Tomorrow is our last day of work with the St. Bernard Project. This week has been a little different than normal as I haven't had volunteers. On Monday, I actually worked by myself for the first time, and it was a quite a change from the typical day, where I would usually concentrate on being available for questions. I was able to install an entire floor in one room in just a few hours, which was a great accomplishment and way to start out the week. Tuesday through Thursday this week I am working with 4 other site supervisors as we all complete base boards and doors at the finishing stage.
Not much more to say on that, but I'm sure I will after tomorrow when I've spent my last day at the Seiler House.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Jazz Fest 09
Jazz Fest was quite an event this past weekend. Five of us drove down, received our volunteer passes for parking, and enjoyed some of the festival before we began our volunteer shift at 3pm. Our main objective was to work at the T-shirt booth and retrieve many a jazz fest collector's shirts as they were requested from fest-goers. It was interesting to notice that some folks who stopped by bought one of each kind, spending up to $200 in all. Personally, I'm all about the food, but to each their own.
To give you an idea of how it works, there are several stages set up with different bands at each throughout the day. Tents, crafts, food stands, store tents and more are all around throughout the festival, and you could easily spend the entire day enjoying everything there. Many folks would set up blankets or lawn chairs and stake out their area for the day. Others roamed around from stage to stage depending on what band was playing, and others seemed to be there simply for the t-shirts. In any case, it's a big event for everyone who visits.
Anyway, after a bit, four of us were pulled to help in the record tent/store where we made ourselves available to answer questions about where to find artists in the shelves. The CD tent sells the music of all of the artists that are scheduled to perform at Jazz Fest this year. Off the top of my head, some of the bands that are performing are Dave Matthews, Bon Jovi, and Earth, Wind, and Fire. During our shift in the CD tent, we were able to take a quick break to run over to one of the main stages to watch the Dave Matthews Band perform. It was packed, of course, so we weren't very close, but you could hear the music loud and clear.
We also saw actor Taye Diggs stroll by our T-shirt tent. One of the jazz fest volunteer staff made sure to run over and get a closer look to identify our suspicions, and we were right. The magnitude and popularity of Jazz Fest was obvious on Sunday, and it was great to be able to see it for the first time. We volunteer again on Saturday for the final weekend of the festival, and this time it will be in the morning, so we're looking forward to enjoying some more of the festival, listening to more bands, and also going out in the city that evening. If there's more to say, you know I'll write it here. :)
To give you an idea of how it works, there are several stages set up with different bands at each throughout the day. Tents, crafts, food stands, store tents and more are all around throughout the festival, and you could easily spend the entire day enjoying everything there. Many folks would set up blankets or lawn chairs and stake out their area for the day. Others roamed around from stage to stage depending on what band was playing, and others seemed to be there simply for the t-shirts. In any case, it's a big event for everyone who visits.
Anyway, after a bit, four of us were pulled to help in the record tent/store where we made ourselves available to answer questions about where to find artists in the shelves. The CD tent sells the music of all of the artists that are scheduled to perform at Jazz Fest this year. Off the top of my head, some of the bands that are performing are Dave Matthews, Bon Jovi, and Earth, Wind, and Fire. During our shift in the CD tent, we were able to take a quick break to run over to one of the main stages to watch the Dave Matthews Band perform. It was packed, of course, so we weren't very close, but you could hear the music loud and clear.
We also saw actor Taye Diggs stroll by our T-shirt tent. One of the jazz fest volunteer staff made sure to run over and get a closer look to identify our suspicions, and we were right. The magnitude and popularity of Jazz Fest was obvious on Sunday, and it was great to be able to see it for the first time. We volunteer again on Saturday for the final weekend of the festival, and this time it will be in the morning, so we're looking forward to enjoying some more of the festival, listening to more bands, and also going out in the city that evening. If there's more to say, you know I'll write it here. :)
Monday, April 27, 2009
French Quarter Percussion
I've decided I'm going to learn how to play the steel drums when I have the opportunity. I'd love to be able to play in a steel drum band at some point in my life. At the French Quarter Festival a couple of weeks ago we stopped by a record store, and were able to enjoy a moment of it, so its time to share so you can enjoy a bit too.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Day of Service - HandsOn New Orleans
Today was our Day of Service, where teams all over work on various projects where they're located. We worked with HandsOn New Orleans once again, and I know the team agrees that this is probably one of our favorite 1-day projects so far. CityYear, another service organization through AmeriCorps were the coordinators of the event, and we were able to help staff some of the set-up for a group known as, if I remember correctly, CityYear Heroes. Kids get together with there group leaders and get involved with community service all around the New Orleans area. I'll include a video of them doing a cheer below.
