Go to New Orleans

Hi Folks,

I wrote this awhile back on my myspace profile, and Kirstin suggested I post it here, so...

Returned this weekend from New Orleans - it was an amazing experience, and I hope to return soon. Maybe you should think about it also.

Can you imagine block after block of destruction? A journalist, in a memoir, wrote that New Orleans now has a bathtub ring around it. That's an apt description - the water marks remain on many homes.

The damage is different, obviously, from that Katrina wrecked on the people of Mississippi. The storm surge and its waves destroyed the homes of those living close to the coast, and wind whipped against structures inland for many miles. In New Orleans, the homes still stand like tombstones on a city-wide graveyard. But in this graveyard is life, and it's rebuilding - resurrecting.

On my third day of work, I fell and got a gash in my leg. Unable to do some of the gutting and construction work, I ended up delivering meals to the volunteers on the worksites, spread across the city. I drove miles and miles, and every where I went, except in the tourist areas, there was the omnipresent water ring on houses.

The politics amaze me. It seems like human instict is get the job the done. When people need help, you help them. Why are politicians passing by on the other side of the street? Is it because they want a plan that makes them look good? They want to prejudice in favor of the wealthy, reclaiming land that can mean bigger bucks? The iillusion of power laps at the poor like hounds, but the people who are sticking to their land and holding their place are stronger than politicians could imagine. The only challenge is there are so many homes that need gutting.

It seems to me that the government should have organized a mass gutting of all homes, block by block, sweeping the city. A mass, organized gutting could have meant most if not all of the homes could have been gutted. Yet, here we are, still gutting houses in a piece mill fashion - not for want of gutting, but for a lack of will to restore people to their homes.

In spite of the politics and the frustrations of unintentional rebuilding, there is hope. I can't imagine the graciousness of people among whom we worked. One day, people drove by and it cherred us as they said, "Bless y'all! - Thank y'all so much!".

adios- mpb

Presentation at CDSP, May 3

HURRICANE KATRINA HIT THE GULF COAST IN 2005
FOR MANY THE REBUILDING HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN
WHAT STORM DOES THIS AROUSE IN YOU?

PLEASE JOIN THE SOLUTION

Come when you can for open dialogue, reflection and new beginnings

CDSP Denniston Refectory
Thursday, May 3rd, 2007
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

TELL YOUR STORY
LISTEN TO STORIES FROM RECENT GULF COAST TRAVELERS
DISCOVER HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Conversation and multi-media presentation will be ongoing. Feel free to bring your lunch. Snacks and resources for action will be on hand.

Thank you,

Michael Barham, Joanna Hollis, Matt Knoll-Williams, Vivian Lam,
Judy Lebens, Kirstin Paisley and Michael Reid

What Is A Conspiracy?

For nearly two years, there has been talk of conspiracy related to the breaching of the levees and the poor response to the poor people of New Orleans. Conspiracy is something which makes me terribly uncomfortable, as I suppose it should. It is contrary to my nature and to my sense of the importance of unconditional humanitarian efforts. Having done other missions, I don't believe I walk through life looking through the proverbial rose colored glasses. I have seen the poorest of the poor; I know what it is to go to bed hungry; I have lived in a mud and dung house with no potable water. I believe in the basic good of mankind and have tried very hard to believe in my country and her commitment to the people she serves.

After experiencing only the surface issues in New Orleans, I am changed. I am disappointed in my government, and considering the Iraq war and the billions being spent there, I am ashamed. I am near to being embarrassed to be an American whose country has forsaken its innocent poor in the interest of what I have come to believe is power, industry, and taxation.

Although I have travelled far and wide, I have never experienced the deep south and what seems to be the absolute disdain that society there has for its poor people of color. I have had many questions since my return. Why are there thousands of FEMA trailers standing empty behind locked chain link fences? Whose bright idea was it give those trailers only to those who own homes? Why doesn't the school district find it economically prudent to bus 26, or so, kids from the lower ninth to schools in the upper wards? How would I advocate for my grandchildren if they had been kept out of school because of bus fare...out of school longer than they had been in school? How would I ever have the possibility of returning home if, after two years, no effort had been made in my neighborhood to restore power, water, and sewer? If I were the mayor, what would I do about the casinos which send payday buses with a free round trip ride and the gift of twenty bucks to the lower ninth, so desperate poor folk can gamble away their grocery money with the promise of doubling it? For me, the questions go on and on. My only logical answer is conspiracy. The state of Louisiana, New Orleans, and the United States government want their poor people to disappear...to become invisible. They're bad for business. If they aren't provided with services, homes, or an infrastructure, they will be forced to move on. In doing so, they will remove the blight from the "Big Easy". The land will become available for casinos, industry, the port, the refinery. State coffers will grow with more tax revenue and less demand on the welfare system. Why would they want the poor folks when they can have all of this?

Did I return a more cynical person? Or, did I return with the kind of righteous anger which has the potential for change? If the latter is the case, who has the time, money, energy, voice, and faith to pitch in and help? As Christians, let us not forget, "Blessed are the poor..." "...what you do for the least of these, you do for me..."

