Rebuilding New Orleans
With a fervent passion to help serve and a strong work ethic, our hardy group of Wallies and friends from First Christian Church in Crawfordsville, have worked on everything from roofing to putting up siding. An especially exciting aspect of our trip has been the fried chicken Pastor Washington has brought to our group these past couple of days for lunch. It has truly been amazing to see such a diverse group of Wabash Men come together so quickly in such little time. Already on our first night here, we were breaking up into devotional groups and playing games to pass the evening.
Looking back upon the past week of service in New Orleans, all there remains to do is marvel at how far we have come, individually and as a team. We set out to work on a home in the Lower Ninth Ward that belonged to one Pastor Washington, a tireless community leader who refused to let his house be worked on until the rest of his parish had roofs over their heads. Not only did he invite us into his neighborhood with open arms, we were fortunate enough to be treated to some Crescent City jambalaya and fried chicken. It was truly inspiring to see a man of his 84 years full of optimism for his community, where many in his position would understandably have chosen to look at how the rest of the country had turned their backs on them and give up hope.
Tim Tan ' 14 - One of the highlights of the week was spending an evening with our local partners from Westside Christian, bonding over conversation and some great eats courtesy of our traveling chef Dr. Warner. We observed an Ash Wednesday service where we read a passage from Isaiah 58 on the true purpose of Lent. Far from being a season merely to fast and scrutinize our own salvation, we were called upon to seek out justice around us and to 'break every yoke.' It made me think that even as we try to study the etiologies of poverty in an economics class, or ponder the politics of social justice in a government class, there is still no substitute for the power of coming face to face with issues in society that seem to be discouraging and intractable.
For if being liberally educated is to mean anything, it has to compel us to seek answers to these difficult questions, and through the relationships we build, to have our knowledge transmuted into understanding.
From Katrina to Rita to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the people of New Orleans just can't seem to catch a break. Yet, though it may very well have been illusory, for a brief time this week there was a feeling that as a community they had finally turned a corner. As we prepared to leave, I was grateful to the city of New Orleans and the residents of the Lower Ninth Ward for their generosity of spirit, for somehow managing to make us feel like kings but at the same time just like one of their own.