We all worked in the courtyard known as the Columbus St. Children's Center in New Orleans, which was located at Pray the Word, Say the Word Ministries, where we painted murals, benches, and worked on soiling for plants. To give you some background, the church courtyard and indoor area has become an activity/safe area for kids and young teens who are essentially living on their own. In most cases, they no longer have parents due to a number of factors, and they are able to come by, enjoy some food, and have an area to hang out, play, and interact. A lovely, and perhaps the most joyful woman I've ever met, is the Reverend there and runs the ministry, finds what she can for the kids, and cooks each day to say thanks to those who come by to contribute.
Our objective for the day was to paint murals on the walls and sheds. I'll include some pictures below of what our team came up with. Some of our team members also painted benches, and our own Seven created a masterpiece that blew all of us away, including the Reverend. I am including her painting as well here, because nobody should miss out on this, our resident artist. It's certainly something, especially when you compare it to my tree and ABC:
We had a fantastic day. I'm now catching up on everything I can while I have tonight free. Sneak peak for the next (and final!) week: We'll be working on finishing for the house. I have volunteers only Monday this week, and then there will be 5 site supervisors including myself for the rest of the week as we won't have any volunteers. A change of pace to be working solely with staff, but it is typical at this stage in the building process as volunteers aren't necessarily needed for finishing. More on that to come!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A Day Like Today
It's a day that's been happening a lot. I'm not sure where the energy is coming from, but it's keeping us all going. I figured I'd write a bit about the Project and the day in the life, and all that jazz, since I haven't done that in a while. Today started out as a typical Wednesday - PT at 5:30am, my daily self-made egg sandwich from the cafeteria, and then off to work at 7:45. We've got a fun group from New York/Connecticut this week, and we've gotten a lot done. I've gotten to the point where I may have to slow them all down before we run out of things to do. :)
Today it hit me just how much has been done and what has been accomplished with the house. I walked into my work site 7 weeks ago to a house that was held up only by framing and studs. We've gone through installing insulation, putting up drywall, all stages of mudding and sanding, and this week texturized, primed, and painted, all of which we'll most definitely finish tomorrow. It reached the stage today where rooms have taken form. There are actual walls, no more holes or seams, and you would never guess what stages each room has gone through if you didn't know the stages of construction. In fact, I almost forgot everything I learned in that moment.
But in all seriousness, it felt great to know that somehow I managed to train and lead volunteers to build all of this - a feat that seemed unrealistic to me at the start of this thing. Go me!
Anyway, in even more sincerity, it is really the volunteers who have gotten the house this far. I've been lucky enough to have fantastic volunteers each week who care so much about what they're doing and just want to get to work. It's motivating and gives even more meaning to my role this round.
Back to the timeline -- We wrapped up at 4:30 with the volunteers, closed up shop and headed back to Camp Hope. Today, all 6 NCCC teams (from various campuses) staying at Camp Hope helped with taking down the second floor rooms. The assistant camp director organized this into a competition, where each team was given a room to break down. The objective was to take out the ceiling tiles, insulation, mattresses, and bed frames and to move them to storage in respective locations. First team to finish would be treated to custard from Willy D's, a shop in St. Bernard that sells a kind of ice cream I've never had anywhere else.
It was a good time. Badger 6 spent two hours removing the ceiling, swimming in insulation, carrying and transferring lots of 2X4's and bed frames, and attempting to take apart wooden bunks, and sweating out all 8 glasses of water in our systems. Many splinters later, we still have much to do (to be continued next Wednesday), and we're crossing our fingers for some more tools.
As we were all moving items and sweating, a few of the young volunteers who were staying at the camp took it upon themselves to grab a couple of trays and cups of water from the cafeteria, which they held out for us in the hallways as we huffed and puffed by. Very sweet of them, and extremely helpful, and another reason I love being around volunteers, and anyone who is giving up their time to help others. Things that may seem small but really aren't. That sort of thing. It's grand.
And after all of that, sleep is the next thing on the agenda. More to come, and pictures to be uploaded, as soon as I have a chance!
