of homelessness from hardworking and empowering individuals which has inspired us to want to do more.
Jonetta Morris
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Last Supper
Hey guys (and girls of COURSE!!), this post is being brought to you live from the Hostel in Chicago. I'm your host for the day, Ella!
Today is our last full day here in Chi-Town, and let me tell you, we are going to miss it! From Little Black Pearl, Drama Girls, and Insight Arts, there were so many things going on this week. My feet are DEAD, but MAN do I feel good about it!
So, this morning we went on a tour with the Chicago Public Art Group, which is a group located a couple blocks away from our wonderful "home" that help fund and plan out public art pieces. Most of these are murals, with some being sculpture. We went around to 5 different sites in the city, to see some of the finished products. We saw a great one (and my favorite out of the ones that we saw) on the side of a transitional home for families. For anyone into politics, it's the place where the Ex-Senator Blagojevich's wife worked for a couple years. This mural, and some others that we saw, were done in a new style called bricolage, which is like a mosaic, but instead of planning out each piece of tile, it was all just done on the wall, and then filled in with colored grout. (the pic above is part of the one that we saw! It was taken from my phone... but it's still pretty good quality.) We saw some other great murals, including one done by a famous spray-paint artist, whose name I can't spell, but his tag name is Static. Then we came upon the last one that we talked about, which is located between two VERY racially different neighborhoods who are constantly in gang wars. This piece of art was done by Static, who is African-American, and also by a Hispanic lady. They are both from the different warring neighborhoods, and came together to collaborate on this mural. It was originally going to be a very poignant mural, but then 2 weeks before the production was going to start, the principal of the school where the mural was being placed changed her mind on the message she wanted to send. Instead, they had to weaken the image, and create a mural based off of education. It still had some racial issues, but it seemed very bubble-gum.
The next thing that we did today was to go back to Insight Arts. We started out the day by meeting with the founder, Craig, and hearing his story and how he started the organization back in 1992. We then participated in a staff meeting, which was pretty interesting. We saw how the everyone knew pretty much everything about the org, and how the organization of the org worked (lol, that was a weird statement). Then, we took a little break outside, by walking up and down the street in search of people who would come to the event that we helped host that night. The event was a great success in my opinion! It was an Open Mic night, but only for women. Aubrey and I acted as the MC's for the evening, and Simone and Randa collaborated to create a poem to perform. Then all the women who work at Insight Arts performed, along with a couple people from the street. The acts were so varied, from dance to poems. And the poems: from war to race. It was a great time!
I'm really sad that we now have to go home tomorrow... These girls have been a great inspiration to me. I can't believe how fantastic our reflections have been at night, and how much we've all connected. We can laugh about pretty much anything now!! I'm SOOOO happy that I chose to go on a CSI trip!!
Ok, signing off now! Peace Out Hens and Roosters! See ya on the flip side!
Ella
PS. For supper tonight we had soup. And bread. So it was very "last supper" ish. Just thought you'd ALL want to know what we've been eating. :-)
Respect
Greetings from Chicago!
Today brought our group to a new work site called 'Insight Arts' in Roger's Park neighborhood. The neighborhoods here continue to fascinate me in their distinctiveness, diversity, and communal pride...
So, at Insight Arts, we participated in a Senior Arts program which was a very inspiring and necessary experience because it seemed to re-awaken the group to the importance of RESPECTING your elders!! I don't know why it is becoming so difficult for our society to view the elderly as human beings, but it is truly a disgrace. It seems like we have less and less time to devote to our own family members! I think the entire group would agree that it is necessary to re-invent the way we see the elderly community in the United States.
Personally, I connected with a woman named Amber who explained to me how art has helped her manage her anger and stress. This ensured me, for the 50th time on this trip, that I do want to pursue a career relevant to art therapy.
The entire group benefited greatly from our experience today, and the members of our trip keep reaching new levels of understanding with each passing day.
Thanks for reading.
Love,
Randa S.
Today brought our group to a new work site called 'Insight Arts' in Roger's Park neighborhood. The neighborhoods here continue to fascinate me in their distinctiveness, diversity, and communal pride...
So, at Insight Arts, we participated in a Senior Arts program which was a very inspiring and necessary experience because it seemed to re-awaken the group to the importance of RESPECTING your elders!! I don't know why it is becoming so difficult for our society to view the elderly as human beings, but it is truly a disgrace. It seems like we have less and less time to devote to our own family members! I think the entire group would agree that it is necessary to re-invent the way we see the elderly community in the United States.
