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The record producer and musician lost everything, and almost his life, to the flood waters of hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005. His easy manner belies the suffering he saw firsthand and also masks the sense of abandonment he and others felt as they sat marooned on a highway overpass for three days, wondering if help was ever coming to the concrete island to which they‘d waded. Like his neighbours in the new Musicians‘ Village, Franklin is deeply grateful to the volunteers who have come from across the continent to build houses like the one he purchased through Habitat for Humanity‘s no-interest mortgage plan. He provided hundreds of hours of his own sweat equity as a down payment. Just down Bartholomew Street lives legendary drummer Smokey Johnson, who toured the world (including Thunder Bay) with Fats Domino for decades. Another corner is home to Bob French of Tuxedo Jazz Band fame, who like others in Musicians‘ Village is quick to shake hands and give away CDs of his music as a small thank you to those helping to rebuild his life. In the city known as “The Big Easy,” the plight of those hit by the flood has been anything but easy. An estimated 1,600 people died in Louisiana and as much as 80 per cent of the city was flooded. Authorities say tens of thousands of evacuees have never returned. Talk to any remaining resident and hear endless allegations about who is to blame. But as government agencies argue over spending priorities, thousands of volunteers have taken up the challenge to make things right. New Orleans still badly needs volunteers -- and tourists. Reporter John Ayearst found that many Canadians like him are being both. ’VOLUNTOURISM‘ This is a city as complicated and spicy as a plate of jambalaya or a bowl of crawfish gumbo. Critical to the recipe for renewal is restoring tourism to pre-Katrina levels, creating jobs and rejuvenating local businesses and suppliers. Combining that with the still-urgent need for volunteer aid workers makes for great “volun-tourism” opportunities. Visitors who come to volunteer with local relief agencies are being welcomed by the thousands – and Canadians have been a big part. The vibrant French Quarter and other tourist areas were virtually unscathed in the August 2005 devastation of hurricane Katrina. Hotels, attractions and tours are all up and running – and safe. There is much to experience in the Mississippi River port with its fantastic blend of French, Spanish, African and Caribbean influences in architecture, food, music and art. In the French Quarter with its Old World charm, Bourbon Street is a narrow, 24-hour riot of sound, colour and smells. Loud music spills from open-air bars, mules clippity-clop by with buggy-loads of tourists. The spicy smells of Cajun cooking fill the evening air that is already perfumed with the sweet blooms of magnolia and olive trees. Nearby Royal Street is filled with art, antiques and restaurants, while Jefferson Square is the place to be on warm days and weekends when dozens of artists, fortune tellers and street performers set up in the spring sun. There are also tours just outside the city, ranging from bayou swamp excursions with ‘gators and snakes, to trips back in history to the cruel era of slave plantations. And, of course, there are so-called “post-Katrina” tours of the destruction done by that big storm. It is in those flood-damaged areas that volunteers are still urgently needed by agencies ranging from Habitat for Humanity and local church groups to partnerships with celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Brad Pitt. INUNDATED The French Quarter and other tourist areas near the highest land along the Mississippi were untouched by the flooding. But the below-sea-level “bowl” between there and Lake Pontchartrain to the north was inundated. Flood control levees along navigation canals were overwhelmed by storm water that surged inland from the Gulf of Mexico more than 100 kilometres away. Combined with raw sewage and other waste, the fetid flood water sat there for weeks, with mould and rot destroying anything not wrecked by the surge itself. In many areas, both poor and middle-class, there are abandoned homes and businesses, like those found in the Ninth Ward. In the Ninth, there are islands of recovery where homeowners have rebuilt, but right across the street or next door are abandoned homes still awaiting demolition or repair. Many residents are still living in temporary trailers parked beside their ruined houses. Then there is New Orleans East, which is a virtual ghost town of empty buildings that according to one guide once provided housing and jobs for an estimated 150,000 people. Most of that area‘s residents, he said, were renters and after fleeing the flooded city most never returned. Movies are now being filmed in New Orleans East, taking advantage of apocalyptic urban scenes. BRIGHT COLOURS AND HOPE One especially hopeful spot is in the Ninth Ward. It‘s Habitat‘s Musicians‘ Village where many Canadians were recently swinging hammers and painting new homes in a kaleidoscope of colour. They were here as individuals and as part of