Fireside Reflections

I wonder if I can capture the power of tonight’s fire in words. We gathered, all of us, around a bonfire after dark fell, gazing at the flames and, like unending human generations, allowing their light to draw us into communion with those sitting around it. Story time. David invited us to share observations, feelings, and thoughts on the week’s experience. Slowly, than in a rush, people spoke. Comments ranged from frustration with Camp Coastal’s inefficiency at dispatching us or insufficiency of tools to questioning, “How can we be building houses that might not withstand Katrina 2.0, the next hurricane?” to thoughts about the profound gratitude we’d heard from everyone whom we’d met and the complex feelings that such thankfulness aroused.

Some voices were a bit daunted, wondering what can one week of my work (or team’s work, all of CA’s work) do? How much impact can it have when we can see so much damage all around us. But then a counterpoint emerged: realize that we have among us dug four or five houses worth of postholes, putting those houses on the track to being built, literally digging the foundation of people’s new lives; that there are 300 people in Camp Coastal alone, and countless other camps, all making small, incremental progress. The names of those we’d met came up – Randy, Noel, Butch, Rick, and others. One person spoke of the power of bearing witness to their experience, through hearing their stories, and listening with deep attentiveness. We heard of one group priming the walls in an almost finished houses, so a little girl could have her longed-for pink bedroom. Many told stories of especially gratifying or wrenching moments they’d experienced over the week.

Kids spoke of how much they had learned – about how complicated the whole house construction process is, and how modest one person’s input can be, about how much remains untouched 21 months after Katrina hit. Some spoke of a deep anger that had been building over the week, anger at the failure of the government (local, national, whatever) to have responded more wholly to the devastation still visible nearly everywhere.

And as we closed, several of the adults (echoed by some students) voiced their deep appreciation of our group, for the CA kids have worked unstintingly, with focus, effort and immense sweat, at whatever task they were assigned, whether glamorous or grungy. Their effort and willingness to pitch in has been noted by everyone (Camp Coastal staff and other volunteers; homeowners) and I (Liz) am very proud to be a part of this group and this school.

And then, after all that solemnity, we cheerfully fell upon the s’mores supplies, which disappeared with alarming rapidity!