York College

York College softball player, Joviette Frederick, is currently representing York College at the CUNY Goodwill tour in New Orleans.  Joviette has bee nice enough to provide daily updates of her experiences. 

Be sure to check back all this week as she will continue to share her stories from the trip each day.

Day 1 (May 25)

On May 25^th all the participants slowly but surely started to arrive at JFK International Airport at 5 a.m. We were all so excited for the plane ride. Our hearts felt for Kimberly Battle of City Tech because it would be her first time on an airplane.

The crew arrived in New Orleans and got straight to work. We got settled into our new home for the next 10 days: The Church of the Annunciation. We felt so welcomed. We were greeted and there we were given some background information and ground rules of the Annunciation Mission. I can admit the team was fatigued from the trip. We all could've used some food, so we had lunch at The Old Coffee Pot Restaurant in The French Quarter. It was there we all told stories and jokes over some great Louisiana cooking. The Po Boy Sandwiches seem to be the hot pick of the menu.

After we let loose and enjoyed our meals, we headed into the French Quarter Visitor's Center where we received a great tour as well as an introduction to NOLA. April, a Park Ranger at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve Louisiana, gave us some history of New Orleans and shared with us the impact of New Orleans. We split into two groups and got the chance to walk around the streets of the great city to pinpoint different types of architecture that can help aid during a catastrophe such as galleries and balconies. Later that night was the first dinner at The Annunciation.  

Throughout the day everyone was so sweet and welcoming. Later that night, we had our team meeting where we discussed the day. One amazing thing is that we went around and answered one of two questions: what was our high point of the day or what was our low point of the day?  All the participants are still getting to know each other, but the feeling of being amongst student-athletes is so natural for all of us.

Day 2 (May 26)

My room in The Annunciation consists of a four bunk bed setting. There are eight participants in this particular room. Our eighth member, Heather from CCNY, arrived around 2 a.m. in the early morning. We were glad to have her. The women's bathroom consists of two stalls with toilets, four shower stalls and three sinks. We wake up and take turns to use the facilities. By now, all the participants have warmed up to each other. Day 1 was the introduction, while day 2 is time to work. We meet downstairs at 6:30 a.m. in the dining hall for breakfast. Here we have a wide variety of food. James and Jean, friendly staff of the church, prepared pancakes, cereal, link sausages and other hearty choices for us to begin our day.

Immediately after breakfast we divided again. A group of girls including myself chose the task of helping the mission out by cleaning up. We headed upstairs and began. A few hours later, we completed cleaning up the toilets, showers and sinks of both the men and women facilities. Teamwork was key. We took out trash, swept and mopped the floors as well as cleaned up the tables in the dining hall. The other group helped out with gardening in the churchyard. As soon as I got there, I picked up a shovel and chipped in getting the dirt into the wheel barrels. The demonstration of teamwork today was phenomenal.

Through every step of the day, we are reminded to stay hydrated because while we are working hard outdoors, it is 90 plus degrees outside. The mission is just getting started. 

Day 3 (May 27)

On this day I follow my normal routine. Breakfast is served from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. It seems like as each day passes by, we all wake up closer to the end of breakfast just to get down there because some of us are overwhelmed with the combination of the work and the heat.  We are beyond beat. As a group, we pack our lunch for the day into brown paper bags. We stand around the table and make turkey sandwiches or even spread some peanut butter and jelly on toast. We fill up our water bottles, put them on the side of our bag packs and we're off for another days work.

Today's work consisted us going to the Common Ground/Bayou Rebirth. The Common Ground site is based wholly upon the environmental and community needs needed in New Orleans after the hurricane. Everyone worked on planting cypress trees in order for them to grow out in the process of a year.  This will allow them to be sturdy enough to live a long life when being planted in the Bayou. It was amazing walking through the Bayou because after we planted many of the trees, we got to link it to the reason they are needed. The hurricane wiped out many trees so what we were walking through came across as just an empty forest. It felt great ending the day knowing that in a year or so, some roots of a tree I helped plant, will soon grow into a living tree in the beautiful coastal wetlands that help slow down the water and protect the city from surges during hurricanes like Katrina.

After we got finished with our work for the day around 4:30pm, we got back to the mission and freshened up for an upcoming night of relaxation. We drove to Rock-n-Bowl at Mid-City Lanes and enjoyed a great live jazz band and some bowling. It was fun to get on the dance floor and hula-hoop with some of the other student athletes and even staff members. The bowling—I don't know about— because I did horrible. Everyone cheered me on to get some pins down. Zak Ivkovic, the CUNYAC Executive Director, even gave me some personal pointers. How sweet of him! Great day topped off by a great night! Day 4, we're ready!

