NOLA 2014! Days 3-5

RUAB NOLA
by Zeenie Sharif 

January 10, 2014

For Day 2 of service at Green Light New Orleans, I was in a different group than Jenn, so I had a different experience. Our group’s experience was also rich in learning and meeting the residents of New Orleans. Our route took us from wealthier areas of the city to areas that had clearly been hit hard by Katrina and were still in the process of rebuilding. The most interesting part of the experience was the opportunity to go into the homes of seven different people and see glimpses of seven completely different lives, from a young New York woman who had only been in New Orleans six months to an eighty-three year-old great-grandmother, living in New Orleans and Texas her whole life.

One particular person who made an impact on me was a woman named Missy. Her home, like a typical New Orleans home, was one room behind another, but every room was filled to the brim with bright colors and decorations. Her front room was actually a bedroom, so as soon as you stepped into her home, you were stepping into her personal, private space. Something she said had an affect on all of us and truly summed up the authenticity and welcoming nature of the New Orleans residents: “Come into my home; come into my life.” It was wonderful to be able to talk to her, and she was grateful and excited about us helping to make her home more energy-efficient.

In front of Green Light's Headquarters

In Missy's home

That night, we had some traditional New Orleans po’boys and were able to explore some of the city, although it was ridiculously wet and foggy. Green Light New Orleans and the people we were able to meet helped make this day memorable and impactful.

January 11, 2014

We were extremely lucky to have such a great end to our trip in New Orleans. The day started off well because the weather was beautiful, and we were getting to volunteer at NOLA for Life Day. NOLA for Life is an initiative that New Orleans mayor, Mitch Landrieu, to help inspire and work with the youth of the city to help “flip the script” on the high murder rates and street violence in New Orleans. NOLA for Life Day is a huge community day when volunteers from various non-profits (including Green Light!) and residents of New Orleans come out and work on projects in the A.L. Davis Park to clean and beautify it.

Our connection with NOLA for Life Day was actually through a Rutgers and Alt Breaks alum named Dan, who was stationed in New Orleans through Teach for America. He was extremely friendly and was able to introduce us to Mayor Landrieu. The mayor, like everyone else, was so welcoming and appreciative of us coming to help out; he baptized us as citizens of New Orleans and requested a photo with us. It was an honor to see someone in a position as he is being so down-to-earth and wanting to get to know us.

With Mayor Landrieu!

Most of us worked on something really cool: building benches to put around the park. I worked on a bench with a fellow group member, Rachel, and a teenager from New Orleans named Liam. It was a really awesome experience to figure out how to put together a bench and be able to use heavy duty equipment! It was also cool to talk to someone our age about his experience in the city and with Katrina, but also to talk to someone our age in general. Liam was so nice and friendly, and we had a great time working with him. Being able to see our bench complete at the end of the process was such a great feeling; we were able to sit on and see others sit on a bench we made. It’s a different feeling when you truly can see the fruits of your labor and understand how you’re making a contribution. Other members of our group also built benches and planted trees in the park.

Workin' hard on our benches

The finished product!

That night, we had some authentic New Orleans cuisine downtown at Chartres House for our last meal. It was a really cool place and the food was awesome! Of course, we had to stop at Cafe du Monde once more for beignets, hot chocolate, and coffee before heading back to the hotel to pack up for our departure early the next morning.

January 12, 2014

We had an early flight out this morning, so we were rustled awake, quickly packed up our things, and headed to the airport. We flew through security, confirming our beliefs that every airport is more efficient than Newark, and were at the gate for our flight in plenty of time. Back home, everyone’s bags arrived (yay!) and we all sadly departed.

Despite all the bumps in the beginning of our trip, we all agreed at our last reflection that our struggles are what made the trip so memorable. We bonded so much as a group and appreciated our time in New Orleans that much more. I realized that my time in NOLA showed me just a taste of the service that can be done in the city -- and in any city -- and only made my already-strong love of service stronger. I couldn’t be more thankful for the experience, for all the people I met and the friendships I made, and I wouldn’t have had the trip any other way. Thank you to my incredible site leaders and staff partner, my wonderful group, and Rutgers Alt Breaks!

