Alternative Winter Break: New Orleans

Alternative Winter Break: New Orleans

Thursday, January 8, 2015

A Renewed Sense of Petrel Pride



After serving at various organizations like A Community Voice, Boys and Girls Club, Second Harvest Food Bank, and New Orleans Mission...
I realized why I fell in love with Oglethorpe University. Our ability to find common ground with one another, our drive to exceed expectations, and our compassion for others are the things that make us petrels. As a group, we learned about social and political issues that we were uninformed about. We also learned a lot about ourselves. In reflections, we looked at what we had accomplished through service and the purpose of it all. In the end, we all concluded that we could do more. More importantly, we wanted to do more.
 Whether it be on campus, in Atlanta, in New Orleans, or elsewhere, we all have something to give. When we are honest about the issues like poverty, education, racism, and disaster relief, we remove the optionality of service. Big thanks to the entire CCE staff for making this possible and to our group members who made it wonderful. 

Sincerely, 
Yasmeen Alim

Advisor Perspectives

As an AmeriCorps Member, I spend the majority of my time in service with various non-profits and causes, either as an individual or as a member of a team. This in turn leads to a lot of reflection. Participating in an Alternative Break, in a lot of ways, is not very different from a typical day in the life of an AmeriCorps Member. Lots of service, lots of questions, lots of discussion, and lots of learning. However, usually these things are experienced and absorbed through the perspective of a participant. The opportunity that Alternative Winter Break offers me is a chance to experience these things an an Advisor, and more importantly, an observer.

I've known since I accepted my position at Oglethorpe University in 2013 that it is my duty as a staff member of the CCE to do everything I can to provide transformative service experiences for our students. It is my job to challenge them and to offer new perspectives and to provide a welcoming environment for critical discussion and questions. Alternative Break really allows me to watch these transformations in action.

From the first reflection, where students were expressing concerns and even confusion regarding service, what service means, and whether or not their service made a difference despite the level of their own personal fulfillment, I knew that this trip would be special. These questions and concerns are real and worth asking, and they show a true desire to know and understand what it means to really help a community become healthy and self-sustaining. If all of the discussions we had during AWB had revolved around these subjects, I would have been happy, even proud.

But in just a few short days, these AMAZING students have already shifted from asking questions about whether a small service project fulfills their own personal expectations and needs to talking about how to take what they've learned and become ACTIVE citizens in their own communities. Basically, we've had students come from "how does service affect me" to "how can I affect change."

Most importantly, I really had nothing to do with this change. Like I said. I'm just an observer. Each project, each plan, each discussion has been entirely student lead. But I have had the gratifying privilege to watch the power of service immersion work in others, and I am astounded.

-Rebekah Stewart

The Other Side of AWB

Each day we set out as a group to take on major social issues in New Orleans. These issues included homelessness, hunger, education and poverty. I enjoyed directly and indirectly serving the New Orleans community on each project we attended, but my favorite part of each day was the reflection circle we attended each night to speak about what feelings,thoughts,emotions, successes and failures occurred each day.

I found that during the day each student and advisor was cheerful and hardworking. We were able to bond during each project by putting our heads down and working hard to reach a common goal. At first, everyone seemed super human to me, as if it came naturally for everyone to be so selfless and carefree in their service. So I was more than surprised to find everyone had the same questions and concerns about service as me each night during reflection. "Am I doing enough?" "How do I actually make a difference?" "Why isn't there a sustainable solution for poverty?" 

Overall, we all had endless questions as to WHY the world was the way it was, without a HOW to permanently fix the problems we addressed. Reflections allowed us to move past why and find how by examining ourselves. I realized that while I have volunteered for years, I have never taken the time to voice my global concerns about service and the nonprofit world out loud. 

AWB gave me a platform  I could use to voice my opinions. Even greater, AWB provided me with a small community to build my opinions and ease my concerns. I'm am extremely grateful that each member was openly honest and 100% willing to break down any barriers and remove any preconceived notions we had about each other and New Orleans. Therefore, we were able to create a community while aiding in the rebuilding of another.

-K.L.

Lower Ninth

Being an international student you see the U.S. as perfect country but in some aspects it is not, the media never show the problems that communities are going through.Coming to New Orleans for the first time I didn't expect it to see certain areas , especially the ninth ward ,in the state that they were in nearly 10yrs after Katrina.

Yes, there problems here but the way the community has come together is something special. Today we worked in the community garden. Gardening is something I don't mind doing but I avoid it. Today was better than I ever expected, it was a lot of work but having great company made the experience fun. And knowing that all the work that was done made the community look better and all the product from the garden goes back to the community. This is something I believe all communities should show and I would like to take this back home and show them that even first world countries have their problems but when the community gets together a lot can be achieved.

