N.O. Log

After a mad scramble to pack and get all things in order (appointments cancelled, notification to friends and family of our disappearance, and getting Jim's final reports and grades posted for his graduate students, we got on our plane in Tampa at 6:00 am. On getting to New Orleans we were greeted with signs telling us of the time to get our shuttle to Baton Rouge which is the Louisiana Red Cross Disaster Headquarters for the Katrina-Rita disaster relief effort.

Once in Baton Rouge, we were signed in, photographed, interviewed, oriented, assigned, and provided lodging information. We met up with John from Oregon and Juli from North Carolina and the four of us went through this process together. All of this took about four hours and gave us a chance to witness the magnitude of the efforts still going on in this state to address the aftermath of Katrina and Rita. Clearly the work of the American Red Cross and all of the other relief agencies serving this region will not cease for at least another nine months to a year. We were assigned to Mass care, which means that Connie and Jim would be working out of Emergency Relief Vehicles or ERVs providing meals to from 300 to 750 people a day. The people provided the meals would be a combination of the residents of the communities who are cleaning up their homes for their eventual return or final disposition and the legion of salvage and clean up workers who work for a variety of paid organizations who have been brought in to clean up the community and to restore its power and water systems. Well once we got all squared away and signed in, we were then shuttled to Kenner, LA just outside of New Orleans and near the New Orleans Airport where our home away from home would be for the next fourteen days. By the time we got to our room, we were exhausted and it was only 7:00 pm. Well Jim being the fanatic online instructor he is went to work for four hours to get his current class's progress reports, papers grades, and new online outlines set up. Then he joined Connie in falling asleep for their 6:00 am wake up the next day.

Day 2: Orientation to Mass Care, ERVs, The Kitchen, and New Orleans (Sunday, December 18, 2005)

We got up bright and early Sunday and got ourselves all scrubbed and dressed ready to get to work. Oops not so! Only 15 ERVs were being sent out today and Connie and Jim would instead be given an orientation to the Mass Care Feeding Program, the Kitchen, and then be given a tour of some of the places where the ERVs serve in New Orleans. We joined a group of volunteers for this orientation which included David from Oregon, Kerry from New York, Nancy from South Carolina and our buddy from day 1 Juli from North Carolina.

(Click on picture to enlarge, then click on BACK on your browser to return to this page)

The food the ERVs in our group serve is prepared by the men of the Southern Baptist Conference from the state of Arkansas. Their staging area is located on the grounds of the first Baptist Church of Kenner. The ERVs come to the Kitchen each day and load up the food for the meals which these men have prepared. This monstrous task is duplicated at another "Kitchen" in Algiers. This massive organization is run on generators and housed in tents and truck trailers. The men who work in the kitchen live on the floor in the Baptist Church buildings.

(Click on picture to enlarge, then click on BACK on your browser to return to this page)

We toured two different areas served by the ERVs from our Kitchen. We went to the upper and lower ninth ward which was most affected by the breech of the levee and flooded for 6 weeks or more. What we saw were neighborhoods which have been evacuated and still are empty except for a few hardy souls who have moved back with temporary trailers, or who return each day to their homes to clean up and salvage what little remains useable.

When we got back to our living quarters, we were emotionally drained. It was hard to believe the devastation we had witnessed today. We fully recognized that we just small a little portion of the overall impact of these two hurricanes and realized that we Americans have really been not fully informed how devastating this disaster actually is. Well no more orientation, tomorrow Connie and Jim get a chance to do the work for which they came. Also no more pictures since we volunteers do not take pictures from our work locations while on duty.

Today was our first full work day! Menu: Hot Red Beans and Ham (Traditional New Orleans meal-with lots of hot sauce), Bread, Oranges, Water, and Chewy Bars

Connie was on an ERV with John from Oregon and Carol from Alaska and their ERV went to the area around the Superdome and were flooding had occurred twice because they could see two water lines. Connie and her team were taken back by the level of destruction which they witnessed. The people they served were very friendly and thankful. Connie really liked the fact that the workers called her "Babe." She lost twenty years just working the window of the ERV. She had a woman hold her hand thanking the team for their being here for them. The day flew despite the intensity of the work. The team was amazingly efficient and extremely cooperative. They gave true meaning to the concept of "I've got your back!" The work atmosphere was truly caring. It was the epitome of the ideals of the American Red Cross.