Today is the day we all get a taste of the reality of what really occurred during Hurricane Katrina and the impact it had on communities that are still living with difficult conditions today.  After our usual morning routine, we head out for a tour of the Lower 9^th Ward, which is considered “the hood” or “the ghetto” of New Orleans. This is where the poverty level is at an all-time low. Smitty, whose house was under 18 inches of water during the catastrophe, was our tour guide. As we both drove and walk through the neighborhoods, we were all in awe from what we saw. Houses torn and still not rebuilt to this day. You can tell that some of the citizens just gave up. Some didn't have the money and maybe even lost hope. Smitty's story was amazing. He took us by the Brad Pitt's houses. The celebrity helped build over 100 houses in the effort to help victims of the hurricane. Although that was a high point, I felt sad for so many other people who didn't get that opportunity. Imagine living down the block seeing these beautiful homes and expensive cars in the driveways and being just a few houses down wondering why you didn't get picked. I understand that we can't rebuild the whole city, but for others' sake, you really wish you could sometimes.

I'm glad that I'm here to aid in this effort because you can see in every person we help that they are thankful and although we are not here for the praise, it feels really good to hear them thank us for being here as much as they do. We listen to their stories because with that comes their healing. Who can stop someone from wanting to do that? It was sad to see that the children didn't have an outlet to go to. We passed by what seemed to be a pathetic excuse for a playground with a few swings surrounded by grass that hadn't even been cut. Not a kid was in sight. In fact, not a person was in sight and it was really sad to see.

This brings us to our next part of the workday, but it felt more like play. It was field day on the levee. Kids from all over the neighborhood joined us for tons of fun. We had some athletes playing soccer with the kids while others taught another group of kids how to throw a football. I was excited to toss for the boys and girls who wanted to play wiffleball. Everyone was really good at everything. My favorite part had to be helping the kids stay hydrated. We treated them like little princes and princesses. I handed out cups and wrote their names on them. I even drew smiley faces for the girls and all the boys wanted basketballs. We poured Gatorade for them and others helped in handing out raisins and fresh fruit for the kids. It was fun having the kids come to me to peel their oranges. It was so good to see them enjoying themselves. They had these illuminating smiles on their faces that brought a glowing smile to my heart simply because they probably have nowhere to play or anyone to play with.  I saw that what we did as a group brought them happiness. I wouldn't hesitate to do it all over again. The kids didn't want us to leave, but we placed something in their hearts and minds: that they could do anything they put their mind to.

As I left, I handed two little girls CUNY t-shirts and told them I would see them in the Big Apple years from now and that they should remember that once upon a time, I made an impact on them. It was an emotional day seeing all that we saw, but the kids made us all realize what we want out of this trip and this experience in New Orleans.

Day 5 (May 29)

Today was more of a touring day and all the participants received some time to rest up. In the morning, we took a drive to Barataria Preserve of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve where we took part in a morning hike with our Park Ranger Jack. On the tour we got the chance to see the swamps and many different sceneries. One fact I found interesting was how Jack stated that New Orleans loses a football field of water every 20 minutes. At that rate, I wondered how fast would the swamp be left dry. Another part of our day was spent at the Destrehan Plantation where we got a tour from our guide Ronnie. The plantation also had a great souvenir shop where everyone was itching to buy something. Later that night when we all returned to the Mission, everyone freshened up and spent time in the dining hall playing card games and sharing thoughts about the day. It was a pretty relaxed day, much needed for us all.

Day 6 (May 30)

Another morning where we woke up at 6 a.m. to get ready for breakfast.  We all sat in the dining hall eager to see our new assignments. This would be the first time we split up. For the rest of the trip, the CUNY Goodwill Tour participants will be divided up into three groups to tackle three different projects. These projects consist of home repair, painting and moving furniture, as well as having other components.

As we set out, I was headed to St. Paul's Homecoming Center for some home repairing with my other eleven teammates. After a half-hour drive, we arrived and received our assignment. We would be working with Jack, a veteran of the United States Army and a resident of New Orleans since he was three years old. We quickly got to work on an empty lot that has been for sale since Hurricane Katrina hit. We picked up debris from the lot and set it in front of Jack's house because he said the sanitation department wouldn't pick up debris from a house, let alone a lot that had no owner. After the great team efforts got that done, we all grabbed a rake and cleared the leaves from Jack's house. Later Giovanny, a soccer player from Lehman, planted seeds in Jack's soil along with some help from Hostos Vice President Nat Cruz. When we broke for lunch, Jack was so nice to give us ice pops to keep us cool and shared his story with us. He showed us pictures of his house after some of the water had been gutted out. He was left with mold, wet clothes and destroyed property. Another picture showed all of the items Jack had to throw out as a result. The most amazing part of his story was how he was rejected help by The Red Cross Association because he had a pet  dog named Rocky. Jack ended up having to live in his car for three months.  As he started to tear up while telling his story, I comforted him with a hand on the back. It is amazing how strong he was through all these obstacles and I was so grateful to help him out in any way I could. I can go home saying that Jack's lawn was the first one I ever raked. I'm proud of myself.

After 5 p.m. we had free time with many different evening options. So after we all got ready, we headed to Bourbon Street where we got the chance to see the beautiful city under the lights. There was a beautiful building lit up in the colors of the American flag to symbolize Memorial Day. As we had three hours of free time, we split up again and explored the city. I ended up eating at Oceana where I had amazing vegetarian pasta with Creole sauce. The night was so beautiful. When we returned to the mission, we gathered around the table with our card games. Tonight's game was Apple to Apples where Zak found it really difficult to be losing. With a good nights sleep, I'm ready for day seven.