Honestly I don't even know where to start...
I'll update on the past week and a half first!
After induction, we sat around A LOT!
There really wasn't any training after that... HOWEVER!
I did three days of service projects.
Two days were at a place called Moveable Feast which is a non-profit that feeds the people of Maryland infected with HIV/AIDS. We moved them from their old building to their new building, which was one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. The other day we actually took part in loading up grocery bags to give to the clients. It was a good time, the paper bags cut up my arms. FUN STUFF! It's such a great feeling when the sponsors thank you and tell you how much we are appreciated! And how without our help they would have to go through so much hassle and time to get done what we did in no time. It's just WOW! amazing. It's funny how shocked people are when we get our jobs done so fast. I really am proud to be apart of the Americorps*NCCC. I can't say I'm proud of much, or nothing tangible at least. So it's such a feeling of fulfillment to be a part of something that people can benefit from.
The other project as at the American Legion in Havre De Grace. Basically, this place wasn't up to code and was about to be shut down. So we fixed up the place so they could pass their next inspections. We painted, tiled some floors, ripped out some walls, and fixed the floors. They fed us wings and fries afterward. YUMMY! lol They started out with only 3 projects for us to do...but we finished within an hour and a half...so they just kept dishin' out jobs. It was fun, the supervisors were awesome and made it such a good time.
So other than that, We had to pack up our stuff into one bag, called "the red bag" and another backpack. To live in for 8 weeks! possibly more if we don't get to return to "The Point" in between projects, which is definately a possibility. We had to say good-bye to all our friends and our housemates. People you get so close to in a short 6 weeks. So we pack up the van to head out with a group of 9 people in a 12 passenger van. With all of our bags mind you, on a trip that would last two days. 18 hours of driving and just pure chaos! lol It was a good time, lots of bonding with the people that I'm going to learn everything about in the next 8 months. We stopped at a hotel in Knoxville, TN. I'm slowing hitting up states of the U.S. that I have never ventured into before...I will finally be able to tell my brother that I've been more places than he has! and yes...i will rub it in! What are sisters for afterall?
And so then we arrive in New Orleans around 5ish. OVERWHELMED!!!! That's the only way I can really describe how I felt. Seeing everything for the first time...the devastion that everyone hears about but the majority doesn't ever see. And even when you see it on T.V. It's nothing like seeing it firsthand. Even two and a half years after the hurricanes, there is debris EVERYWHERE...boats still lying on the sides of the roads, houses still destroyed all with X's on the front of them. Here's a little background about the place I'm in. It's called St. Bernard's Parish (Parishes are like Counties here, St. Bernard is their most eastern parish, surrounded by water) Anyways, it actually wasn't the storm from the hurricane that ruined the area, it was actully the levees that broke from the force of the storm surge. Everything in the parish was under 7 feet of water I believe. So due to the flooding the Parish was 100% UNINHABITABLE!!!! Not a single soul could move in after the storm. I originally had no idea what really was the cause behind all the disaster down here, I just thought that the storm had taken everything out, but the truth is...there is much more to it than that! It's definately interesting and I encourage everything to read up on it, there are plenty of movies as well. Well anyways, the sense of community down here is amazing! The morale and motivation everyone still has after literally losing everything is incredible. And you & I look at losing everything as the tangible things, their actual material possessions. But they lost more than that, the lost their family members and their daily routines. Their jobs, their homes, their neighbors, their schools. When they say everything, they mean EVERYTHING but their own lives! Oh man I feel like I could talk about this for days...and I've only been here for 2 days, and only worked one of them. But driving through here, and seeing one rebuilt house surrounded by several others that haven't even been touched is incredibly moving. It's scary, imagining something making my home 100% uninhabitable and having to change my whole life style. You really start to feel for these people. And I've never seen any group of people so appreciative. A man named "John Wilkes Booth" talked to us the other night and couldn' emphasize enough how without us here, that none of this could of happened. And because of the lack of government response down here, they lost all faith and hope in the government and we are slowing rebuilding that for them and our young generation's reputation. Our sponsor said to us today, that once he saw American Flags going up, he asked the clients why, and they said, "Because of the volunteers, they give us hope, the flags are for them." That was so POWERFUL!!!!! I could go on forever, I have so much to share about my job, but I'll leave you with that, and catch up again another time.
No comments:
Post a Comment