Jim was on an ERV with Kerry from New York and Charlie also from New York but formerly from New Jersey. This was a fine tuned ERV team. Charlie has a reputation for having the most efficient of operations of all of the ERVs on the road here. The reason being that he makes a commitment to search out the streets for the people in need of relief and does a masterful job of locating them in a short span of time. Kerry worked the window and was a real go getter and got the snack and water bags ready with great efficiency. Charlie and Jim served the meals with a speed equal to Jim's "former life" as a restaurateur! But most importantly the beauty of the experience was that this ERV served the St. Bernard Street and Broad Street areas near the Fair Grounds and Hospitals which is seeing families returning to reclaim their homes. People were coming to the window saying they had just returned home and this was their first time back since Katrina. They could not believe that the Red Cross was still here for them. One man took a picture of the ERV crew so as to let people know that really the Red Cross was here! Another man gave the crew members three Mardi Gras beads of purple, green and yellow. (Ok, so I did not know what color they were, but Kerry did!). Most telling however were the stories, as we handed out food, of the elderly who have moved back into the neighborhood and whom neighbors were not watching out for them and getting meals for them. These elder residents wanted back into their old homes no matter what hardships they would have to endure. This was really a surprise and sad reality to hear about. They were most appreciative of the blankets and water which we handed out.

Overall this was a great day! Between the two of them the ERVs served close to 1000 meals! New Orleans knows that the Red Cross loves them and is here for the long run as they begin to bring their city back to life!

The volunteers fill in the rest of their days with activities and "get togethers" to meet and greet one another and to share a common bond which comes from being deployed to settings like here in New Orleans.

(Click on picture to enlarge, then click on BACK on your browser to return to this page)

Today we were given a different view of things based on the areas we served. Menu: Grilled Chicken, Mixed Vegetables, Bread and Apples, water and snacks of cookies, oatmeal bars, and Sunflower seeds.

Connie served in the Upper 9th ward were we took our orientation trip on Sunday. She worked with David from Oregon and Amy from Ohio. Her team only encountered a few residents who were trying to reclaim their homes. One man they met had just returned that day from Houston where he was evacuated and he said he came home to New Orleans for his Red Beans and Rice "which can only be made right in New Orleans." He said he was not sure his home could be saved but he was going to try. Most of the residents who came to get their meals would say that they were doing ok, because other had it worse than they did due to the storm. A funny thing happened on this ERV in that Connie "who dusts her kitchen stove" was the server and had not been given orientation to look at the lid labels to know what was in her cambros. Well she knew the meal was chicken and served all of the chicken and to her shock the last two cambros (heated food containers) left were filled with mixed vegetables. I could have warned them that my wife was not the food serving type. Well it turns out they started serving vegetarian meals which it appears would delight many of the construction and salvage workers who work in the city. We get request for vegetarian plates a lot from these workers.

Jim was on an ERV with Betsy from New York and Nancy from South Carolina. They went to the Little Flower area which is very much like the Upper 9th ward and then they went to Lakeview which is one of the highest socio-economic sections of the city and which was flooded for days due to a levee break. In the Little Flower area they met up with a family with little children who was trying to reclaim their home. They had a resilience which was amazing. There also was a man who has three teenagers, two of whom are returning to New Orleans to go to high school which is opening in January. He was very optimistic about the future for his family given that his children would be united again. He did not seem to worry about the future of his neighborhood. In this area the team gave out three boxes of blankets and it seemed that with the cold here and no sources of heat we could have done a better business of handing out blankets then just meals to these hearty residents. Jim's team's ERV then went on to Lakeview where they encountered many construction and salvage workers. They did however talk with a man who had come back to his home for his Christmas break to fix and clean it up. This was his birth home and he did not want to give it up. His work office was relocated to Philadelphia and he had no idea how long it would take to restore his home. He also said he believed Lakeview would be restored as a neighborhood because it was one of the most influential neighborhood in the city after the Garden and Uptown districts.

Today we were left with a feeling that yes there are strong willed survivors who want New Orleans to get back to what it once was. On the other hand we also saw incredible numbers of houses for sale or abandoned in each of our designated areas. It is hard to imagine the city ever really getting back to what it once was. Hopefully it will be stronger, healthier and more vibrant due to this test of its will.

Day 5: Helping "Newbies" get adjusted to the work (Wednesday: December 21, 2005)

Today Connie and Jim had opportunities to assist new people get oriented to our work here in New Orleans. Because this is our third day on ERVs we are now the veterans! Menu: Hamburger, bun, orange or banana and lots of snacks.

