New Orleans Day 1

Hello everyone!  We arrived in New Orleans, LA around 5 pm.  One of the first landmarks that we saw as we came into town was the Super Dome.  We decided to spend the evening with pizza, and we watched the Spike Lee documentary, "When the Levees Broke".  We felt that by watching the documentary we could gain perspective on the situation that was caused by Hurricane Katrina and when the levees broke. 

Sunday, we started our day early and toured the ninth ward, an area severely devastated by the levee breaches following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  We first went to Musicians' Row, which is a project started by Harry Connick, Jr. Next, we went to William Frantz Elementary School where Ruby Bridges was the first integrated student.  Then we continued on to the lower ninth ward and stood next to the leeve.  The reactions from our group were varied.  Those that were here last year were impressed by how much progress the city has made in one year.  They also felt differently about photographing houses compared to last year.  We feel like those houses are not just structures, but they have become homes with people living in them and cars parked in the driveway.  Some were worried that we might have came too late and that our services were no longer needed.  However, we have learned quickly that that is not the case.  Even though we had never seen the neighborhood with houses, the new girls were impacted by the emptiness of what used to be the neighborhood of the ninth ward. The endless number of concrete foundations gave us a sense of the enormity of the damage that occurred as a result of the flood.  Now where homes once stood, only steps remained.  Those images provided both groups with the sense that there was still more work to be done.  The whole group felt inspired by the progress and the spirit of hope in the city.
Afterward we went to Audubon Zoo to attend Soul Fest to experience the culture of New Orleans.

Early evening, we had dinner at Zea's Resturant.  We met with Michelle Perez, who is a future SIU Early Childhood Professor, this coming August.  She has an amazing background. To our advantage she is doing her dissertation in and on events occurring in New Orleans.  We were all impressed by her, and she will make a great addition to our SIU faculty.

Our days are busy, but we are doing our best to keep you updated nightly.  Keep checking back and thank you so much for your ongoing support as you are helping us make a difference!