there is a story in each room, door to door. battered and torn, still doesn't erase what was here. from street to street, we walked in arms, from lizardi to congress, finger to finger. these seeds will grow into fields, into a beauty that always lived here. hope within these walls, within a people who know, know no boundaries. swim these waters, tread with head held high. share your sorrows and struggles. hearts that have been sunken deep, this is where it lives and breathes. these waters ripple in each soul who enters, stir like new beginnings, with a hope so strong.
explanation
in the summer of 2006 i had the opportunity to help lead a group of teenagers down to new orleans, louisiana to help in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. to truly explain the experience would be impossible. from helping to gut houses, to meeting the people who lived in the area and were planning on moving back, was an eye opening experience. almost a year later from the storm, and from the lay of the land you would have thought it had just happened. most of the areas were ghost towns. we'd enter abandoned houses with clothes and furniture strewn across each room, walls covered with mold and watermarks that were close to the ceiling. upon entering each house i couldn't help but think how we were trespassing through someone's belongings. to have everything that was once so personal to someone, emptied throughout the house, destroyed. remnants of a life that took place within each room. yet, all we could do was make piles to be sorted or eventually trashed. however, when we met the people who lived in these houses, they had a way to them, a sincerity, strength and hope that they would continue to move on, that this disaster would not stop them. it really put things in perspective, to hear stories and see the people of new orleans (and all areas effected by katrina) push forward and reclaim their lives.
explanation
in the summer of 2006 i had the opportunity to help lead a group of teenagers down to new orleans, louisiana to help in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. to truly explain the experience would be impossible. from helping to gut houses, to meeting the people who lived in the area and were planning on moving back, was an eye opening experience. almost a year later from the storm, and from the lay of the land you would have thought it had just happened. most of the areas were ghost towns. we'd enter abandoned houses with clothes and furniture strewn across each room, walls covered with mold and watermarks that were close to the ceiling. upon entering each house i couldn't help but think how we were trespassing through someone's belongings. to have everything that was once so personal to someone, emptied throughout the house, destroyed. remnants of a life that took place within each room. yet, all we could do was make piles to be sorted or eventually trashed. however, when we met the people who lived in these houses, they had a way to them, a sincerity, strength and hope that they would continue to move on, that this disaster would not stop them. it really put things in perspective, to hear stories and see the people of new orleans (and all areas effected by katrina) push forward and reclaim their lives.