Connie was on an ERV with Bo from California and Jerry from Alabama. They worked the Fillmore area which was very populated with returned residents. Connie got a chance to talk with the residents, who mostly had electricity and running water and sewer. But their phones would not be turned on until March 2006. The mood of the residents was very upbeat and hopeful. They all seemed determined to rebuild their homes. In a longer conversation with one resident he said he was so grateful to the Red Cross that once he got settled in to his home he was going to volunteer to work with the Red Cross. On resident said that he was worried that many areas of New Orleans would not be rebuilt which was a sad and depressing thought for him. This was the first time that Connie had seen any children on her route. The children seemed very happy and at home. One boy up to the ERV and said: "This is the first free meal I have ever had."

On Jim's ERV was Jim Me, Michael, and Derek all of who were from California! The first funny thing to happen was that on the assignment board the name Jim Me was placed in an assignment as a driver of an ERV. Since Jim's name was not anywhere else on the assignment sheet it looked like he was the one assigned which alarmed him greatly since he has no clue how to even start a diesel engine! Well it turned out that the person making the assignments meant the Jim from California and our Jim really had not been assigned any ERV as an oversight. It was funny given that a third person Mike from California was assigned to be the driver. Well it all got straighten out and the other Jim drove. Now Derrick is a licensed clinical social worker from Social Worker who is deployed to New Orleans as a Mental Health Volunteer. He was asked to familiarize himself with ERV work by riding of all ERVs on Jim's ERV! What great fun this was! He is going to be leaving New Orleans just after Christmas and we gave him a "real live" experience of ERV work. We had him work the window of the ERV and he had a chance first hand to talk to the residents who lived in the section where we worked which seems to be part of the Upper 9th ward. We met lots of residents who were just returning this week due to Christmas and some were here just to salvage things, to try some cleaning up and then returning to the cities where they had been evacuated to. Others were already returned and living in their homes, in fact one man has been in his home for three months! We met a man who was distressed and Derrick had a chance to do some one on one with him and also we met a mother with a young preschooler and he had a chance to do some one on one with her. We were in an area with lots of rentals and this made for an interesting perspective. Most of the renters had not returned to New Orleans and it was unclear if any would return to these rentals. On the other hand the owners of the rentals were busy with cleaning and salvaging work. This section of the city really looked less likely to come back from the ravages of this disaster. It was amazing however to over and over again to meet residents who were very resilient and ready to conquer this trial. They reechoed a theme we have been hearing that "others have it much worse than we do."

Derek and I talked a great deal about hiss experience already with Mental Health Services in New Orleans and we discussed what I was learning about how our mental health volunteers would be oriented and trained to cope with a long lasting aftermath of a disaster like Katrina. It was fun having him along for this day and he got to see my ERV organizational OCD at it greatest! I think he wanted to do a one on one on me due my organizational compulsivity. He helped me to articulate my goals as to what I want my mental health volunteer workers to do in case of a disaster in the Tampa Bay Region. I intend to have my mental health workers dually trained so that they are on the front lines when they have breaks from their mental health duties or to do them along side and during those duties. I for one want to run a shelter-which is Connie's school- and at the same time coordinate the mental health volunteers and provide mental health support to the workers and clients in that shelter. I also want my mental health volunteers to be more involved in daily debriefing of our volunteer workers to address the daily stressors of their exhaustive and tiring work. Just in case if you were wondering, do I have any regrets not being in the mental health services during my time here? The answer is a resounding NO! I love this work and the opportunity to be on the front lines facing an average of 500 residents and workers daily. Actually I love serving food. I feel like I am back at my family's restaurant!

A side benefit of being deployed to New Orleans is that one of our good friends Avery Buras was born and raised in New Orleans and now lives in a Mandeville on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. He told me of a wonderful letter which appeared in the Times-Picayune written by one of their columnists Chris Rose which really gives a great word picture of the people whom we have been meeting. You notice Connie and I have been mentioning their resilience, and love for all things New Orleans, and their discomfort of living in other sections of the country other than their beloved city, well have a look at this letter:

From columnist Chris Rose of The Times-Picayune www.nola.com

Dear America,

I suppose we should introduce ourselves: We're South Louisiana.

We have arrived on your doorstep on short notice and we apologize for that, but we never were much for waiting around for invitations. We're not much on formalities like that.

