Printer-friendly version
By Maia Neubig
Maia Neubig is an SDSU senior who traveled to New Orleans on two separate occasions as part of the Art Relief effort.
The best part about the trips are the people down there, they are some of the nicest, most caring people I have ever met in my life. They truly love and appreciate every one of us for coming down there and never let us forget it.
One man, John Wilkes Booth, acts as a tour guide and takes us to see local sites that were destroyed by the hurricanes and tells us incredible stories about his experiences with multiple hurricanes and how it affected him and his loved ones. He is definitely the best story teller and the nicest person I've ever met.
We stay at a place called Camp Hope, which used to be a school but has been converted into a volunteer camp, and the locals come cook for us, eat with us and tell us their stories all the time. It's amazing what some of these people have been through, and even more amazing that they're still as nice and upbeat as they are after all of that.
When I first drove through St. Bernard Parish, I was horrified to see how much was still completely destroyed and abandoned, even three years after the storm. I had no idea how bad it still was, and going down there has been such an eye-opener for me and I knew immediately that I was going to keep coming back because no one should have to live like that. I am really excited that 50 people are going on this spring trip, because I think it's an incredible experience and everyone should have the chance to do something like this. These trips have made me and so many others better people and made us truly appreciate what we have.
I have been on two trips so far, and they were both very different but each was very fun and enlightening in its own way. When we work on the houses, we work under a site supervisor from AmeriCorps (like Peace Corps but they work in the US,) and they teach us everything we need to know for the task at hand. My first trip our groups did flooring and put up drywall and insulation, and this past trip in January we did mold remediation. It may not sound like much fun but it ends up being a great experience, even if it is difficult or uncomfortable at times. I have made some really great friends on these trips and absolutely fallen in love with the city of New Orleans. We spend most of our time working of course, but we do make time for fun stuff as well.
The French Market is right in the middle of the city and it is incredible, you can buy anything and everything there, from feather boas to jewelry to lawn sculptures. My favorite things about the city though, besides the amazing people of course, are the music and the festivals. There's music everywhere and they have festivals for everything- my first trip we went to a tomato festival and we spent all day watching jazz bands perform and dancing barefoot in the mud with the locals.
I have helped with our previous Art Relief fundraisers, but being in charge of this one has made me realize how much work it is to organize a group like this and make everything run smoothly. I just want to say that the founders of this group and our new president, Stephanie Buchanan, have done an amazing job and they are the reason this organization has been such a success.
The Art Relief is a really fun event, with live music, drinks for sale, free food and incredible artwork from local artists. It is fast approaching and we want it to be the best one yet, so we're hoping for a really good turnout and hope that it will be a great success!
For more information about Art Relief and the organization go to http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/?q=477_art_relief.
Recent comments