Personally, I connected with a woman named Amber who explained to me how art has helped her manage her anger and stress. This ensured me, for the 50th time on this trip, that I do want to pursue a career relevant to art therapy.
The entire group benefited greatly from our experience today, and the members of our trip keep reaching new levels of understanding with each passing day.
Thanks for reading.
Love,
Randa S.
New Orleans: Our busy Thursday!
Today we planned a full work day of returning to Miss Gertrude's house. We left about 7:45ish today but not before eating some of Wendy's cooking! She made breakfast for us today consisting of eggs, bacon, and biscuits! When we got to Miss Gertrude's house, she was looking fancy for her doctor's appointment. Before she left, we gave her a stack of about 10,000 paint samples (haha not really but it was a big stack;she had quite the variety!) to choose from for the walls of the 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, kitchen, and living room. She left to her appointment with the many paint samples to look through while waiting :) Our main goal today for the house was to prime the front room, touch up priming for the back room and kitchen, and finish texturing (giving the wall something other than a smooth plain feeling) the large dining room. Three of our group focused first on the texturing and finished that up- were hoping for it to dry fast so that we could even maybe prime that today, but due to the humidity down here, it didn't allow us to prime this today. We will do this tomorrow. The rest of the group (6) all worked in the front living room priming all the walls and ceiling. When we finished this, we went to the back room and kitchen and touched up on some spots. That second layer really made the walls look clean and nice and really brightened up the rooms, seeing as the only light we have comes from her windows (she has gone without electricity since the hurricane-4 years). After this, we went to apply a second coat of primer to the front room but again, the humidity did not allow the walls to dry that fast. The day went by really fast because after hearing what part of the group told us all last night about how Miss Gertrude showed them where she had her daycare business (which is not in business now) and had a hard time talking about how this affected her life, we all got an even great boost of motivation to get this job done for her because she has seen numerous volunteer groups come in for years and still, the progress is only at texturing the walls... it is sad, really. That is why today we went in really focused, knowing our duties, and having a better feel as to what she experienced and has had to go through these last 4 years. When she returned from her doctor's appointment at about 4 (a typical day for us is working at her house from 8am-4pm), she came with 4 paint samples picked out- antique white for the living room, light blue for the bathrooms, light green for the the bedrooms, and light yellow for the kitchen. She was so thankful that we had got this much done for her and that her house was finally getting some color in there! We left shortly after, telling her we'd see her tomorrow same time. We then went to buy the paint so that it was all ready for tomorrow! We are all excited to see how nice that color is going to look and how happy it is going to make her. Tomorrow is our last day of working at her house so we are going to be efficient but it would be great to see all the coats of primer and paint done so we could see the final result :) After this, the next volunteer group that comes in will probably be helping to install her new flooring, in which after, she will be able to move back in all of her belongings that she is keeping in storage (and has been for 4 years!)! Can't wait to see tomorrow's result even though it will be sad departing from Miss Gertrude who has given us a better idea of how Katrina affected just not the homes of residents, but also jobs, families, and overall, daily lives.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A New Kind of Motivation
This is my fourth trip down to New Orleans, following Hurricane Katrina - this year has been a lot like previous trips, but also very different from any trip before. A couple days ago, a student wondered aloud, what it must feel like to live in the conditions that several do in New Orleans, well yesterday, a few students in our group had an opportunity to see some of the frustration of a New Orleans native. The person's whose house we are working on, was very vocal about how much she appreciates the help of volunteers, but also shared with us her frustration. She has not received help from the Road Home program, is still fighting to get full payments of insurance, has been taken advantage of by electricians and contractors, on top of losing everything she built and acquired over the last 30 years. I could feel her frustration and those of us, who heard her story, were left speechless, but motivated to work even harder to do whatever we can to help her.
There is something that I have heard during this trip, from the people of New Orleans, that I am still not sure how to respond to. Many people, have talked about plans and actions being taken so that if something similar to Hurricane Katrina happens in the future, that they will be able to take care of themselves and their communities. While this is great, it is underscored with the fact that these individuals, groups and communities - feel that it is necessary because they can not depend on anyone else. It is as if they can not trust or rely upon (some) community organizations, community leaders, and especially not the government (local, state and national) to come to their assistance during their times of need.