And we might be staying around your town for a while, enrolling in your schools and looking for jobs, so we wanted to tell you a few things about us. We know you didn't ask for this and neither did we, so we're just going to have to make the best of it.

First of all, we thank you. For your money, your water, your food, your prayers, your boats and buses and the men and women of your National Guards, fire departments, hospitals and everyone else who has come to our rescue.

We're a fiercely proud and independent people, and we don't cotton much to outside interference, but we're not ashamed to accept help when we need it. And right now, we need it.

Just don't get carried away. For instance, once we get around to fishing again, don't try to tell us what kind of lures work best in your waters.

We're not going to listen. We're stubborn that way.

You probably already know that we talk funny and listen to strange music and eat things you'd probably hire an exterminator to get out of your yard.

We dance even if there's no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we're suspicious of others who don't.

But we'll try not to judge you while we're in your town.

Everybody loves their home, we know that. But we love South Louisiana with a ferocity that borders on the pathological. Sometimes we bury our dead in LSU sweatshirts.

Often we don't make sense. You may wonder why, for instance - if we could only carry one small bag of belongings with us on our journey to your state - why in God's name did we bring a pair of shrimp boots?

We can't really explain that. It is what it is.

You've probably heard that many of us stayed behind. As bad as it is, many of us cannot fathom a life outside of our border, out in that place we call Elsewhere.

The only way you could understand that is if you have been there, and so many of you have. So you realize that when you strip away all the craziness and bars and parades and music and architecture and all that hooey, really, the best thing about where we come from is us.

We are what made this place a national treasure. We're good people. And don't be afraid to ask us how to pronounce our names. It happens all the time.

When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces.

But don't pity us. We're gonna make it. We're resilient. After all, we've been rooting for the Saints for 35 years. That's got to count for something.

OK, maybe something else you should know is that we make jokes at inappropriate times.

But what the hell.

And one more thing: In our part of the country, we're used to having visitors. It's our way of life.

So when all this is over and we move back home, we will repay to you the hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer to us in this season of our despair.

That is our promise. That is our faith.

Finally to give us all a visual and musical flavor of the people of the ninth ward which was most devastated by Katrina and the resulting floods take a look at what the TV Channel 4 has posted on it website as a Holiday Card for the residents of New Orleans. http://www.wwltv.com/holidaygrunch2.htm It features Benny Grunch and the Bunch. On the holiday greeting link, the Band has a song called the 12 Yats of Christmas. A Yat is a person from New Orleans's Ninth ward and Chalmette area and the name is derived from the saying: "Where you at." "Where'yat." Meaning; "how are you." Benny Grunch's band members are all from the ninth ward. They play concerts all over the city, especially during the holiday season.

Day 6: Returning Residents Faced with the Shock of the Aftermath (Thursday: December 22, 2005)

It is Thursday just three days before Christmas and more residents of New Orleans are returning to the city either for their first time since being evacuated or for an extended stay since it is a holiday time, or permanently moving back to the city. Most appear to be coming in to see what needs to be done before they return to the cities to which they were evacuated or to stay with relatives or to make some other arrangements. Menu: Chicken with gravy, bread, corn, oranges, and cookies and water.

Connie was on an ERV with Jesse from California and Rebecca from Oregon. They worked a route in the upper ninth ward which was located just above the area which was worked by Jim's ERV. Jesse plays music over the loud speaker as the ERV travels the community and one of the residents came up and said: "I thought it was a parade going on out here!" On this route there is a "shut in" whom Jesse has his ERV crew serve daily. The food each day is left by his door step. Well today when the ERV arrived there was coat hanger with this note on it: Thank you , Thank you, Thank you, very, very, much - Merry Christmas. This heartfelt gratitude for the work of this ERV was one of the more remarkable experiences of their tour today. Many of the residents who were served by this ERV had been working on their homes for a while hoping that not only would their residences be inhabitable but that their neighborhood would be as well.