- M.N

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

An Epic Hoe-Down!

Our work today at the Acorn Farm was pretty epic. 

Owner Wade Rathke and founder of ACORN is a resident driven to serve his New Orleans community. The all-organic farm provides affordable produce to the NOLA community every other Saturday. Many urban areas like those in New Orleans become Food Deserts in the aftermath of devastating events and circumstances; however, the Acorn Farm is a small yet effective way to counter this issue. Our task was to clean up the garden for spring planting. We dug holes for new trees, mowed overgrown grass, cleared fences, and wacked weeds. 


After all the hard work, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride in our group. This year, only about 20% of residents of the Lower Ninth Ward have returned to NOLA. The Acorn Farm may be small, but it makes a difference by turning land destroyed by Hurricane Katrina into nutritional value. Our Oglethorpe group is also small, but we also made a difference today at the farm. I'm proud of our team. We worked together, motivated one another, and succeeded the Ogle way!


-Christal Hayes





Day 4: Community Voice and Boys & Girls Club

Today we split our day working with Community Voice and Boys & Girls Club. For Community Voice we worked at the community garden. We cleared the weeds along the fence, shoveled holes for trees, mowed the lawn and cleared trees. This has been the most intensive type of work we have done so far but it was immediately gratifying as we immediately noticed the difference. Also working on this garden made me realize the importance of beautification projects and the role they can play as the community works towards rebuilding itself and attract its citizens it lost in Katrina. After finishing up at the garden we went to Fair Trade, a coffee shop that works with the community garden. There we met Beth Butler, a community leader who helped us understand the importance of community organization to combat the problems the city still faces.
Today was also our last day at the Boys and Girls Club. We helped them with their homework and finished the stations we had started yesterday. The highlight of my day was playing soccer with a couple of the smaller kids as well as continuing to help Justin finish his homework. I don't always like children and find it difficult to connect with them. But the charm and humor of this kid won me over immediately. He immediately found hilarious  nickname for all my friends and me. Meeting and working with these kids today was bittersweet as the interaction with them is instantly gratifying like it is to work at the garden but knowing that today is the last day with them and I won't be there to hear Justin call me silly names makes me a bit sad. But this experience has restarted my interest in mentoring and is something I would like to pursue once we are home again.



-Lizbeth

Contextualize and Take It to the Drawing Board

Second Harvest Food Bank and The Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana were our hosts today, and thus the day was split between indirect and direct service. This juxtaposition gave the group a chance to learn about issues of hunger and food distribution, and to talk to children and get an idea of what their dreams and joys were.

These two opportunities were incredibly fun for the group, but brought to light much more serious issues than if the food pantry would get boxes within the weight limits or if Roger the 2nd-grader was gonna make the freethrow. After group discussion about the meaning of today's service, we broke down the relevance and meaning of what we did.

Packaging cereal and grits can give us an idea of the sheer volume of food distributed by the Food Bank, but it can't begin to convey to us the experience of a hungry New Orleans senior citizen who took out thousands in hurricane relief loans and can't be certain where their week's meals will come from. These kinds of experiences are valuable to get the ball rolling and spark interest in volunteers, but our responsibility is to ask questions and learn more about root issues, both so we can understand the value in our service and so we can take these experiences back to Atlanta where we'll work to solve the larger issues that plague not only this city but our country.

The direct service with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club was fun for volunteers and for the club members. After talking to the kids, however, volunteers started to notice a disturbing trend. The older group of students, ranging from sixth to eleventh grade, almost all wanted to be professional athletes or a similarly sensationalized superstars.

These dreams were bold and brave without a doubt, but upon further questioning they had no basis in life experience or in the support systems offered by several of the students. Reflections of public figures in the media were evident in the pursuits of these students, and this lack of representation really hit home to me, as a media student. I should not be able to tell Jeremiah why the only successful black men he sees on TV are athletes and rappers. I shouldn't have to question Brian about why he wants to be an engineer like the Asian characters in movies.

I came to New Orleans braced to handle issues of homelessness and hunger and to really delve into the deeper issues surrounding those plights, and today caught me off guard, to say the least. Something about my feeling of inadequacy as another source of support for these kids just really upset me. Maybe I'm too comfortable in the ways I do service. I'm used to a volunteer coordinator setting up a project with clear cut objectives and goals and value, and a good time to be had by all. Today has made me really re-evaluate the way I serve and the way I contemplate what I see and do.

