Reflections on New Orleans
The “Deacons in the Dust” Project
March 12 – 17, 2007
John G. Miers
| John Miers spent March 12-17, 2007 in New Orleans as part of the nationwide “Deacons in the Dust” project. He was able to observe firsthand the lasting aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina and to participate in the ongoing efforts to restore that city. He shared his thoughts and reflections on that experience at the Adult Forum on May 6. |
 |
These are from the journal that I kept while I was on this project.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Amtrak Train 19, the Crescent, Leaving on Time. A long train ride (26 hours). Bumpy.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
I did not sleep well because of all the bumps. Lots of good food for the sleeping car folks, though. Had to stop a lot to let freight trains past. As we went through Mississippi, there were a lot of trees down along the tracks; broken, uprooted, and shattered; I am sure it was from Katrina. Arrived NO at 9:15 pm, 1 ½ hours late. Cab to Urban Ministry Center. About a dozen folks there, from all over the country. There will be 19 of us when we are all here.
Monday, March 12
Had a pick up breakfast, and then went for a briefing session at a local church. Those of us on “light duty” went to an abandoned shopping center parking lot. K-Mart and Sears had windows broken and doors open, but all the merchandise was still there, although it was moldy and wet. A big trash pile in the parking lot. Various items of junk, including a stop sign, a 5 iron golf club, a football helmet, and a Missouri license plate.
An RV painted to say “Hurricane Relief – Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana” came up and parked. We put up signs along the road, and then handed out plastic bags filled with various items – paper towels, toilet paper, soup or canned meat, granola bars, bottles of water, soap, and lolly pops. Many people descended out of nowhere; it all looked bleak and deserted. Some had been there many times before. Many showed their driver’s licenses and it looked like they were used to showing the ID to state people before; we assured them that we were not the state, so the ID wasn’t needed.
The Deacon in Charge – Quin – asked me where I was from and I told him. He then asked me if I knew an old friend of his, Bob Creamer, the former rector of our church! Bob had gotten Quin started there in Louisiana. Small world!
A sunny, windy day; not too hot. On our trip back, Ormonde Plater took us through the desolated 9th Ward. There were signs spray-painted on the houses with the results of the door-to-door National Guard inspections. Things like “Cat under porch,” “Two dead,” “Three dogs here – send SPCA.” It was very bleak. There were some signs of life, though, with flowers coming up here and there. One house had a black mourning wreath. We saw people working on the Fats Domino House.
There were lots of beads everywhere – in the street, on wires, in trees, etc – from the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday.
Supper was at a nice restaurant with two deacons from Canada (Fried Shrimp). Then back to the Urban Ministry Center, and then I took a walk on Charles Street, from the Cathedral to McDonalds to Rite Aid and back. No streetcars yet, but there were many runners on the median strip (known as “The Neutral Zone”) as well as police on horseback.
Tuesday, March 13
Another day handing out food, water, and paper goods. We started out at an Episcopal Church which has renovated after the storm, although its school is only half full. There is a mark on the wall where the water left its mess – it is called ‘the bathtub ring.” There was also a spray paint marking by the door – “Inspected by the California National Guard.”
Out on the highway, many people stopped (some repeats from yesterday), and we referred them to the Mobile Medical Unit that was there today, with some nurses and a doctor. Many people had blood pressure taken, as well as blood sugar levels. There were some really cute kids there today, many brought by grandparents. Then it rained.
At lunch, there was an Emergency Medical Technician who had resigned because she couldn’t take the stress any more. She was behind me in line. I noted that I saw all the beads in the trees, and she referred to the Saturday parade. I noted that I wanted to take beads to my wife and daughters. She lit up. “No problem; I’ve got beads.” She went out to her car and got two bags, each the size of a 5 gallon paint bucket, both of which were filled with beads. She gave them to me (“I’m glad to be giving back to you all”) and then went across the road to get the food that we were handing out. I took the beads back to the Urban Ministry Center for all to share.
We stopped in one of New Orleans’ above-ground cemeteries to look at all the mausoleums. (The BPOE one is amazing!) Tonight, a Creole dinner prepared by the Louisiana deacons in formation; a good dish named “Crawfish Roban,” with pasta, crawfish chunks, butter, cream, and spices. I also saw a copy of a book entitled “1 Dead in Attic,” written by a local journalist. We all want copies!
Wednesday, March 14
Wow! I slept right though the alarm watch this morning! It is supposed to rain today, so different clothing is required.
The Medical Unit decided NOT to go out day because of the weather, so neither did we. Suddenly, frustratingly, the sun came out! We were taken on another tour of the devastated areas, the hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward. We saw some places that were rebuilding and others with no life in sight. As before, there were some potted flowers to be seen, and some of the bushes were coming out.
We went to a Neighborhood Empowerment Project, helping people through the maze of regulations, even going to court to keep the property from being seized (A pervasive yellow sign: “This building is not up to code. Notice is hereby given that the owner has 30 days to bring it up to code, or it will be seized.”) There were places for kids to do homework, places to get email, and a map showing each house that is being gutted, rebuilt, up for sale, or unaccounted for.
