Greetings from New Orleans. The weather is wonderful! Today was day number four for us in the city. We volunteered to work at The Green Project.
The Green Project is a recycling organization that provides eco and cost-friendly options for basic housing items. Some examples of items they recycle include paint, doors, shelves, tiles, roofing, wood, etc. It has a warehouse setting, but consumers who are looking for home-improvement opportunities can come in and make purchases. In a city that is still rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina, The Green Project allows for a cheaper homebuilding option using used materials.
We were broken up in to four groups that worked in different areas. My group went up to the top floor and sorted through shelves and drawers through the warehouse and storing them in designated areas. The second group worked in the lumber yard, which was really physically strenuous on them! The next group worked on pricing items. The final group worked outside moving items in the driveway.
After our volunteering was finished, our advisor, Patrick, took us on a tour of the Lower Ninth Ward (which was one of the areas hit worse by Katrina). He took us to three separate sites and explained what caused such great devastation by Katrina. I wish I could give some information on what caused the wall to break, but I wouldn't be able to do the story any justice!
There were two things that I found to be very interesting in driving around the more economically-challenged neighborhoods of New Orleans. 1) People who lived directly next to the flood walls have moved back to the same spot. Many of the houses were rebuilt by Brad Pitt's donations (Google it). Personally, I don't think I would ever feel comfortable moving back to that area. 2) The large amount of abandoned houses left in New Orleans. There are so many homes that were damaged by Katrina that remain in the state that they were post-storm.
To finish off our night we enjoyed beignets at the famous Cafe du Monde. They are basically fantastic powdered doughnuts.
The trip has been such a great time. All of our volunteering opportunities have been fun, and all of the other students and advisors who came are awesome!
---Jonathan Daniel Schekorra---
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