Feb 04
From David Gordon, Israel Affairs and Tzedek Program Associate, Hillel of Greater Toronto
This trip to New Orleans was my second trip in the span of one year. On my previous trip I worked on many houses that were demolished from the devastation of Katrina. Many of the houses that we worked in on this trip were heavily damaged by flooding, but I had an interesting experience working in one house. On Friday I entered a neighbourhood where many houses on the street were in a dilapated condition. I asked the contractor on the work site how much flooding did this area get. He then responded to me “nothing, the house your in has just been left alone.” The house was in such a dilapated condition that I thought its condition was due to the hurricane, but in reality it was years and years of disrepair. To give you an idea of the disrepair in the home, the elderly man that lived in had a faucet and no sink. The water from the faucet fell through a hole in his floor. The man had no heating in his house and his walls were full of homes. It is with this in mind where the importance of the trip reached even higher levels. It is so important to rebuild New Orleans after the devastation of Katrina, everyone deserves a home which provides the basic foundation to regain control of one’s life. Yet, through working on this one particular home not only we were helping New Orleans rebuild, we were also combating greater issues such as poverty and homelessness. Thus, our group made greater strides in our pursuit of repairing the world (Tikkun Olam) in an effort to pursue real social justice (Tsedek).
Jan 29
From Sally Szuster, Public and Media Relations, UJA Federation
Shabbat was spent mostly at the hotel, but as it happens we were right on the route for Mardi Gras parades. It was wonderful to experiences the liveliness and celebrations in the city that had endured so much. Gail Chalew, a volunteer from the Jewish Federation and freelance writer who gave us our tour when we arrived here 5 days ago, told us that the lifeline of the city was music. That in New Orleans, being a member of a marching band in high school raises one status well above the football or basketball teams. There was a real worry that with the shortage of low income housing many of the musicians that fled New Orleans during Katrina, would not be coming back, draining the city of one of its most precious resources. During the tour in the flooded areas, we saw a row of brightly coloured houses being called Musicians Village- an effort to bring them back. Despite the efforts, the building is very slow. Many of the high school marching bands were showcased in the Mardi Gras parades and we had a great time watching them go by.
Havdallah was marked at the hotel, where we were lucky to have Seymour (Epi) Epstein, Senior Vice-President, UJA Federation, The Centre for Enhancement of Jewish Education (Mercaz)speak to us about his work with JDC in building and reviving Jewish communities around the world. His stories were mostly of Jews enduring tremendous obstacles to maintain and nurture faith and culture, and it gave me a sense of optimism for the residents of New Orleans, who I hope, despite the extraordinary challenges that they face will be able to revive their communities.
Jan 28
From Jaime Reich, York University
These 5 days in New Orleans have been an experience like no other. When I first found out that the trip was going to be only 5 days, I was unsure how much of a difference we could really make and what we could really do in five days. After being here just one day, however, I knew that every person who came to New Orleans and every little thing that people do here and teach other people about, makes SO MUCH of a difference, especially considering the alternative being doing nothing at all. Just like the story about the Rabbi walking along the beach who throws the starfish back into the ocean, who is asked “Rabbi, why are you bothering? There is no way you can save them all, or make a difference” and as the Rabbi picked up another one, and tossed it back into the water, he said “made a difference to that one.” That is how I feel about anything people can do to help out in New Orleans or any other are affected by Katrina. Continue reading »
Jan 28
From Alana Kayfetz, Western Hillel Staff
I was so excited to come to New Orleans. Upon learning of this trip, I opened up the opportunity to the students at Western Hillel in London, Ontario. There was an overwhelming response of students who were instead in rebuilding homes hit by Katrina. In the end, four lucky students took the spots.
I, along with my students, left London and headed to NOLA. After a train, a taxi, a plane and another plane, we finally arrived. We were extremely tired, after a 4:30 am departure, but once we landed at Louis Armstrong International Airport, we were overwhelmed and thrilled. Continue reading »
Jan 28
From Rachel Lissner, student at the University of Toronto.
Hannah greeted us outside of our adopted home and told us as much as she could about what we were doing. She works with Americorps, a program through the American government that recruits people to help fix up local communities, and is dedicating the year before she starts university so she could breathe life back into New Orleans, the city that she loves. It reminded me how I spent last year in Israel with similar intentions; while I spent time hiking, studying, going to Tel Aviv on the weekends, I was impressed by how Hannah was truly running the place and made a direct impact on where she was. Sure, my dad would say that I supported the Israeli economy, but here she was, rebuilding homes. I could see the direct impact of both of our choices. Continue reading »
Jan 28
Hayley Fisher, York University student
When I told my mom that I wanted to go to New Orleans to build houses, she asked “haven’t all the houses been repaired already?” A friend said, in disbelief, “someone’s going to let YOU near a construction site?” and yet another was “but you’re only going to actually be repairing houses for two days…what good is that?” Coming to New Orleans has helped me to realize just how wrong these misconceptions are. Continue reading »
Jan 25
From Sally Szuster:
Today and yesterday were spent in the hardest hit areas in New Orleans, helping to re-built the severely damaged homes. Despite the extraodinary damage that was inflicted on these homes, many still had owners living there -without heat or running water. These are underpriviledged neighborhoods, and for some, there was no alternative.
The home that we worked on yesterday was by any standard, unlivable - the dirt, dampness and mould and crumbling walls looked like it was beyond repair. And yet, it was being lived in by a man in his 70’s. The workers from Rebuilding Together, an extraordinary organization who aids underpriviledged home-owners with restoration and rebuilding were on site to guide us through the work. It was explained to us that most of these homes are historic, and can’t just be torn down and re-built. And so we spent the day cleaning, spackling and repairing. Rebuilding Together hopes to turn the house around in the next 10 days. Continue reading »
Jan 24
From Sally Szuster, Media and Public Relations, UJA Federation:
Yesterday, our group of Impact Toronto, UJA Federation’s young adult division with Hillel of Greater Toronto spent a dramatic first day exploring New Orleans. We are here on a mission to help with the rebuilding effort and to meet with members of the community.
On our descent into New Orleans, looking out of the plane there was a striking scene of a highways almost suspended over enormous swamp land -bare trees growing out of what looked like green and brown sludgy water. None of us on the flight were sure whether this was natural occuring or as a result of Katrina.
One of the first things that we did when we arrived was to take a bus tour of New Orleans to understand the impact that Hurricane Katrina had on this once vibrant and thriving city. But as we drove further towards lower ground, to the areas near the river, where the levies broke, the starkness and devestation of this city was in plain view. In the lower 9th district, a once bustling community of homes and families have been replaced by bare fields of rubble, and shattered homes that sit amoung ruins, like an open wound. It was heartbreaking.
Continue reading »