NOTE of Excitement: JAZZ FEST is this weekend. Dave Matthews is playing, Bon Jovi is playing, many others, AND we're volunteering there, and it will be free, and I'm beyond excited. I love New Orleans.
Today it hit me just how much has been done and what has been accomplished with the house. I walked into my work site 7 weeks ago to a house that was held up only by framing and studs. We've gone through installing insulation, putting up drywall, all stages of mudding and sanding, and this week texturized, primed, and painted, all of which we'll most definitely finish tomorrow. It reached the stage today where rooms have taken form. There are actual walls, no more holes or seams, and you would never guess what stages each room has gone through if you didn't know the stages of construction. In fact, I almost forgot everything I learned in that moment.
But in all seriousness, it felt great to know that somehow I managed to train and lead volunteers to build all of this - a feat that seemed unrealistic to me at the start of this thing. Go me!
Anyway, in even more sincerity, it is really the volunteers who have gotten the house this far. I've been lucky enough to have fantastic volunteers each week who care so much about what they're doing and just want to get to work. It's motivating and gives even more meaning to my role this round.
Back to the timeline -- We wrapped up at 4:30 with the volunteers, closed up shop and headed back to Camp Hope. Today, all 6 NCCC teams (from various campuses) staying at Camp Hope helped with taking down the second floor rooms. The assistant camp director organized this into a competition, where each team was given a room to break down. The objective was to take out the ceiling tiles, insulation, mattresses, and bed frames and to move them to storage in respective locations. First team to finish would be treated to custard from Willy D's, a shop in St. Bernard that sells a kind of ice cream I've never had anywhere else.
It was a good time. Badger 6 spent two hours removing the ceiling, swimming in insulation, carrying and transferring lots of 2X4's and bed frames, and attempting to take apart wooden bunks, and sweating out all 8 glasses of water in our systems. Many splinters later, we still have much to do (to be continued next Wednesday), and we're crossing our fingers for some more tools.
As we were all moving items and sweating, a few of the young volunteers who were staying at the camp took it upon themselves to grab a couple of trays and cups of water from the cafeteria, which they held out for us in the hallways as we huffed and puffed by. Very sweet of them, and extremely helpful, and another reason I love being around volunteers, and anyone who is giving up their time to help others. Things that may seem small but really aren't. That sort of thing. It's grand.
And after all of that, sleep is the next thing on the agenda. More to come, and pictures to be uploaded, as soon as I have a chance!
NOTE of Excitement: JAZZ FEST is this weekend. Dave Matthews is playing, Bon Jovi is playing, many others, AND we're volunteering there, and it will be free, and I'm beyond excited. I love New Orleans.
French Quarter Festivalities
I'm in the midst of two straight weeks of work and service projects, with our first day off this Friday. It's been productive and we've had a blast throughout, but its fairly evident that a break will be welcome, as all of our team . Fortunately, it's all been worth it. Work, as always, is something new every week and something new to learn, and we had a great Independent Service Project (ISP) over the weekend that I volunteered our team for.
This past week was a bit atypical as we worked on Saturday for the Project. Immediately after work on Saturday, the team drove into the city for the French Quarter Festival, where we volunteered. The FQF happens annually, and its a free festival with music, food, artwork, etc... that is staffed almost completely by volunteers. We participated by walking though various sections of the French Quarter and asking folks to take surveys about their time at the festival.
The following day was another day of volunteering for the team - same idea, all of those surveys. The hours were a bit longer and we were able to see the festival during the day which was nice.
We held our final CAP event as well -- Harper and I set up a table with information right in the Chartre Street Mall. We spoke with a ton of people about NCCC, the weather was beautiful, and we were able to enjoy the music and people-watch.
All in all, a great time at the festival, but we were exhausted, and it wasn't long after we got back to Camp Hope that we crashed for the night to gear up for a new week of volunteers. I've realized I love the French Quarter more and more every time I go. Can't wait for Jazz fest! :)
This past week was a bit atypical as we worked on Saturday for the Project. Immediately after work on Saturday, the team drove into the city for the French Quarter Festival, where we volunteered. The FQF happens annually, and its a free festival with music, food, artwork, etc... that is staffed almost completely by volunteers. We participated by walking though various sections of the French Quarter and asking folks to take surveys about their time at the festival.
The following day was another day of volunteering for the team - same idea, all of those surveys. The hours were a bit longer and we were able to see the festival during the day which was nice.
