[StBernard] Working tourists

[Westley Annis]

	So true!  Thanks to all the volunteers who help restore our lives.  I will never forget the churches that gave from their heart; remember the food tent at Walmart where they would not only give you free food, but bring it to your car and give you a hug!  God bless them one and all.  MsSimms

	> ----------------------------------------------------- 
	> Working tourists 
	> Travelers from around the world come to help rebuild New Orleans 
	> By Kristin Butler, Staff Writer 
	> Comment on this story 
	> 
	> 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