Red Cross Deployment

[marathoner452]

Where do I begin? I've been ERV-surfing in the Lower Ninth Ward. I've caught the "Katrina crudt" from breathing in mold and who knows what else all day. I serve hot food out of the back of a hot ERV while ERV-surfing over piles of debris. I spend 12 hours out of my day either on the road serving hot meals and snacks or scrubbing down the ERV and I haven't made a cent beyond my Red Cross stipend for food and medicine to treat the "Katrina crudt."

The amazing thing is that I'm having the time of my life. I'm meeting so many cool volunteers from all over the country, enjoying the 75* midwinter weather, and eating in a bunch of cool restaurants. I bought my own hurricane glass-my new favorite drink which one of the volunteers is going to give me the recipe for so I can order it back in Maryland-and filled it with beads that another volunteer gave me. We spend the evenings soaking in the hot tub and alternately relaxing and sharing our Katrina stories.

The best part is that I'm falling in love with the people of New Orleans. I've never met a more appreciative, more open-hearted, more hard-working group of people in my life. I just wish I could do so much more for them than give them a hot meal-I want to fix up their houses and look after their kids and give them a reason why the rest of the city is well on its way to recovery while they don't even have electricity and there are houses in the middle of the road. It's not just sad, it's criminal.

I knew it was bad down here, but I couldn't imagine anything like this. As one of the houses in Arabi (another neighborhood) said, "Thank You Katrina."

~Bethany

EDIT: An ERV is an emergency response vehicle, the big boxy thing we all serve food out of.

Comments

[roadwarrior220.livejournal.com]

Just from the little time we've had since you got there, I could tell you're having the time of your life. And I've always known the people of New Orleans to be like that--I knew you were going to love them. I'm behind you all the way, and you know where to find me when you have time to talk. And I promise I'll be a little less emotional once the job search stress from the temp agencies wears off.

[roadwarrior220.livejournal.com]

Amen to that--she's been talking about it for months and we've been seeing the pictures for months, too, and there couldn't be a better person down there to help than Bethany.

[http://users.livejournal.com/infinitely_/]

Hey,
i'm going down there next week for spring break. whats the Katrina crudt?

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

It's the scratchy, sore throat and congestion you get from breathing in 6 month old mold all day. It's esp. bad in the harder-hit areas with the most severe flooding from the levees breaking, like the lower 9th ward where I've been.

If you wear a face mask, you should be okay, but we can't because we need to be able to talk with the people we're serving. If you're staying downtown you shouldn't have any problems, but if you're going out to gut houses or something take all the precautions they tell you to and be careful. You don't want to get sick.

~Bethany

[roadwarrior220.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the cold I had a few weeks back. :-P Hope you get a chance to start feeling better before you come home. Laying in bed sick for a week with that is the last thing I know you want, though I know it'll give you an excuse to relax for a few more days. :-)

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

Oh, and if you see Red Cross people come up and say hi. We love talking to spring breakers.

~Bethany

[batemanenroute.livejournal.com]

Thank you for doing what you're doing. :)

And if you meet anyone from the Mile High Chapter in Denver, and they knew any of the old VISTAs, tell them I (Lauren) say hi, please.

Hey Marathoner

[nonpartisan1984.livejournal.com]

It's me, Jeremy, former History Club President at your alma mater. Glad to hear you're doing good work in New Orleans.

The reason I'm contacting you is that, among the many hats I wear, I'm a longtime poster at the website www.dailykos.com. It's a liberal website, and I don't know what your political affiliation is, but it doesn't matter -- these people genuinely care about what happened in New Orleans and would love to hear from someone who's on the ground providing medical care.

I very much encourage you, after you come back from the Ninth Ward, to write up a description of your experiences and post it on Daily Kos. If you're interested, shoot me an e-mail: jcyoung [AT] smcm [DOT] edu. I'll help you out with registration and stuff if you like, so all you'll have to do is write the text. But I think this is very important: these people feel deeply the tragedy perpetrated on this American state, and have collective deep pockets to help rectify it.

Let me know.

--Jeremy

Re: Hey Marathoner

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

One correction-it's not medical care we're providing, other than a band-aid or two. We're out there feeding people. And it's not just the ninth ward I'm in, but there are plenty of areas just as bad that I've been serving.

I'll definitely post there when I get home. The more I can do to improve the situation of those people, the better.

~Bethany

Re: Hey Marathoner

[nonpartisan1984.livejournal.com]

Good deal. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that at this place you have to be registered for a week before you can post a diary.

There are some other sites I'd point you to as well, if you've got the time. They're slightly smaller than Daily Kos, but all you'd have to do is cut and paste from one page to another.