EP Schools Help - New Orleans Hurricane Relief: 04/04/06

Greetings from Cindy

This morning we woke up to prepare to teach. We were a little surprised to be teaching on our spring break. This truly gave us a sense of the community and how they are adjusting to thier new world.

We doubled up to teach a classroom of about 23 students in a room that was 12 by 20 ft. It was amazing that they could fit everything and everyone in each room. They had recently reduced there classrooms of 35 to 23. Can you imagine that many children in one tiny room? It's unbelievable! This school had just opened this January which meant 4 additional months of no school for these kids. We were told that there are still children who are not in school today. We are all truly worried about them.

Our jobs consisted of teaching from 8:00 to 11:00. The teachers took this time for team building, which they have been unable to do. Each team of two was a bit overwhelmed by the energy of these first and second graders. We all came away with a variety of interesting stories. The number one things we all agree on is that we hope for the best for these children. Each student is very important and deserves an education. These little ones will stay in our thoughts and hearts!

After a morning of teaching we moved on to a half day vacation called a "Cultural Day." This means we were able to cruise around and see New Orleans. We spent the afternoon going out for lunch and looking at the ninth ward. The ninth ward was heavily flooded, reaching water depths of 12 to 20 feet. Can you begin to even image it? Each house was marked with an "X." The triangles within this "X" labeled different information such as; when the house was inspected, who inspected it, and the number of people found inside. Every single home in this area was condemned. There were several homes found in the middle of the street. The spray painted homes displayed the frustration of these homeless people. As we got out of the car to walk around, we could smell the dense mold. Only a few people were living in trailers outside their condemed homes. We were all concerned and surprised with the two children running around outside. They were barefoot and picking up debris from the garbage collected along the curb. At one point we stopped at a Walgreens that had just opened the week before for a snack. The cashier asked us where we were from and could not stop thanking us for coming down and helping. She kept saying, "Bless you!"

Visiting the school and the ninth ward was really an eye-opening experience. I think we are all glad to be able to witness the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and we will remember this for years to come. Hopefully, one day, we will be able to come back to see New Orleans up and running, with clean homes and streets, education for all children, and smiling faces.

Cindy

Answers to Questions

Here are some questions about New Orleans:

How many states, including Minnesota, did we travel through on our trip?

Eight. Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana

New Orleans is well known for its music. What types of music is it famous for?

Jazz, Dixieland, Cajun, Blues and others!

What body of water connects Minnesota to New Orleans?

The Mississippi River

What were the names of the two hurricanes that devasted the Gulf Coast last year?

Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita

How many words can you form from the letters in Louisiana?

Hi from Tricia

Monday, April 03, 2006

Many emotions were felt today as some of our group did work at the Boys and Girls Club and others did work at a mold-infested house in New Orleans. I was lucky to be in the small group that gutted the house of a single mom who is currently living in Atlanta, Georgia. She is living there while her house is being gutted and rebuilt. One of the most memorable things I saw today was on our drive to the house. Each house we drove by in this neighborhood had an X spray painted very largely on the front of the house showing four things: the date of the rescue, who inspected the house, if anyone was found in the house and if it was “all clear”. This hit me the most as I could more clearly imagine what the days following the hurricane must have been like. As we unloaded the tools from the van, a local man named Herman Brooks, who lives a block away from the house we were gutting, stopped and filled us in on the hours and days during and immediately following Katrina. How meaningful to hear this first hand. See the video footage for his amazing story.

The gutting consisted of tearing out moldy sheet rock, appliances, toilets and a washing machine filled with water and clothes from August. Needless to say there was an extremely bad odor coming from the washing machine and the house in general. We all wore respirators and goggles to protect ourselves – although some smells still floated through the respirators. The water had risen to about 5 feet in the house and about 9 feet from the street level. This area was very close to Lake Pontchartrane and as Herman explained, the water rose faster than anyone could imagine.

Tomorrow the Oak Point group is planning on helping at one of only three public schools now open in New Orleans. We are very excited to make a connection with kids in New Orleans.

One more thing, today was the first day that U.S. Mail in New Orleans was back to its regular schedule!

What a rewarding day!

Tricia