Frustration and Questions

This service trip has shown me the devastation of the region, and I have enjoyed helping the area progress. Yesterday I went to a site to demolish a house. Initially, demolition did not appeal to me; it seemed depressing. At the site, I learned that demolition takes organization and many hard workers, not dynamite and a wrecking ball. We ripped apart floors, removed foundation cinderblocks from the mud, and took away any other objects on the site. Among other possessions, we found dresses, an axel to a tricycle, and a teddy bear. I felt a strange sadness clearing away a family’s home, but I also understood my part in the process of rebuilding. In only a few weeks of work, a completed house will stand on the same plot of land that I helped to clear. I am a part of a process.

Today, I went to a site to lay down dirt at a previously cleared site. The homeowner at this site requested a new home three years ago—before Katrina hit the area. As I spread orange dirt with a rake, I stepped on ground that felt as if a trampoline were under it. I quickly asked why the ground felt like it did. An Americorps member responded that a septic tank lay under the soil. The soil felt bouncy because it had many roots and water in it. When the grandson of homeowner came over to look at our work, he told us that the springy ground was not the site of a septic tank. He laughed and told us there might be a water table underground. The lack of organization and communication frustrated me. We have encountered countless changes in plans, and I worry about the fate of the area with so few workers and organizers for such a large, demanding problem.

--- Roger