My family has never been a group to go on long trips or vacations. That is, if you do not count the eleven moves I’ve lived through (for of them being across the country). My most recebt move from state to state was five years ago when my my family moved back to the sunny state of California, more specifically, Los Angeles. So, you could imagine how excited I was when i figured out one of this years AWB choices was bere in my hometown! I was so excited to be ‘that kid’ who says things like, “Oh, the Hollywood sign? Yeah that thing? Sure, I guess its cool.” You know, the typical LA native. But too my surprise, its been nothing like that. I have become a visitor of my own city.
Starting immediately with our beginning opening peula (activity), I was astounded to hear such shocking facts about LA and the dark reality of our homeless probelm. The excerpts of the documentary we watchd the first night were about the Infamous Skid Row and the homeless community that lives there and has been there for ages. Not only had I never heard these facts before about the homeless rates, but I hadn’t even really heard of Skid Row at all, let alone its residents. I had no way to describe my feelings other than purely shocked and honestly a little embarrassed that i had been so blind to this situation right at my home.
Today when waking up, those feelings still fresh in my mind, I had no idea what I would embark on today. The same feeling of eye opening and slight shame were brought back as we literally walked the streets of the 50 square block radius known as Skid Row. Looking at these civilians, living in the same city as me, I felt shocked, a little uneasy because of my higher position given to me by my priveledge. This are was less than a mile away from one of my favorite spots in LA, the Last Bookstore, and yet I still felt like I had no idea where I was. But I also felt an odd kinship towards these people as we were both Angelenos just living in our great city.
Another touching part of the day for me was after the Graffiti tour, having the opportunity to volunteer and mingle with tbe residents at the PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) inner city location. In my groups time at that location we cooked hhge amounts of delicious meals for the residents and chill with the people there by exchanging life stories, sharing jokes, and just finding comfort in each others’ company. Again, my identity as a local shined through as I made refereces the are of the San Fernando Valley I live in and made fun of our public translortation system.
Going into this trip I was convinced that I’d assumes the re of some unofficial tourguide. I could not have been more wrong. I am constantly being bombarded with educating and eye-opening experiences in places I’ve never been before. I am just so excited to see how much more I will learn about my great city, human nature, and myself on this trip.
~ Maccabee Raileanu – 10th Grade, Los Angeles, California
Sarah (2nd from l) and some of her fellow AWB staffers
At the end of the day, we take a moment to reflect and share during the daily wrap up, or sikkum yom. No matter how exhausted we are, this is a must-do. As we sat down to unpack our first day, one of our bright peer leaders suggested the format for tonight’s sikkum yom. He explained to us a way for discussing the high’s and low’s of our days in the terms of our rose, our thorn, and a third, further step, our bud to express what we are excited for in the following day. Today I was particularly struck by some of the thoughts expressed, and I’m going to take this moment to share them with you.
Each student begins their turn by telling the group about their thorn, often the part of their day that they found most challenging emotionally. After a trying day visiting Skid Row and bearing witness to what is often dubbed a great “social disaster” of this country, many participants had a lot to share. What struck many of them was the hardship that homeless individuals in that area face from the lack of access to clean showers to the food insecurity that plagues the chronically homeless. Many students also shared the discomfort that this eye-opening experience caused them as they found themselves unable to turn a blind eye and ignore the vast suffering of this population. While the guide answered the students’ insightful and thorough questions, many participants expressed frustration as they grappled with understanding the obstacles homeless individuals encounter on their paths to security.
After sharing the weight of these feelings, the students unpacked their days further to discuss their roses and buds, or their joys and their hopes. Many of the participants took particular interest and joy in observing the genuine sense of community that much of Los Angeles’ homeless shares. They also expressed how much happiness it brought them to prepare dinner for homeless individuals at PATH. Not only did they enjoying cooking dinner, they also sought out connections with homeless individuals at PATH as they sat together for the meal and asked meaningful questions. As a madricha, what most powerfully impacted me today was seeing the presence, the initiative, and the sincere investment in the mission that all of the participants share. I can only imagine what they will accomplish in the coming days.