Jim was on an ERV with Felice from Oregon and Ava from Indiana. Their route was in the upper ninth ward similar to the route Jim was on yesterday but higher on the map. First unusual event was that two young children drove their bikes up to the ERV to get food! These were the first children on bikes which any of us had seen since arriving to New Orleans. The most emotional portion of this teams work was giving food to new arrived residents who had just come in last night and was seeing not only their homes, but the city of New Orleans for the first time since being evacuated. One women broke down into tears in describing how this was her first time to her home and neighborhood since being evacuated to Houston. She expressed a desired to be able to move back into her own home, but she became too tearful to continue the conversation about the possibility of that dream ever being realized. Her grief at the moment was very palpable and it clearly was a scene which has been and will continue to be played out as the evacuees return to see their city and homes, so that they can make a determination if they will return or not. This theme of returning evacuees has been on the increase since our arrival to New Orleans. This is a turning point for the city given there is a hope that the evacuees will return to help New Orleans get to being N'awlins again. Speaking of getting back to be N'awlins, in my email I got this quote from Wynton Marsalis: "When you take New Orleans from America, our soul equation goes down." This statement seems to be the pervasive theme of the mood of the residents who come up to the ERVs. They will say things like: "Things are getting better day after day" or "As long as we have God on our side that's what counts" or "Our town is coming back!" This unbeatable spirit permeates the mood of the returning residents who intend to live in this city again. There were other evacuees who we spoke to who were still unclear where they would live and what the future held for them. The "rest of the story" is yet to come.
The area in Upper 9th Ward served by Jim's ERV had two very interesting centers of the Common Ground Collective which we have described below. This is an example of grassroots initiatives to try to help the residents get back on their feet and to give them support to achieve their goal of being N'awlins again.

Common Ground Collective was formed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, to provide immediate aid and long-term solidarity along the Gulf Coast. They are a local, community-run organization offering mutual aid and support to New Orleans communities that have been historically neglected and underserved. Common Ground's teams of volunteers include: medical and health providers, aid workers, community organizers, legal representatives and people from all over with broad skills from all walks of life. Their website is: http://www.commongroundrelief.org/. At the two centers which Jim's ERV visited they had food distribution, along with the full range of services which are stated in their mission. It feels very much like collectives and communes of the "Hippie" generation of the 60's and 70's. Their idealism is high and their enthusiasm is great and their impact is yet to be determined. However, their hearts are in the right place and they were a beacon of support and hope for the residents in the neighborhoods they are serving.

Today more than any other day here it felt like the Christmas was settling in for New Orleans. Menu: Barbeque Beef, cheetos, canned mixed fruit, cookies, and water. Special Treat for kids of all ages M and M's.

Connie was on an ERV today with Chuck from California and John from Oregon. They went to River Bend. They encountered a lot of original residents with lots of children. Close to 50 children were seen and all got their M and M's. There is a count being done so as to get small gifts out to kids on Christmas day. There were so many: "God Bless you," "We couldn't do it without the Red Cross," and "We are so grateful for all you do for us." One woman pointed out that a shut in she takes care of always looks forward to his daily food. The houses were beginning to resemble a state of "normalcy." All that was expressed was hope and the recurrent theme that "We don't have it as bad as everybody else." It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas in this neighborhood. The ERV was also taking a count for how many would be expecting food on Christmas Day. One lady said: "Where else could I be but at home eating my Red Cross food."

Jim was on ERV with Katie from Minnesota and Renee from Arkansas who is a volunteer at the Arkansas Southern Baptist Convention's Kitchen at the First Baptist Church of Kenner. This van went to mid-town and was loaded with 700 meals and eventually we took on 200 more meals. All of which were dispersed today, even if it was disbursed in bulk format. We served a community which is closer in to the Downtown area and crisscrosses Canal Street. We saw the Trolley tracks today. This was a much more upbeat community since it was not hit as hard and many of the residents have been living her for awhile. One lady we spent some time with because she is the defacto "community center" for her neighbors for whom she cooks daily meals. She felt blessed with some bulk food stuff we gave her today. We were making up for her having to run after us. Like she said she was too old to run after the Red Cross Van. She was formerly from Puerto Rico but has been a resident for over 30 years. Her son was born and raised in New Orleans and now works for the Veterans Hospital in Washington DC. This lady was living in New Orleans prior to Katrina with her daughter and 14 year old grandson-the apple of her eye. Well the family was scattered after the storm. She went to DC to be with her son and his wife. The daughter and grandson went to Minnesota! She returned to New Orleans in October because she could not take DC. She said DC should be left to the President! She prefers her city. Her son came in yesterday for the first time to be here for Christmas. He told us he was upset by what he saw. Well as this proud woman was speaking of her wonderful neighbors and family she choked up as she said her grandson would be arriving in 4 hours. This would be his first time and she was so worried because he might not want to go back to Minnesota where he needs to complete 8th grade since the school he went to was so ruined that it would not reopen in January. She started crying as she expressed this concern. She was so happy to have her grandson home who calls her "Ma Ma," but on the other hand she knows that New Orleans is not quite ready for him. When her son was asked how he felt about seeing his nephew he beamed with pride and excitement that their Chris would be coming home for Christmas! It was emotional all the way around by this point. We left that neighborhood impressed by the spirit. All of the neighbors came to say hello but most refused any of the snacks and foods, of course they are being fed by the Godmother of the Block! What a wonderful, kind, and incredibly lively woman she is. She is just one shining example of the spirit of the real New Orleans native!

