Day Five: Monday, January 9
After two days of intense gutting of houses and one night of relaxation in the French Quarter (which we practically had to ourselves), we had a relatively easy day today. We only took on four unique projects today, all of which involved greenspace work with Parkway Partners. We knew that we had to get to work early so we decided to have granola for breakfast so that we could sleep as late as possible. We also undertook our first massive laundry run: 233 pounds of drop-off laundry should be waiting for us first thing tomorrow morning! (The previous record at this laundry was 130 pounds, so we were high fiving all over the place whenever our growing tab added a substantial amount of weight to the total: "YES! Twenty more pounds!" The other patrons were clapping for us too.) We learned that there is no such thing as "same-day" drop-off laundry post-Katrina, as every coin-op machine in the city is constantly humming away. Despite the hassle of hauling all of that laundry to the shop, we had to take immediate action, as the smell of our bus was getting pretty putrid (there are other reasons for that foul smell as well, but we will save those stories for later).
Our main project, restoration of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial in New Orleans, turned out to be a restful and heartwarming job, but one that did not need 27 extra workers to be completed. So, we split our group geographically for the first time, and found ourselves missing each other quite a bit, along with the easy overlap of our task groups throughout the day. The MLK group was involved in a beautification project that really made a big difference at that park. Several other volunteers were there as well, and if we are lucky, the photographs taken by the Times-Picayune will include some of us in them.
The second portion of our group went to a different and smaller MLK memorial just down the road from the one mentioned above. They did lots of weeding, raking, digging, and mulching, but found that all of those tasks seemed really easy and relaxing compared to scooping wet debris and dealing with Fridge Tea. In general, the absence of totally disgusting smells was a welcome break from our intense but rewarding experiences over the weekend in the Ninth Ward.
The last set of our team members worked at and around the Parkway Partners headquarters, doing everything from fixing a broken fence line to grinding mulch to planting annuals. They, too, exclaimed over how restful and peaceful this workday felt compared to others.
Throughout the day, Shawny's cellphone rang and rang, as families from the Ninth Ward and beyond tried to secure our services in house-clearing some time in the month of January. Our available time cannot possibly accommodate all of the needs that were expressed. By the end of the day, Shawny's voice was so shot from all of these conversations (along with calling out instructions to navigate the bus through streets that are not quite in good enough shape to accommodate us) that it wouldn't quite register on the cellphone anymore. For one late evening call for "Miss Shawny," Mallory had to take over the phone and translate. We have discovered that there are a few agencies that will gut houses for free, so we will now have to shift into referral mode rather than appointment mode.
We were all glad to have an easier day -- especially emotionally -- but we also found ourselves moving a bit more slowly than our usual superhuman pace. It was clear that we needed something special to boost our spirits. We found that "something special" in the form of 70 pieces of Popeye's chicken, 18 large sides, and 10 2-liter bottles of Coke, Sprite, and Diet Coke. We spread out a big picnic lunch on the Parkway Partners lawn where we laughed, joked, talked, rested and threw greasy biscuits to each other across the circle. Jean joined us on the lawn, and we put work aside entirely for at least an hour or so. Nice.
After lunch, we fanned out again to complete the jobs we had started. Some of us started a new job: tending the community garden at the Neighborhood Gallery, around the corner from the PP headquarters. There we got to hang out with Saundra and Joshua Walker, the proprietors of the gallery and an adjoining community theater. We also got to learn about the wonders of okra, and the horrors of fireants.
At the end of the workday, we all gathered at the newly-refurbished MLK Memorial and sat in a circle for our homemade group worship service. Time got away from us and we didn't do what we had planned for Sunday afternoon, so we moved it to Monday. We sat in a circle and talked about what it takes to be worshipful when gathering people of different faiths in a context that is always framed by forces of destruction. Casey, Arthor, and Jorge all read passages out of a book by Mother Teresa, and talked about the relevance of those quotes to all that we are doing. Then we opened up the circle to a sharing of thanks, allowing people to use the time to express appreciation in whatever ways they saw fit. We found ourselves constantly discussing our gratitude for the unbelievable bond that we have forged, even though we are only a few days into our trip. In particular, we expressed thanks for the Verrips brothers, who drove a truck across country, allowing us to benefit from their tools, their skills, their talents, and their great senses of humor. We also talked about our great fortune in being able to say "yes" to so many important requests because we have the will, the energy, the time, and the commitment to serve everyone we possibly can. We were thankful for the many people who are "out there" following us, and whose words of encouragement warm our every evening (even when it is 33 degrees). And we were thankful that we can bring hope -- in admittedly small doses -- to the recovering patient that is the city of New Orleans.
We see that this city was overtaken by a supernatural force that left deep and painful scars. And we recognize that we, too, have become a supernatural force that can wash over this city (at least small portions of it) and soothe some of the pain.
Kayla enjoys her birthday dessert at the Asian Cajun restaurant in the French Quarter.
The topmost piece of the MLK Memorial.
When we arrived at the MLK Memorial today, there were many plants ready to go into the ground and plenty of mulch to be spread. The monument is on a common ground (median) in the middle of the city. These plants show new life in the city and were very much appreciated by all who passed by.
Together, Team Amazing and a group of city workers finished restoring the MLK monument site. It once again shines as a beautiful landmark in New Orleans. The honks and cheers that surrounded us all day indicate the residents seem to approve.
In between naps, Arthor works on repairing a fenceline damaged in the storm. The fence encloses the Parkway Partners tree lot and starter garden. One item growing in that garden today was sugar cane; Mario of Parkway Partners cut it up and let us all try it.
Chris works with Mario to set a new fence pole in cement.
Mal and Sal pull weeds in front of Parkway Partners. The overgrown shrubbery that we started with became a pristine garden.
Part of our group headed off with tools and smiles to clear debris and spread mulch on a neutral ground.
Vanessa F. uses some of our extended lunch break to catch up on journal writing.
Clockwise from the 1:00 point: Alli, Arthor, Courtney, Sal, Mal, Jorge, Elvia, and Fernando are all smiles after a lunch of Popeye's chicken.
Vanessa F., Rachel, and Courtney gather weeds while Marcia sneaks a shot in the community garden at the Neighborhood Gallery.
This evening we conducted a nondenominational service at the newly-landscaped Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Park. We all expressed how blessed we are to be with each other in NOLA.
After a long and relaxing southern day, we appreciated this lovely sunset.
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