-Carrie

Edit 1: (1/7/15 2:40 AM)
I can't stop thinking about the some of the things that writing this made me feel. I appreciate my fellow volunteers and classmates, and my trip leader for his continued support and willingness to help me work through these issues by talking through them with me. I think the way I go about service is seriously lacking sometimes, and I need to majorly re-evaluate myself.

Boys and Girls Club Masterpiece

After having a productive time at the Second Harvest Food Bank, the group headed over to the West Bank Unit of the Boys and Girls Club.
Today we helped the kids work through their homework. They were all very receptive and had a welcoming attitude. We then conducted three science experiments, ran an obstacle course, and held a Kool-Aid foaming paint art station. Everyone involved had a blast! From playing with slime and using balloons to learn about carbon dioxide to dodging obstacles while beating the clock. Here is a portrait of our very own Stephanie Styles.

Miguel Montoya

"You're Always on My Mind"

This is Patrick (one of the Advisors on this trip).  I say that to preface that this isn't my first trip to New Orleans for service work before.  Four years ago, I had the pleasure of taking a tour of the Levees with a Geology Professor from Tulane University.  Through this field trip, as he called it, I learned a tremendous amount of information about why the levees failed, the decisions that were made, and the racial implications of these decisions.

The basics of his explanation of the levee failure in the lower 9th ward was that the wall was built improperly (too many issues to list), the wall was not completed in a timely manner, the flood gates failed because the power was out, and a barge was in the canal and likely busted through the wall. The further explanation takes around 3 hours for him to explain through various stops.

One story he shared, however, was one that is a common shared story in New Orleans. He shared how many residents believe that the lower 9th ward was flooded to salvage other neighborhoods, specifically white, middle class neighborhoods and the French Quarter.  He stated, with his expert analysis of the situation, that there was nothing of proof to believe such a story, but was troubling none-the-less.

It has long been my opinion that while I don't personally subscribe to that belief, the mere fact that the community has a distrust in the powers of the government to protect them from catastrophic flooding and destruction is a major issue in New Orleans.  I have always wondered about this story, and on Monday I had the pleasure to meet with a woman who lives in the upper 9th ward and subscribes to that story.  Her story of the storm and the distrust in community leadership is astounding.  It further exposed an issue to me that cannot be ignored:
How can a community be successful when they distrust their leaders?
Her final statement to us on Monday was that she hopes we tell the story and share that New Orleans still is rebounding and growing and while they have hope 10 years after Hurricane Katrina, that they hope we have not forgotten. So with that, I will conclude this long-winded post by saying that these individuals have been on my mind for four years now, and they will remain on my mind.

--Patrick

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Day 2: Pressure Washing Perception

I'm not a serious conversationalist, but I'm observant when it comes to people and their personalities. Today I met Esther Dumas, an elderly lady with a warm welcoming smile. She asked for our help to pressure wash the outside of her house and kindly offered us goggles, drinks, and a lesson from her son on how to use the pressure washer. As a team, my group took turns pressure washing the house. Since there was only one pressure washer, time management and teamwork became a priority. I was very surprised by the spirit and the encouraging words of my group mates as each person stepped up to use the pressure washer. We didn't need to discuss a strategy or a plan we simply understood what needed to be done and who should do that. When a teammate needed help someone was there not even questioning anything to land a hand. Today I realized that service of any form brings people together because we are working towards a common goal to give someone happiness and a peace of mind. In the end, as we were leaving admiring our work and thanking Esther Dumas for her hospitality we all boarded the van a little triumphant for accomplishing and learning something new. On our way back I thought about Esther and her family and how they worked together to make us comfortable, appreciating our work in the beginning just as much as there did in the end. We landed a helping hand together as a group, and now I feel as if I'm not alone in wanting to change people's perception of community service. 

Community Voice

Volunteering today at community voice was an exhilarating experience and it reminded me that service is only half of the job, we must also connect with the people who we are serving so that they can know that there is someone who cares about them. I never expected that trimming trees and raking a yard would turn into a discussion about life with the owner of the property. It was just simply amazing to see someone open up to us and tell us about his life when he barely knew us, and the way he engaged us showed that he enjoyed our service and company, and more importantly he saw us as more than just volunteers. If today was just a preview of what we have to look forward to this week, then I know that AWB 2015 will be wonderful.

--Brian Cornelius

Monday, January 5, 2015

Day 2: Time to Work!