We went to a restaurant run by a church as a training center for persons entering the food service industry (“The Café Reconcile”) where I had a delicious Catfish Po-Boy.
We then went to the Diocesan Office and met Bishop Jenkins. We finally went to a locally owned book store, and I got several hurricane-related books. Finally, we went to the warehouse that keeps the stuff to be given away – pallets of water, and paper goods, and boxes of dust masks and crowbars and many wheelbarrows. I dropped my camera on the cement floor. Snarl!
We went to Eucharist at St. Anna’s tonight; a high church, social justice church led by a priest in a blond pony tail (a man). They have a weekly dinner featuring local musicians. In the church service there was no organ, but the music was led a cappella by an awesome baritone (When he sang “Were you there” during communion, we all had goose-bumps). Only half the normal incense level – “for Lent” – and the Senior Warden asked us to all tell our home congressman about the needs in NO that are not being met. After the service there was a healing rite, and most of our group came up to pray for me.
We came back to eat at the Urban Ministry Center – the Parish Hall was bursting at its seams! We finished off the leftover Crawfish Roban from last night. It was even better than before! Many stories were told over that supper table. We all said that if we go to the Deacons’ Meeting in Seattle in June, we would all bring our “Deacons in the Dust” T-Shirts and have a reunion!
Thursday, March 15
Did it rain last night – but a beautiful day today. A bunch of us went gutting again, and another group, including me, went back to the RV again, handing out food, paper goods, and water again, as well as stuffed toys for kids. Once more, there were many people, including the Parish Sheriff. He really wanted – no, needed – to talk to someone. Like when the storm came, he got a boat, and went to his house to find it submerged. He stepped out of the boat onto the roof ridge of the house, stopped, took a deep breath, and got back in the boat again to help more people. He noted that some of the first responders were from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They were quickly sworn in as deputies, and then went out to help!
After lunch, we moved the van from the shopping center to the Lower 9th Ward, where there was absolute devastation. More families to serve, people coming back to their homes, people with kids, people in construction, grandparents with kids, and people with stories to tell. There was a group from a Plastic Trade group that was having a conference there in NO, with Thursday afternoon off. Half went to play golf, but the other half came to help us. We sent the Texas school bus to get them, instead of them coming in a limousine! I really believe that this group of people got more of this experience than anyone.
As we got back to the Urban Ministry Center, a couple of us bumped into Bishop Jenkins, out for a walk. We noted that the van was not going out on Friday, and he asked us to go with some local clergy on a walk in the local neighborhood to minister and pray with “guns, drugs, and prostitutes.”
Supper was at the Dragon Café, serving homeless people, a ministry of St. George’s Church. Then to Baskin-Robins! Some were going to the French Quarter, but we went to a local coffee house named “The Neutral Zone” (as above) to hear a folk singer that we had met at the Dragon Café; her name is Gina Forsyth. She has some good songs about the hurricane, and she is a good fiddler, too.
Friday, March 16
Got up and went to McDonalds for breakfast. Saw a dapper black gentleman with his granddaughter. I then went to the bishop’s Office to report for duty. Change of plans. They now want Joanne and me to go over to one of the local Evangelical churches that has 300 volunteers this week (many college students on Spring Break). The custom is that they feed lunch to the volunteers each Friday, as well as local people they run into. They have 3 pickup trucks with propane gas grills mounted in the back. We cooked hot dogs and served hot dogs and chips at the various job sites. We cooked 320 hot dogs today. The volunteers were really nice kids, coming here to do something good for Spring Break as opposed to vegging out on the beach. Makes you feel good. I spoke to one man from Michigan who has made a 6-month commitment with his wife, son and two daughters (ages 7, 9, and 11). It will be a life-changing experience for at least one of these kids.
After this session, we took the rest of the week off! Joanne and I went to an art museum showing mosaic renderings of Vatican paintings, and then to the French Quarter. Café au lait and beignets at the Café du Monde, and then went to Preservation Hall (it wasn’t open yet) and then heard jazz at another small bar. High police presence, since tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. Went to the Catholic Basilica (wedding rehearsal in progress) and then to a nice seafood restaurant (Orleans Café) where I had crawfish bisque and Gulf Shrimp (boiled in beer, with the heads and tails and legs still on).
Saturday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day)
Got picked up in a cab at 6:30 am and went to the train station, where I re-boarded “The Crescent”. Same sleeping car attendant as I had on the way down.
A new group of students from the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware came to the Urban Ministry Center last night to spend a week helping to rebuild.
As we leave town, I see a shambles, with homes with those Inspection notices spray-painted on them. So sad, so moving, so meaningful. People with no where to go; people with money in banks but they can’t get it out! I ate with a man who was evacuated with only one check in his pocket and all his money in New Orleans. I also ate with a girl who is 26, and leaving town to go to nursing school in Georgia, so that she can get a new start.
Sunday, March 18
After sleeping on the train, I have breakfast passing through Charlottesville, VA. Starting to look familiar again. We are an hour late; no sign of the snow that has swept the northeast.
I still can’t get all of this out of my mind. Quite an experience.
I just got an email from a friend which has the recipe for “Crawfish Roban.”