school trips with large contingents from the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College in London, Ont., Georgian College in Barrie, Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and Mount Allison in New Brunswick. The students had endured marathon bus trips and paid their own way to build homes and make a difference during their spring break – a long way from other students partying in Florida and Mexico. Since the hurricane, Habitat‘s New Orleans-area affiliate has become the region‘s leading homebuilder, erecting more than 100 homes with 160 more under construction. In its March newsletter, Habitat says it aims to complete 180 homes this year and has so far counted on more than 69,000 volunteers who work from one day to several months. In mid-May, hundreds more are invited to blitz-build seven complete homes in one week, finish 25 others that have been started since Jan. 1 and frame-in the exteriors of 25 more. Habitat‘s ambitious goal is 1,000 homes in the next five years for low-income families. In a recent front-page story, The New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper reports that thousands of college students are pouring into the area this month. “The volunteers are filling churches, schools and other facilities long ago converted into rustic dormitories to house workers for the long-term recovery mission,” said the paper. It quoted the leader of one church charity as saying volunteers “do what they do out of love. They spend their vacation going out into neighbourhoods every day and touching lives.” In Toronto, Joanne Scalamogna works for the Canadian branch of the Louisiana Office of Tourism. While her office has not specifically tracked the nationalities of volunteers, Scalamogna said she has been to New Orleans “a number of times and bumped into many Canadians.” She has fielded calls from Canadian travel agents seeking volun-tourism opportunities for clients and suggested directly contacting groups like Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Charities and Hands On New Orleans. All skill levels are needed and there are opportunities for groups and individuals. Besides building and repairing homes, volunteers are restoring parks and playgrounds, working in food banks and helping at animal shelters. Many church groups, labour organizations and individual trades people have journeyed on their own, including some from Thunder Bay. Google the phrase “New Orleans volunteers” to find many more opportunities. The last words go to Habitat volunteer Ele Stern of Florida, who was amazed to find herself surrounded by so many snowbirds. “Are you Canadians all this nice?” she asked. * When registered nurse Angie Salonen joined this trip to rebuild homes in New Orleans, she also wanted to more directly help children and families. She approached the women‘s social justice committee of her Local 229 Canadian Auto Workers union, where director Kathleen Swerhun and Thunder Bay members jumped at the chance to help. A Louisiana umbrella group of non-profit agencies was contacted and recommended partnering with the Children‘s Bureau of New Orleans. So it was that our trio of Canadians “went shopping” in the Big Easy with funds raised through the CAW and personally. Armed with a wish list from the agency, we ended up buying a car trunk-load of motivational children‘s books and CDs, relaxation and yoga DVDs, craft and painting supplies, personal journals, toy puppets and stickers with inspirational messages. Social worker Gina Orihuela says the need to help children and families in crisis is always great in a big city, but especially so in New Orleans, for those traumatized by the frightening events of Katrina and by deaths and the loss of homes and property that followed. Her Children‘s Bureau is providing group and individual therapy to children who have experienced a harrowing event like the hurricane, and to children and families who have had a loved one killed. Or, they may have witnessed or are a victim of community violence. Also being helped are children and families who have experienced a non-criminal death of a loved one through AIDS or suicide, and children who have been exposed to domestic violence. Children‘s Bureau of New Orleans additionally provides services to families who seek non-trauma related counselling, including families with pre-existing mental health issues that may have been worsened by their experience during hurricane Katrina – or to families who are unable to reach the mental health resources available to them before the storm. Readers can also help financially by contacting the agency directly through its website: www.childrens-bureau.com, or by calling Sharon Gancarz-Davies at 504-525-2366. (John Ayearst, a Shuniah resident, is a recently-retired Chronicle-Journal editor. He was accompanied on the New Orleans journey by sister Liz Robb, of London, Ont., and Angie Salonen, a registered nurse at Thunder Bay‘s Dawson Court. They hammered and painted in Habitat for Humanity‘s Musicians‘ Village and are already looking for more opportunities for “volun-tourism.”) Top of Page |
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September 2, 2010, 7:48 am |