In this, the fourth of five journal entries from Shirley Showalter, Fetzer Vice President of Programs, she shares her experience volunteering in New Orleans with the Mennonite Disaster Service which cooperates with Catholic Charities and the American Red Cross.

Here in the lower Ninth Ward, it’s another great day for building things. Karen and I pulled weeds around the fence this morning, partly so we could meet the neighbors.

First we met John Parker. John was interviewed for Channel Four local news yesterday because he is involved in planning for a conference intended to help the Katrina diaspora—thousands of people who fled the city before and after the storm in 2005 and have not yet come back. John has been friendly and helpful ever since we arrived. Yesterday he brought us hot water so that we could do some paint clean up and get the grime off the windows.

Today we met Paulette, who told us about the elderly pastor and his wife who lived on the corner lot across from this house. They have not come back yet. They may be dependent on family. Paulette used to enjoy running errands for her neighbors and misses having them around. She and John want to see more people return.

Last night at the convent, we heard Eric Rodes, a pastor from Slidell, speak about his vision for renewal of the city. “Bring back the pastors, and the people will follow,” he said.

Karen and I took a walk down to the levee today. We ran into a group of young men on top of the roof of one house, volunteers on spring break from Wabash College. Then we met Royal, a man who grew up in the lower Ninth Ward, who is in the tiling/flooring business. He was restoring a beautiful brick home for the mother of his friend. As Royal showed us the beautiful tile floor he is installing, he reminisced what it was like to grow up in this area in the 1960’s and ’70’s.

It was a great place for kids. If you threw a ball that damaged a car, your daddy and the owner of the car would agree to a fair recompense, and you would have to take responsibility. The whole neighborhood was watching out for you. There were jobs, home ownership, and strong families.

As we talked about the good old days, Royal had a light in his eyes. Rebuilding houses after Katrina is really hard. But rebuilding community is even harder. Both are possible, however, one day at a time.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 9:54 am and is filed under Practices in Action, Things to Think About. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.