Strengthening a Civic Mission in New Orleans

My role within the United Saints Recovery Project throughout the course of my time in New Orleans over Winter Break was much more dynamic than my experiences with the group in March 2010. What began as a small series of interviews with members of the community (ranging from parent activists to scholars) turned into a much broader undertaking than I had imagined. The average day was characterized by one to two interviews, a few hours of research in New Orleans history and education theory to accompany the interviews, and part of the day spent helping out with the United Saints Recovery project. Whether it was leading groups of fellow students to do repair work in siding and painting on a particular house or to help the organization coordinate volunteers and projects, my work for the United Saints Recovery Project subsequently felt more dynamic and useful for the community, for the organization, and for myself. Through this work (as well as my research), I came to learn of the various forms of work it takes to support and sustain a project such as the United Saints Recovery Project.

Although I would say that I had a well-developed appreciation for the values of service going into this particular trip to New Orleans, my general understanding of service and labor were put into question over the course of this stay in Central City with the United Saints Recovery Project. Whereas my previous work in New Orleans had been purely in the realm of manual labor, I came in to this trip knowing that though I had acquired many skills that enabled me to do effective work in terms of manual labor, my expertise was in less tangible forms. I had also learned after my first trip that this particular community in New Orleans (and indeed the city more broadly as well) needed more than just to be physically rebuilt. Though enough emphasis cannot be placed upon the need to repair basic things such as homes, schools, roads, etc., I know that a critical analysis of the power apparatus within the city is necessary if so much hardship is to be alleviated on a broader scale.

The work I took up was, in light of these revelations, dynamic and changed from day to day in many ways. Manual labor and mental labor were never separated from one another and as I developed my abilities to help the neighborhood and the organization in these particular areas, I was able to develop a more fully realized understanding of the city’s direst problems as well as its most basic needs. As was to be expected, such revelations produced an even greater impetus within myself to return to the city and continue a path of work that develops the community’s ability to function on a basic level (housing, schooling, etc.) while at the same time developing human capital and social capacity to develop stronger communities.

Coming away from such illuminating work, the obvious question beyond what it can lead to in the neighborhood and the organization itself is what it can lead to in regards to my own future more specifically. Looking ahead to graduate studies (most likely in education), I know that my experiences talking with individuals, repairing houses, and just having the opportunity to experience the way of life lived by so many in New Orleans will contribute significantly to my studies. The only means by which positive change can be effected on both a community level as well as a societal level is to keep consistent such an understanding as I have developed in regards to connecting the experiences of individuals in communities with the theory and history that shape such experiences. I believe that such a path of volunteerism as carried out by the United Saints Recovery Project is a tremendous means of strengthening and broadening such a civic mission.