NY2NO

"No wonder why the statue of Justice has a blind fold over her eyes," Willie Mae said, a 63 year old woman with breast cancer who lives in the Lower Ninth Ward, "How can she see what she's doing? She must get so dizzy!"  As I laughed hysterically in her kitchen there was a sense of sadness and anger but hope that the lively human spirit that fills the air in New Orleans would improve the community.  She had just been telling stories about how hard it was during Katrina and how she felt trapped and unsupported by the government.  Willie Mae pointed to an original painting of Elvis hanging on her wall and explained that that was the only thing left in the house.  "There's not a price you can put on the things you lost.  No matter how much money the government gives you, you can't get your photo albums, your treasures from lost family members, or your roots back because you've been pulled right from the ground you grew up in," she explained.  I had this conversation with this woman while cavassing.  I was assigned to a block to record which houses are abandoned, which lots are vacant, and which houses are under construction, while talking to every resident I can.  With a simple exchange of names, Willie Mae had invited me and my partner into her house, offered us cold drinks, and sat us down with stories by the bucket load. 

Canvassing is one of the most important things I am doing in New Orleans.  I think that rebuilding the community and giving residents the opportunities to do the same is the only way the residents in the Lower Ninth Ward will be able to excell.  I believe in keeping local people involved in rebuilding their community. When I start talking to strangers who are so eager to tell their stories, I realize that valuing the human connection is extremely important.  A lot of the residents' hope is lost and giving that hope back to them and sustaining it the most fulfilling experience for me. 

Colby