I am amazed at the advancements of individual groups - but sad that the smaller groups do not feel as full members of the larger community.
There is something that I have heard during this trip, from the people of New Orleans, that I am still not sure how to respond to. Many people, have talked about plans and actions being taken so that if something similar to Hurricane Katrina happens in the future, that they will be able to take care of themselves and their communities. While this is great, it is underscored with the fact that these individuals, groups and communities - feel that it is necessary because they can not depend on anyone else. It is as if they can not trust or rely upon (some) community organizations, community leaders, and especially not the government (local, state and national) to come to their assistance during their times of need.
I am amazed at the advancements of individual groups - but sad that the smaller groups do not feel as full members of the larger community.
DC walking in wet shoes
From the reflections @ what was hard about the homeless challenge just before it ended:
People didn't acknowledge me, they didn't look at me, I didn't exist
hard to know that i had a place to go
i felt really sad
i was being harassed and others intervened, chivalry isn't dead people took care of me
there's a community on the streets that isn't in the shelters, you don't get to choose, in a shelter, who you hang with or sleep close to
i felt really loved, welcomed with information
i heard people's stories all night long
there's such a lack of choice and control over your life, if you're a vegetarian you eat what people give you (i ate meat for the first time in over a year) and you have to get to a place on "time" in order to eat anything
surprised at how much i stereotyped "normal" people
reading body language was extremely important
telling my story about being on the street i felt pulled into being a FAILURE
i met people who were very, very well educated
it's mentally and physically exhausting to be on the streets, so who is really lazy really???
there's no such thing as "time" and there's no brain capacity past survival, sort of
loosing time was hard, what day is it, what year is it, i need to eat at 6, what is 6?
the reflections on the ethics of walking in wet shoes and the discussions with elected officials and our stories will come later shoes are wet because it's raining on the street.
good night
People didn't acknowledge me, they didn't look at me, I didn't exist
hard to know that i had a place to go
i felt really sad
i was being harassed and others intervened, chivalry isn't dead people took care of me
there's a community on the streets that isn't in the shelters, you don't get to choose, in a shelter, who you hang with or sleep close to
i felt really loved, welcomed with information
i heard people's stories all night long
there's such a lack of choice and control over your life, if you're a vegetarian you eat what people give you (i ate meat for the first time in over a year) and you have to get to a place on "time" in order to eat anything
surprised at how much i stereotyped "normal" people
reading body language was extremely important
telling my story about being on the street i felt pulled into being a FAILURE
i met people who were very, very well educated
it's mentally and physically exhausting to be on the streets, so who is really lazy really???
there's no such thing as "time" and there's no brain capacity past survival, sort of
loosing time was hard, what day is it, what year is it, i need to eat at 6, what is 6?
the reflections on the ethics of walking in wet shoes and the discussions with elected officials and our stories will come later shoes are wet because it's raining on the street.
good night
beginning of the challenge
The past two days have been the longest and most exhausted days of the whole trip. We did the homeless challenge from the National Coalition for the Homeless - we had to disguise ourselves as homeless people and spend 24 hours on the street. It was hard staying on the street all day, having no money and nowhere to go. We tried to do panhandling from random people from the road. However, the non profit organizations in DC are doing a good job providing food and assistance to the homeless people. There are a lot of shelters where people come to eat. In the evening, there's a soup truck that comes by the park to provide food for people. We learned that if people go hungry in DC then it's their fault because there are a great deal of resources for homeless people. We have been volunteering in a lot of shelters where we see a lot of people come, and eat free food.
After one night of sleeping on the street, we came to talk to MN senator, Amy Klobuchar, and our representatives Betty McCollum and Tim Walt about homelessness issues.
P/S: There are a lot of great stories about our challenge that we are willing to share but we are so tired and sleepy now, so this is the end of the blog for today!
This is from Quynh...the only person up to explain to Sharon why all the lights just went off.
After one night of sleeping on the street, we came to talk to MN senator, Amy Klobuchar, and our representatives Betty McCollum and Tim Walt about homelessness issues.
P/S: There are a lot of great stories about our challenge that we are willing to share but we are so tired and sleepy now, so this is the end of the blog for today!
This is from Quynh...the only person up to explain to Sharon why all the lights just went off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