As the day wore on we were worked at a fast pace, none faster than when we landed at a Bus Stop! This was the first time I saw a real bus in the city. The spot was jammed. The people were hesitant to take the food and snacks. Well Jim would not have that! He finally went person to person at the bus stop to talk to the folks and offer them bags of goodies. It was reverse Christmas Shopping and it was a wonderful time. I really felt like Santa at the Bus Stop. The smiles, laughter, and shock at this crazy volunteer who wanted to spread the gifts of the season was fun to participate in. Finally after an exhausting day of smiling, talking, handing out all this food we landed in what is the most extraordinary story I have hit in New Orleans to date. We closed our day with some surplus food and snacks and the ERV team would not have any of this left overs, we were going to give it all away to the most needy and here we did. This area is in a city park, in an area which was set aside for contractors working in the city to set up their mobile campsite. What is in this place is a "Tent City" of people who have come from out of state and out of the country to come to work in New Orleans. It was in this site where our ERV picked up an extra hundred meals from another ERV which had brought them out for another section of town where we first went to serve them. Once we realized that by 5:00 pm there was no one at home, we went back to Tent City and Jim who by now had gotten this Santa act down, went out in the tents and called for any of them who would like some surplus food, water and sacks. Well it took little time for the workers to get out of their tents where they were sheltering themselves from the cold air. By the way New Orleans is freezing for this Florida boy! As the families came out and realized what we were offering after they let go of their amazement they came out and accepted our gifts. They are the poorest of the poor. There could be no other rational to come to New Orleans with no job on the books, hoping to get work. Some of these folks now work at Common Ground or at least use Common Ground's services. Some must be doing relatively ok, since they had generators and were watching TV in their small pup tents. This was most unusual and for real this Santa was shaking in his mental boots trying to figure out what he had just witnessed and experienced. Hey it is Christmas, if this sound like fiction, give it a break, since it was real - cause you see there is still a Santa or Papa Noel in N'awlins.

Day 8: It's Beginning to Feel a lot like Christmas in N'awlins (Saturday: December 24, 2005)

It is really beginning to feel like Christmas here in N'awlins! Menu: Hotdog, Roll, chips, canned fruit, rice crispy snack and water.

Today was a first Connie and Jim were assigned to the same ERV with George from Illinois. Their assigned area was the University District near Xavier University. The area has a mix of very well to do homes and then very poor homes similar to the ninth ward type neighborhoods which Jim had been visiting. What was amazing was that the homes in the better off neighborhoods were elaborately decorated for Christmas. One in fact had inflatable objects all over its lawn and on its porch were two of those inflatable snow globes. It was definitely an over statement that N'awlins was on it way back and it was going to celebrate Christmas in style. In some of the more middle class streets the residents were venturing back and had visitors from around the country to either help them resettle, clean up or just come to visit the homestead to decide their next moves. Surprisingly these really nice homes had residents who needed the food, snacks and water we had to offer since things were really not back to full function. In fact all of the areas of commerce, shopping center, stores, grocery stores, fast food restaurants and bars were all closed in this neighborhood except for one! Yes Papa John's Pizza had just opened two days earlier and they were truly in business. Due to a storm alert our ERV had to get off the road for an hour and we parked in front of Papa Johns! The workers came out to get meals from us! Connie used their bathroom and came back in the rain saying it was heavenly. Well not one to pass up anything extraterrestrial Jim used the bathroom and then spoke with the workers. This shop had been completely destroyed by the flood. The store was completely gutted and built from the ground floor up. It was all new equipment, tiled floors and it even had drivers. Two way down from previous Katrina numbers. They were making their message known to New Orleans: Papa Johns is committed to the re-birth of New Orleans. I was so excited to see this change and yet realized that once the neighbors in this area got word of Papa John's opening, that there would be less a need for the Red Cross ERVs. Yea, New Orleans we love you but we sure want to see you come back to life. Well this wonderful example of free enterprise was truly a wonderful gift to the area for the holiday season! While in the shop I met a customer who was doing take out! His first take out since Katrina in his old neighborhood. Oh the small pleasures which mean so much to help one feel some normality in the sea of confusion swirling around him.