We held our final CAP event as well -- Harper and I set up a table with information right in the Chartre Street Mall. We spoke with a ton of people about NCCC, the weather was beautiful, and we were able to enjoy the music and people-watch.
All in all, a great time at the festival, but we were exhausted, and it wasn't long after we got back to Camp Hope that we crashed for the night to gear up for a new week of volunteers. I've realized I love the French Quarter more and more every time I go. Can't wait for Jazz fest! :)
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Spring Break and Rhythmic Roots
Fantastic Spring break came to a close last Sunday. Typically, it would have been slated Friday through Monday. We changed to coincide with the Project's schedule so that we would all be available for new volunteers on Monday. So our first day off began Thursday.
Overall -- great weekend of enjoying New Orleans and relaxing. We stayed at the Olivier House Hotel on Talhouse St., right off of Bourbon St. Great courtyard, a pool, and air conditioning, and right in the middle of everything in the French Quarter!
Our Sunday concluded with a CAP event at the Rhythmic Roots Community Music and Ability Fair. Another team member and I sat and spread the word about NCCC while enjoying some incredible live music from a local jazz musician. -- Not too big of a turnout considering it was Easter... but all in all it was a great time.
More to come, gotta run...
Overall -- great weekend of enjoying New Orleans and relaxing. We stayed at the Olivier House Hotel on Talhouse St., right off of Bourbon St. Great courtyard, a pool, and air conditioning, and right in the middle of everything in the French Quarter!
Our Sunday concluded with a CAP event at the Rhythmic Roots Community Music and Ability Fair. Another team member and I sat and spread the word about NCCC while enjoying some incredible live music from a local jazz musician. -- Not too big of a turnout considering it was Easter... but all in all it was a great time.
More to come, gotta run...
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Life of Luxury
We got new digs. I think that's how it goes. Yesterday after work we were informed that we'd be moving to a new room... our own room!
Our team immediately started jumping up and down with excitement. Typically, finding out you're moving into a room and sleeping among 10 other people on bunk beds doesn't stir up the type of joy you'd expect, but I think we've found a new appreciation and standard of living that only Camp Hope can provide. No longer do we have small cot-sized beds but we are now sleeping on full size (okay, twin) mattresses that can contain all of our limbs. The fear of falling several feet just from rolling over no longer exists, and we've each got our own bunk, so we all can (and will) be able to sleep on the bottom bunk.
Check out our original room vs. the new. It may not seem like much of a difference, but know that this is the life of luxury for Badger 6.
Our team immediately started jumping up and down with excitement. Typically, finding out you're moving into a room and sleeping among 10 other people on bunk beds doesn't stir up the type of joy you'd expect, but I think we've found a new appreciation and standard of living that only Camp Hope can provide. No longer do we have small cot-sized beds but we are now sleeping on full size (okay, twin) mattresses that can contain all of our limbs. The fear of falling several feet just from rolling over no longer exists, and we've each got our own bunk, so we all can (and will) be able to sleep on the bottom bunk.
Check out our original room vs. the new. It may not seem like much of a difference, but know that this is the life of luxury for Badger 6.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Before & After
It's always hard for me to imagine what it looked like here when the levees broke. You hear first-hand accounts and stories but you never really get a good picture until you see it yourself.
Today we had a visit from a neighbor who previously owned the house we're working on. He brought over several pictures of the house right after the storm. You'll see below what our house looked like (the one on the far right). I tried to replicate the angle of the picture as best I could today by taking the same picture almost 4 years later. (Notice the trees are gone in the newest photo)
The homeowner who owned the pictures now lives in the house in the middle of the photo. When the floods came, he had to make his way to the roof and wait there until help came. In order to get up there, he had to ax his way up through the roof. This was what many of the families had to do apparently, and according to our neighbor, fortunately it is recommended that families keep axes in their attics in case of an emergency.
More to come..
Today we had a visit from a neighbor who previously owned the house we're working on. He brought over several pictures of the house right after the storm. You'll see below what our house looked like (the one on the far right). I tried to replicate the angle of the picture as best I could today by taking the same picture almost 4 years later. (Notice the trees are gone in the newest photo)
The homeowner who owned the pictures now lives in the house in the middle of the photo. When the floods came, he had to make his way to the roof and wait there until help came. In order to get up there, he had to ax his way up through the roof. This was what many of the families had to do apparently, and according to our neighbor, fortunately it is recommended that families keep axes in their attics in case of an emergency.
More to come..
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