Lower Nine

When we first arrived at our site it was very early on Sunday morning. We got settled in and slept for a few hours before waking to what would be our home for the next week. As we each woke, so did other inhabitants of the house. Jesse was one of the first people I met after waking. Each person we met was pleasant yet not very talkative, except Darren. Darren as I mentioned in one of the previous blogs, has such a large heart, and as you will quickly find, an equally large voice. He can be heard from a mile away, most times of the day. He gave me the nickname “Destructo” shortly after being there. I didn’t even break one thing though, surprisingly enough, so don’t ask where the name came from. Darren took us on a tour around the various neighborhoods within the Lower Nine. One of the most prominent structures we saw on the tour was the twenty foot tall wall, or levy, that we learned had only been six feet tall previously. Secondly he showed us the “Brad Pitt” houses, as they were called. Therese are houses built on raised foundation all equipped with many solar panels. If the name doesn’t give it away, Brad Pitt is the man that sponsored these houses to be built directly adjacent to where the levy was breached that flooded all of the Lower Nine. On Monday morning we were greeted by Laura and Lauren. Laura has been with LowerNine.org ever since it began. She described more to us about how in New Orleans there are parishes, which are the equivalent to our counties in Kansas. She also explained how houses are passed down from generation to generation in New Orleans, especially the Lower Nine. Many of the inhabitants prior to the hurricane did not have flood insurance because they were informed that their homes were not in a flood zone. When the levy was breached there was over fifteen feet of water in some parts of the Lower Nine. After driving around I was amazed that there were still more foundations and abandoned homes in the Lower Nine than rebuilt or inhabited homes. All of the new homes stood our, and although many, if not all were very tasteful and “cute”, they stood out like a sore thumb. The people in the area could be found porch sitting most times of the day or washing their cars. They seemed to have a lot of pride in their cars, because most of them were much nicer than their homes. Seeing everyone’s actions throughout the days of the week made me question their educational level as well as work ethic and/or careers. Also I questioned some of the long term volunteers at the house about the educational system after the hurricane. I was informed that there is only one school running in all of the Lower Nine and that it took only about four months to get back in session after hurricane Katrina. I am curious about the drop our rates after Katrina as well as the educational backgrounds of the locals as I previously stated. While we were in New Orleans, we got to watch a parade of many local schools and it was very nice to see all of the people coming out to support the children and interact as one big family.