NOLA 2014! Days 1-3

RUAB NOLA
by Jennifer Galati

The flight that left without us :(

January 5, 2014

So, technically this was supposed to be the first day of our trip. It would mainly be traveling, but this was the day we were supposed to arrive in New Orleans. We all arrived at the airport in the early hours of the morning (or the late hours of the night, however you wanna look at it) and were pumped for our trip. We thought we had ample amount of time to get on our plane, but boy were we wrong. After getting held up in bag check, we all were anxious on line of the security check. Once we got checked we sprinted to our gate, which happened to be the farthest one. Unfortunately, when we got there, to our dismay, the door was closed. What sucked the most was that we were 10 minutes early for boarding time! After that we hung around the airport for hours trying to figure out what we were going to do and if we were even going to be able to go. We were all upset, but were still hopeful.



January 8, 2014

ROUND TWO: Luckily, everything worked out and we were able to go on our trip. Sadly, one of our members couldn’t join us, but we still soldiered on.  Everything ran smoothly, we made our flights, we got our rental cars, and we got our luggage that was until we got to the house we were supposed to be staying at. When we arrived at the organization’s house, we were all so excited, but what we saw inside still our excitement. The house was a bit messy, didn’t have enough space for us, and was kind of unsafe. Again we felt unease and disappointment. We weren’t sure what we were going to do and just wanted to start doing service. Thankfully our team had the greatest site leaders (Val, Jocelyn, and Nicole,) who basically re-planned our entire trip in the span of a few hours.

So, we ended up staying in a hotel and ordering pizza that night. We all were exhausted and ready to do service the next day.

We made it! With bags in hand!

January 9, 2014

On this day we worked with the Lower Nine Organization. We got to paint the interior of a house that they were building for a family who lost their home because of Katrina. The house was located in the Lower Nine district, the area that got hit the worst, and the neighborhoods definitely humbled and shocked us. There were only a few houses left standing in what used to be lively neighborhoods. Around the house that we were working on were rubble and a few homes.

We spent the entire day painting and finished the entire interior of the house. We all felt a great feeling of pride. When we finished we went back to the Lower Nine house and ate dinner with the members of the organization. They were very welcoming and fed us a delicious taco dinner. We were able to speak to them about all there experiences and learn about what they had accomplished. When we were leaving their house, we witnessed a mini block party going on down the street. People were dancing in the street listening to music. That sight proved that the people who lived in the Lower Nine had a great sense of community that wasn’t lost because of the storm.

Hard at work painting a house in Lower Nine

When we got back to our hotel we washed up and then got delicious beignets, coffee, and hot chocolate at the famous Café Du Monde. There was some great team bonding that night.

Our first time at Cafe du Monde

January 10, 2014

Today we worked with the organization Project Green Light. This organization gives more energy efficient and cost efficient light bulbs to households across New Orleans. Our group was split into two so each team did a different route. My team went all around New Orleans implanting light bulbs in people’s homes.

The first woman we met was named Rosetta. She was an older woman who really touched us with her pride and thankfulness towards life in general. She was so happy to see us helping out and even though she had just gotten surgery, she was so thankful for the blessed life she lives. After Rosetta we met many other great people who told us all about their Hurricane Katrina experiences. Many of them got displaced during the hurricane, either to others states or other sections of the city. Everyone had a unique story.

The thing that stood out most to my group was the contrast in the city. We witnessed areas that had a mansion next to a house that was destroyed. Then there were some places areas that weren’t built up, but a street over were thriving. It was a strange juxtaposition to which we still don’t know the reason.

At the end of our service we met up with our other teammates and went back to our hotel to wash up. After washing up we got po’ boys at a local deli, went down Bourbon Street, and travelled down to the Mississippi River. It was super foggy though, so we couldn’t see much, but it was a fun time.

Filling out paperwork with a NOLA resident

Screwing in a lightbulb with Rosetta!