Community Service

I woke up this morning so sore that I could barely move. It took me a very long time to get up, shower, get dressed, and intend to go to McWilliams to attend the performance Love Letters to New Orleans. It took me even longer to walk to McWilliams. Pretty much everyone I saw also heading in that direction passed me. Getting out of bed was the last thing I wanted to do, and I’m still hurting, even now, as I write this. Why, you ask? Because yesterday I did some community service.

What I ended up doing was walking around with a large pole, peeling lead paint off the ceiling. This involved wearing a gas mask and goggles to prevent any dust from getting in my eyes or mouth. The problem, I quickly discovered, was that the humidity of the environment led to the gas mask getting very sweaty very quickly. And then, as I was craning my head up towards the ceiling to attack the lead paint, the gas mask would slide down my nose til it was almost hanging off my face. Which meant I had to readjust it. And start all over again.

I must have taken breaks every 5 minutes while doing that particular job. Now, for those of you who know something about me, you may be wondering why exactly a small 5′3″ girl is trying to get something off the ceiling. Two of my pledge sisters were doing it too, and in fact, one volunteered first, which then led me to follow. Hard physical labor is something not many people want to do, and because of that, the three smallest girls there ended up doing it. Eventually, lunchtime came around, and we were relieved of those particular duties. We spent the rest of the day priming, which was a MUCH less arduous task.

We worked at Allen Elementary School, which is being turned into a math and science high school by NOLA Hurricane Fund. They were explaining to us how exactly they wanted to renovate all the walls and ceilings. They had already finished the second floor, and if you walk around it, you will be surprised at how fresh, clean, and colorful it looks compared to the rest of the building, and any nearby buildings in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It’s an admirable task, and it was something to which I hope I contributed, and contribute more in the future.

Someone famous, who probably never went through this kind of physical soreness before, said, “No pain, no gain.” I guess that’s true in the end. I may be hurting physically now, but at least this means that some New Orleans students won’t be hurting intellectually later.

At Tulane, the opportunities for jobs like this are extensive. With CACTUS, and NOLA Hurricane Fund, plus a plethora of independent projects all over New Orleans, an active kid can always find a way to contribute. It’s one of the reasons I came back to New Orleans, so please don’t mind all the complaining. Many others do these types of tasks on a much more regular basis, and really, we should consider ourselves lucky to be part of the rebirth of New Orleans at all. We have an incredible chance to give back to the community, and that is something we each should do, in some way or another.

And if you’re lucky enough, you might find yourself with a large pole and a gas mask, rebuilding New Orleans one lead paint chip at a time. =)