Day 2: Monday January 5th

          A day of service containing manual labor and fellowship has set us off to an amazing start! Our first reflection highlighted an inquisitiveness to seek stories and conversations with new people and to understand the history of New Orleans.  As I drove through the lower 9th ward, into the central district and back, I saw great disparity between seemingly untouched and unharmed areas and communities still seeking restoration. In between both of these things, lay an array of culture, from Spanish and French inspired towns, ghostly graveyards, and poh-boy sandwich shops. Oh and did I mention that today was COLD!!!!!

Personal HIGHLIGHT of the day: I learned how to use a pressure washer!

           Day 3 here we come!

Stephanie

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Camp Hope Day 1

After a long day of travel all 13 of us attending Alternative Winter Break to New Orleans have finally made it to Camp Hope. 
There is definitely a sense of excitement to start exploring the camp, the city and to begin our service! 
Pictured is the Camp Hope Cafeteria/Lounge
-Alan Huerta 

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Pre-trip Dinner

Most of the participants this evening had the opportunity to join together for some dinner and bonding. A great welcome back to Oglethorpe from winter break and a bit of group bonding. 

Tomorrow we depart!

The Details

All of the Fun Details



A brief explanation of what we will be doing and where we will be going

Where we are staying


We will be staying at Camp Hope which is a bunkhouse for volunteers who are doing service in the Greater New Orleans area. This bunkhouse provides affordable lodging opportunities for groups. They are also providing food for the participants on the trip.

Where are we serving


We are planning to serve with four different organizations during our time in New Orleans, all focusing on Hunger & Homelessness issues in various capacities.

A Community Voice

A nonprofit of community members that bring together individuals that have common interests to improve the quality of their lives.  Their focus is on job campaigns, fair housing, and rebuilding of neighborhoods.

Second Harvest Food Bank

As the largest charitable anti-hunger group in South Louisiana, the Food Bank helps provide food and other resources to individuals who are in need.

Boys & Girls Club

Access to education and care for the youth is an important issue, and Boys & Girls Club works to encourage youth to achieve their full potential.

New Orleans Mission

An interdenominational organization provides services for homeless men.  They do this through assisting the homeless with shelters as well as providing clothing and personal guidance to individuals facing homelessness.

What we will be doing


The trip is more than just service.  Participants will be engaging in various activities throughout the entire week that provides a complete experience.

Service

Service is the primary purpose of the trip.  Students will be engaging in up to 8 hours of direct service day day.  This service is done with the community in mind and with local organizations. Part of the service involves interacting and talking with community members.  These include the members of the organization and community members and youth who are involved with the service.

Katrina Museum

Students will spend one morning at the Katrina Museum, a production of the Louisiana State Museum.  These exhibits will let students understand the experience of those who were affected by Hurricane Katrina as well as gain a glimpse into the complex nature of rebuilding.

Visiting Lower 9th Ward & Columbia Park

One afternoon will be spent in the Lower 9th Ward, close to where the participants will be lodged.  This will be time to better understand why the levees failed and the socio-political nature of issues with the flood walls. A visit to Columbia Park will also take place which will allow students to see a neighborhood that has been developed in the same way the East Lake Neighborhood in Atlanta has been developed. 


Exploration Day

It is important that one day students get to explore New Orleans and gain a greater appreciation for the culture and rich traditions that are present.  It paints a wonderful picture of why people love their hometown and fight for the restoration and ongoing growth of The Big Easy


Reflection

Every night the students will conclude with critical reflection.  This is a time for the participants to understand what happened that day, so what the service meant to them and to the community, and now what can be done as result of increased knowledge.  Some of the reflection may appear throughout this blog during the week.

What is an Alternative Break?

What is the Alternative?

Amid college students spending their spring, winter, or summer breaks relaxing, working, celebrating, and catching up on life, there are groups of students who recognize that they wish to become active citizens of a broader community.  Instead of spending a week at home, these students set out to participate in an Alternative Break.

The Alternative Break trip is a structured experience where college students engage in service and immersion with a community for a week.  Structured around a social issue, these trips are highly intensive and immersive experiences.  While students spend the week doing service and interacting with local community members in the location where they travel, they are also engaging in critical discussion and reflection around the social issue.   Through this experience, students are challenged to think differently and ask critical questions to get at root causes of systemic social issues. 

Through these trips, many college students are becoming active citizens, striving for what is best in their own communities and communities around he world.  While these trips take students to various cities and countries, they recognize the interconnected nature of the work they do. Upon returning to campus, they are equipped to enter communities and engage in dialogue as result of their trip. 

Alternative Breaks have been happening on college campuses since the early 1990s, and have grown to be a nation wide movement. Oglethorpe University is a part of this nation wide movement engaging students in a trip to New Orleans each Winter Break and a trip to Guatemala every other Spring Break.