One Brick New Orleans Trip

This trip was definitely one of the best "alternative" vacations I've ever taken! One thing I will always remember about NOLA is that the people are so kind, even after having lived through so much. Once you've heard the stories from the residents of NOLA, you find yourself thinking of all that you truly have.

Q's thoughts:

When the public is presented with tragedy, their perception, and thus reality, is often shaped by the media. In the Katrina tragedy, we saw poignant videos and photos of victims struggling for survival on rooftops and in the Superdome. In the reconstruction aftermath, we often see vivid photos of people putting up framing for houses and layering bricks – items of high marketability. Well, as a guest working on behalf of One Brick, I just wanted to share some of my personal thoughts on what is really happening in the Katrina aftermath.

1. After 2.5 yrs, one town (I believe it was a middle to upper class area.) finally has ONE grocery store, ONE drugstore, yet still NO post office! For the corporate entities, their existence provides jobs, but they cannot re-enter the region until there are enough residents to provide a suitable customer base to support their natural motivations for profits. Of course, the vicious cycle contains the component in that people cannot live in areas without employment! Adding insult to injury, customer service is at a disadvantage because these scarce establishments do not have enough employees to mitigate lengthy wait lines and greater-than-normal patronage (hey, there's no where else to go!).

2. Rebuilding is not a glorious effort that is often marketed in the media. My team of 10 people took about 4 hours to clear storm drains on one residential street block. Not very "cool" from a mass public relations perspective, but our efforts summarize the work of thousands of volunteers who are literally rebuilding New Orleans "lot-by-lot." In 2.5 yrs, dirt and mud clogged these drains so severely that shrubbery, including a small tree stump, contributed to these blockages! Furthermore, we located a broken pipe that has been bleeding water for months!

3. In all facets of life, I've always believed that people are what "makes it happen" - from athletes on sport teams to workers in a professional environment. After 2 days on a week-long mission, I've been blessed to work with fine, kind-hearted individuals who have taken their time off and used personal funds to come to Camp Hope (the largest volunteer facility in the world with a capacity of over 1200 beds). What really impresses me is that most of these individuals are not "hippies" or tremendously "well-off" – they have "real" jobs and they still had the generosity to find time to care about their country and their fellow human being!

4. New Orleans famous French Quarter was not affected by Katrina (flooding or winds). If you're into wildlife (I've seen the most exotic plumages sans Mardi Gras. Furthermore, from what I hear, you can see the removing of "plumages" at various establishments on Bourbon St! - LOL) or the "wild life." (Again, Bourbon St has super gynormous daquiris and pizza by the slice!)

5. As we drove through the city, most of the homes were marked with an "X." The top quadrant had the date of inspected and the bottom quadrant was a count of the death toll – a very eerie and chilling reminder of the tragedy. Thankfully, most of the homes that I saw had a "0" in the bottom quadrant.

6. I questioned how much of an impact that I had in the New Orleans area. I will use this argument. If the presence of nuclear weapons are supposed to be a deterrent for war, then the presence of volunteers is a motivation for change and caring! One day, a woman in the neighborhood saw us working and pitched in for a solid few hours to help her community! If we weren't there, she probably would have just tried to keep normalcy in her own life.

Personally, if I lived in New Orleans and if I had the means, I would definitely have left. In addition to their warm expressions of gratitude for the volunteers, it's a tribute to the intestinal fortitude of residents of the area as they continue to fight to stay in THEIR HOMES!