Reflections on Day 3

Today was a busy day. We started out with a presentation at the Kenner Senior Center in Kenner, LA, a small suburb near the airport. Public speaking is not my forte, but I found out it's much easier when you can start with a little small talk. (Maybe I should try that next time I am standing in front of a judge and see how well it works!) The presentation went fairly well, even though several people were a little upset that Bingo was delayed!

After the presentation, we toured the Ninth Ward. I am from Florida, so I have experienced my share of hurricane damage. Still, this is 2 1/2 years later and the damage looks like what I am used to seeing maybe 2 1/2 weeks or months after a hurricane. It was absolutely horrible. There were still power lines not attached to poles (I'm sure they weren't live wires, but I still think it was disgraceful!). Every now and then you would get glimpses of hope, though, when you would see a home rebuilt or in the process of being rebuilt. The playground across from an abandoned school looked almost new; it was sad though, because there was nobody playing on the equipment, just a lone man picking up cans to make money from the recycling plant.

I was impressed with the pink house project that Brad Pitt had something to do with. I liked that they had something to represent each of the properties that was lost. It was like someone telling the people, "We have not forgotten you," in a place that mostly looks forgotten.

Finally, we did a phone interview of a client. His story was very moving; I wish we were staying around to see it through. I hope for his sake he gets what he is after. He is doing everything in his power to make his situation work out for the best; I respect him for that and just want to help him that much more to make it work for him.

When we left NOLAC today to come back, I found my mother had arrived. She drove over from Pensacola to pick me up; I will return there tomorrow and to Seattle on Sunday. It was comforting to see my mom after seeing so much devastation today and hearing the client's sad story. I will be sad to leave New Orleans tomorrow, and sadder still to go back to one more semester of hard work next week.