Connie and Jim encountered less workers today and more residents due to it being Christmas Eve. This was great because this past week many young families with their children had moved back and were attempting to get their neighborhood back. Unfortunately this wonderful pioneering spirit seemed to be tarnished by the number of homes on the streets still empty or abandoned. Most interestingly however there were no homes we saw which were for sale.

Our friend Avery Buras, Ph.D. who is a licensed psychologist in a State Hospital in Mandeville, LA. We asked him to contribute his personal story of survival of the storm to this site. Be sure you have a look at what he has to say. We put the pictures for this section up tonight and they can be seen at Avery's Perspective. We agreed that we did not want to eat, too much serving of food does that to you. Rather we wanted him to share with us his favorite sites in New Orleans which give him encouragement that his beloved city would be full and alive again. It was a good thing we did not count on the Cafe Du Monde Beignets since it was closed when we got down to the French Quarter which was not as alive as the TV announcements would have you think. Christmas Eve the 2:00 am curfew was lifted. Well at 7:30 pm the streets were really empty and Bourbon Street was deserted. However we saw the Convention Center and the Casino which is opening soon. We saw two cruise ships in port which currently house first responders. We saw Charity Hospital which it appears will no longer exist as a charity hospital. We saw other major sites like St. Louis Cathedral, Tulane University, and the shops and stores of the Quarter. Then we went on to Lakeview and saw the University of New Orleans, the marina, the destroyed lighthouse and the deserted homes and streets of this once vibrant neighborhood. Overall it was a sobering Christmas Eve. We returned to our residence and digested what we had witnessed and posted the pictures for Avery's section of our site. There is a picture on his site which was the most awe inspiring picture of the bunch. It was like the Christmas Miracle. When Avery returned to visit his family's homestead in Empire, LA which was where the eye of the hurricane hit, the only building in the town still standing was the church (Empire 15) and in front of the church he saw a live donkey (Empire 19) walking in the shadow of the church. Sure made us feel tonight like the Christmas story was alive and well in the midst of this horrendous disaster.

It is Christmas! It was Jim and Connie's chance to spread Christmas Cheer. Menu: Chicken Cordon Blu, carrots, bread, Lemon Pie, water.

Jim and Connie were assigned to a chase van which followed an ERV assigned to a section of Kenner, LA which was flooded due to a levee break during the hurricane. Their task was to play Santa and hand out gift bags to the children in the families in this neighborhood.

(Click on picture to enlarge, then click on BACK on your browser to return to this page)

One of the most enjoyable aspects of this task was to watch the eyes of the young children light up when they looked in the bags to find not only snack but little toys and surprises which were appealing to their needs. The ERV we started to follow ran out of meals and then a second ERV arrived with Jesse and Mike from California and Alisha from Maine. There had been 250 gift bags prepared for the 25 ERVs and this neighborhood was filled with kids that we made snack bags to supplement the bags of gifts. When we ran out of our first Van load of bags we returned to the staging site to get more snacks and to our surprise we found additional gift bags which ERV teams did not claim since they had so few children on their run. We were able to gather close to 70 more bags and snacks which we dispersed when the second ERV reached this neighborhood. There were no more spare snacks in the staging site since we gathered them all up and bagged them. Because of the press of people to get meals. This area's children probably had some sugar highs tonight thanks to our generous snack fillers. Connie jumped on the second ERV to help serve 150+ meals due to the crush of people to get meals. We really enjoyed this experience and were grateful to have a chance to unconditionally give gifts to kids and little ones who got these just for being who they were and not for what they did.

Tonight the ERV crews and the Southern Baptist Kitchen crew had a joint Christmas Party at the First Baptist Church of Kenner. The logistics of the party was handled by six members of the church and the cooking was shared between these six members and the cooks in the Arkansas Southern Baptist Convention Kitchen. We got a chance to meet two of the kitchen volunteers Trip and Gerald both from Arkansas. We had a great time!

(Click on picture to enlarge, then click on BACK on your browser to return to this page)

Addressing the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

A Personal Log of Two Volunteers in New Orleans over the Christmas 2005 Holiday

Introduction and Background