[StBernard] Working tourists

[Westley Annis]

Working tourists
Travelers from around the world come to help rebuild New Orleans
By Kristin Butler, Staff Writer
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ST. BERNARD PARISH, La. - The French Quarter, Mardi Gras, Preservation Hall:
New Orleans once counted on these landmarks to draw a crowd. But in the
three years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, the Big Easy's
unending blocks of flood-devastated homes have attracted a very different
sort of visitor.
More than 1.1 million "voluntourists" have responded to the region's call to
service, contributing 4.5 million hours of help since late 2005, according
to Mayor Ray Nagin. Although these good Samaritans hail from across the
globe, they share a common purpose: They're eager to help Katrina victims
rebuild their lives, and they're willing to get their hands dirty in the
process. 

Just this year, voluntourists have gutted houses, landscaped parks, painted
playgrounds and rebuilt community centers. The American Library Association
restored local libraries during its annual conference in 2006, while groups
of visiting physicians have donated their time to the city's free clinics.
No matter how people get here -- whether through their church, their
college, a professional association or simply on their own -- there is a job
for every willing worker and the need could not be greater. 

A trip through St. Bernard Parish, once a middle-class suburb of 67,229 just
outside New Orleans, reveals row after row of burned-out, half-collapsed
buildings that wouldn't look out of place in war-torn Bosnia. Some have been
overtaken by tall grass, while others have been reduced to a slab
foundation. Virtually the entire parish was submerged under 5 to 12 feet of
water, with only five homes spared. 

On one lot, a homeowner has spray-painted "Goodbye oil' friend" on a shed,
along with a plea: "Do demolish." On another, a brave soul has parked a FEMA
trailer atop the slab that used to support his home. He is the only person
still living on this street, which once had 30 or 40 homes. 

The people who live in these neighborhoods say they feel betrayed and
forgotten by their government, which has yet to restore basic sewage and
fire services to much of the parish. (Vacuum trucks run 24/7 to transport
human waste to the sewage treatment plant.) 

Strong backs and greenbacks

But Wayne Warner, longtime principal of Chalmette High School in St. Bernard
Parish, says the tireless efforts of volunteers from across America have
restored his faith in his country -- and his countrymen.

Recalling the volunteers who gutted his home, Warner spoke of a man who
broke down in tears one afternoon. Sitting on a nearby curb, the man
wondered aloud, "There are so many houses like this left to do. What
difference can I make?"

His voice quavering with emotion, Warner recalled his reply: "Well, it makes
huge difference to me."

So say many New Orleanians. Locals feel doubly blessed by these out-of-state
visitors, who inject welcome dollars into the regional economy even as they
provide a desperately needed source of free labor. As the Rev. David Crosby
of First Baptist Church noted, the floodwaters were followed by a "second
surge of labor and goods. ... We need that surge to continue because we just
don't have enough builders and tradesmen in New Orleans to get the job
done."

Both Warner and Crosby emphasized again and again that locals are not lazy,
and they want America to know that they are proud people trying to regain
their independence. More than that, they don't want to be forgotten. 

The depth of residents' gratitude was on display in the French Quarter on
June 22 when two city natives stopped to thank a group of young men -- their
telltale matching orange shirts tagging them as volunteers -- eating
beignets at Cafe du Monde. A waitress reported these thank yous have become
commonplace among appreciative diners.

Barriers to rebuilding

And yet the reconstruction crawls along. 

Zack Rosenburg, a former Washington, D.C., criminal defense lawyer who left
his practice to start the St. Bernard Project in August 2006, explained that
one reason homeowners have been so slow to rebuild is the scarcity of
building materials and skilled labor in southern Louisiana. 

As a volunteer-based organization, the St. Bernard Project can gut and
rebuild a home in eight to 12 weeks for about $15,000, Rosenburg said, but
most private contractors are charging at least $100,000 to do the same work
-- a nearly 100 percent markup from the $53,000 it costs them to do the job
even with well-paid union workers.

So for the vast majority of homeowners who can't afford that steep price
tag, volunteers are the last, best hope. 

These organizations rely on volunteers of all ages and skill levels to pitch
in, and although the St. Bernard Project employs professional plumbers,
electricians and cabinet hangers, Rosenburg said unskilled workers remain in
high demand. For starters, volunteers can hang sheetrock, refinish floors,
plant flowers or paint playground equipment, and there is a job for every
skill and interest, said Kelly Schulz of the New Orleans Convention and
Visitors Bureau. 

Still, flexibility and a sense of humor are appreciated by the volunteer
coordinators. 

Rosenburg said the voluntourists working with his organization typically
stay for seven days, and many combine sightseeing (not to mention the
occasional night out) with their good works. Still, Rosenburg said 80
percent of St. Bernard Project volunteers said the primary purpose of their
trip was to volunteer.

And whatever your motivation, New Orleans wants you to come visit. 

As Leah Chase, legendary Creole chef and co-founder of the landmark
restaurant Dooky Chase in the Lower Ninth Ward, put it, "If you come here,
you don't have to hammer a nail or tighten a screw. Just come to our city to
give us the push that we need." 


kristin.butler at newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4633