Oles, Oles everywhere!
by SarahSE
I am writing after my first full day of work with St. Olaf College's Ole Spring Relief 2 in New Orleans, LA. Whew! I'm tired. After traveling for 24 hours by bus, we arrived in New Orleans tired and unshowered, but thrilled to have arrived! We spent Sunday afternoon hanging out in the French Quarter in New Orleans (I'll add pictures as soon as I find a USB chord.) This was my 2nd time in New Orleans, but Kevin's first visit so we spent the afternoon exploring this amazing, historic neighborhood. I still can't believe that the French Quarter was completely untouched by the hurricane. And it's a good thing too, it would seem, because the area was crawling with tourists! We went to Cafe DuMonde for coffee and French pastries (beignets?) and had gumbo and jambalaya for lunch. Did I mention that it's 80 degrees down here? Not too shabby!
Today I went with a group of first year students to work at an area church that hosts volunteers and runs a food distribution center. A group of us did some exterior work on the building while the rest of us got the tent stocked and ready with grocery kits for the week. We packed over 250 bags full of groceries for families! I have never hauled so many boxes of food in my life! Then we spent the afternoon doing odd jobs around the church. I am hoping that we will have a chance to work on some homes later this week, but we shall see. Kevin is with another group in a different area. I miss him and I have no idea what he has been up to, but I'm still glad that he got to come along.
I first visited New Orleans last March when I co-led a trip to Mississippi to do Katrina relief work with a group of Augustana College women. It is amazing to see both how much work had been done here in a year, but also how much there is still to do. One of the neighborhoods that was hit the worst still has FEMA trailers in pretty much every front yard. There are still very few roofs on homes and businesses in certain areas. Some homes are so bad that they have been left to the rats and rodents--which also means that there could be alligators around!! (Or at least that's what the camp director says.) Pray that I don't run into any alligators!
Today I went with a group of first year students to work at an area church that hosts volunteers and runs a food distribution center. A group of us did some exterior work on the building while the rest of us got the tent stocked and ready with grocery kits for the week. We packed over 250 bags full of groceries for families! I have never hauled so many boxes of food in my life! Then we spent the afternoon doing odd jobs around the church. I am hoping that we will have a chance to work on some homes later this week, but we shall see. Kevin is with another group in a different area. I miss him and I have no idea what he has been up to, but I'm still glad that he got to come along.
I first visited New Orleans last March when I co-led a trip to Mississippi to do Katrina relief work with a group of Augustana College women. It is amazing to see both how much work had been done here in a year, but also how much there is still to do. One of the neighborhoods that was hit the worst still has FEMA trailers in pretty much every front yard. There are still very few roofs on homes and businesses in certain areas. Some homes are so bad that they have been left to the rats and rodents--which also means that there could be alligators around!! (Or at least that's what the camp director says.) Pray that I don't run into any alligators!
posted by SarahSE at 8:31 PM
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