NOLA liturgy at CDSP - Monday 4/16

Y'all are invited to an experimental evening prayer at CDSP this Monday 4/16 at 5:30PM!

We're offering this liturgy as a way to share something of what the 4 of us have experienced of the incredible resurrection hope amidst vast devastation that we found in New Orleans and its people.

Weather permitting, we will gather at 5:30pm at CDSP outside in St. Margaret's courtyard (if it rains, we'll be in the chapel).

Please bring an umbrella--even if it's not raining!--and feel free to don any New Orleans-related accoutrements you might have (i.e. Mardi Gras beads, funky hats, feather boas, etc.).

We hope you will join us!

What You Can Do

Nineteen months after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, there is still tremendous need for financial donations and volunteer labor. This resource list will be updated periodically. Please click these links, learn what is out there, and give in the ways that are best for you.

Please continue to pray for the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We saw conditions there that shook us to the core. There are rebuilding efforts, and many signs of hope, but they cannot do it alone. Please pray for strength, healing, and wise leadership. Pray for the healing of emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual wounds. Pray for strong communities. I am writing this on Easter morning; please pray for resurrection.

If you can, please go to New Orleans. I can’t stress this strongly enough. Go for a day, a week, a semester, a season. Go and see the city; if you can, volunteer. You may not think that your brief presence makes a difference—but we found out that it does. Even if you can’t stay long enough to see the fruits of your labor, the experience of serving in this city will change you. You will not see the world, or your place in it, the same way again.

Educational Resources

Indymedia, Katrina page

National Geographic, Katrina Photo Page

National Geographic Special Edition: Katrina (includes "How You Can Help" list of resources)

New Orleans Times-Picayune, Katrina Archive

NPR: Six Months After Katrina

NPR: Katrina, One Year Later

NPR: Katrina and Recovery

"Immigrants and Hurricane Katrina," ImmigrationProf Blog 4-12-07

"New Orleans Rebirth Depends on Marshes," Dallas Morning News 12/10/05


Donation information and volunteer resources
Many of these organizations welcome volunteers. All welcome financial contributions.

Tulane University School of Social Work, Hurricane Assistance Links

The NOAH Project (Loyola New Orleans Alliance for Hope)

Mercy Corps, Gulf Coast Recovery page (also click the tabs on the left)

Oxfam America, Hurricane Katrina Page

Habitat for Humanity, New Orleans

Episcopal Relief and Development, Hurricane Response Center

Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, volunteer page

St. Anna’s Episcopal Church, New Orleans

St. Anna's Mission to Musicians, Summary and Outcomes Statement (2006)
We visited while we were there. This church hosts a benefit for musicians every Wednesday night, and has several other free services, including legal and crisis counseling. When I asked the rector what he would have me take back to California, he said, "Peace. Hope. And send us money."

Pictures from the trip

I’ve finished uploading and organizing my pictures from New Orleans. You can see them here. The set labeled “NOLA” is mainly focused on hurricane damage. The pictures in “NOLA Fun” are mostly of the swamp tour that Judy, Vivian, and I took on Saturday morning.

I think we’re all still processing the trip; I know I am. I went out to lunch with friends after church on Sunday. We were driving through the neighborhood, and I was looking out the window. Suddenly it hit me: no spray paint on the houses! No water marks! The strong foundations and intact houses appeared to be completely out of place. Then I remembered, “Oh yeah. I’m in San Francisco.”

I picked up something called “barotrauma” from the flight home; it’s what happens when you fly when you’re sick, one or both of your eustacian tubes don’t open, and you end up with fluid trapped behind your eardrum. It’s in my left ear, and doesn’t hurt now, but it’s uncomfortable. I’m hearing half-underwater. I called the advice nurse at Kaiser, because this had never happened to me before. She asked how I got it. I answered, “I was in New Orleans….”

She was way more interested in that experience than in my gunky ear, and kept thanking me for going. She said it made her night. I appreciate her thanks; I really do, but it’s kind of surreal. Everyone we met in NOLA thanked us as well. Going down there seemed like an adventure to me before we left; now I’m grateful that I could go, and I wish everyone would. That experience changed me forever. And every little bit of attention or caring helps, whether you’re gutting houses, distributing clothes, or just sitting with people. Praying for them helps. Sending money helps. I think that presence is the best gift of all. If all you can do is witness to the fact that these people exist in these conditions, that is tremendous. They will tell you.

I saw the doctor this morning; my ear is supposed to heal on its own, in “a few weeks.” Meanwhile, I’m developing empathy for hearing-challenged people, and praying that the Sudafed I’m taking works soon.

A blessed Holy Week to all.

Home

Michael flew back to Berkeley last night; Vivian and I flew together, and have just gotten home. Judy is visiting family and friends, and will be back at Eastertime.

We thank you all for your thoughts, your prayers, and your love. Your support has meant more to us than you will ever know.

You'll be hearing more from us soon.