~ Sarah Fine is from Miami, Florida and is a senior at Vanderbilt University. She is a staff member at Camp Judaea and was on Year Course in 11-12
Our first day volunteering we had an unexpected change of venues. This change resulted in one group going to an organization, ARC . ARC not only provides a service necessary for the city of New Orleans, but provides jobs for people who might otherwise have none. The people who work at ARC typically have some sort of mental disability, and while they can be excellent employees, most people won’t hire them because of their disabilities. This place provides a great environment that is accepting towards everyone while giving them steady year-round jobs. Mardi Gras beads usually just get left in the street and thrown out afterward. This organization collects the beads and hires people to sort them. Then, they sell them back to the Mardi Gras krewes to be used in the next year. They don’t just hire people to sort beads. In this building is also a soup kitchen. They employ mentally-disabled people as chefs as well. This organization provides services necessary to New Orleans while giving jobs to those who might be unable to get on without this organization.
Today I volunteered with the Greenlight organization for the second time. I noticed a significant difference between this year’s experience and last year’s experience. This year the main focus seemed to be to change the lightbulbs. However, last year it appeared that the experience reflected more intimate and personal interactions with the home owners. I think that this program which Greenlight offers is a provided opportunity to build relationships with different citizens in New Orleans. I think that the perspective when starting a volunteer project should be to visualize the experience as an opportunity as opposed to a job.
With Greenlight we created a vegetable garden in addition to changing lightbulbs. I expected the gardening process to be tedious and difficult, but it was surprisingly simple and efficient. Greenlight is one of my preferred organizations to work with because it involves simple tasks, but effective results. Being able to see the product of our voluntary participation is a rewarding advantage because it proves how a small dose of involvement impacts large scale communities. Greenlight offers a unique opportunity to learn and experiment while creating a significant and positive changes in peoples’ day to day lives.
Matan and friends after some hard work at St. Bernard Project
Today was a morning of rebuilding. Last night was settling and learning a bit about New Orleans, but today we got down to business. My group went to work with the St. Bernard Project. SBP rebuilds houses destroyed ten years ago that were destroyed in hurricane Katrina. So as I was saying we went to work on a house that was destroyed in Katrina. We met our instructors named Heidi and Ben. They taught us about dry wall and how to install it. It was extremely hard work. Also, using a drill was extremely hard. What added to the difficulty was the heat. It took the 7 of us a while to get a hang of it but we got three in. In doesn’t sound like that much, but it is. I feel as if the hard work payed off though in more ways than one. Just the thought that we are helping build a home for someone. This where someone will call theirs. There is no place like home. It also payed off because we went to see the Pelicans game afterwards which was a dream come true.
Fern with Ariella and Kaya (YJ Canada AWB Participants)
I don’t remember August 29th, 2005, as many people who live in the USA might have. I can assume that I was absorbing my last bit of summer, I was most likely up at my cottage just north of Toronto, I was reflecting on my past summer at camp, and I was probably dreading beginning a new school in a matter of weeks. I most likely watched the news, and saw footage of the storm that had wreaked havoc in New Orleans, but I doubt that my 12-year-old self would have been very intrigued by an event that was happening thousands of miles away from where I was. Now, I find myself thousands of miles away from where I was, intrigued by an event – that happened 10 years ago. Today my group and I had the pleasure of working with Green Light New Orleans to plant a garden for a mother, and a grandmother, whose home was destroyed during the storm and whose life had to be placed back together piece by piece. By creating this sustainable garden for her we put one more piece back in place. We also were given the opportunity to be welcomed into people’s homes in order to create a more energy efficient environment by changing the light bulbs in their homes. It was extremely humbling to hear their stories, and be welcomed into their homes, and to see how valuable and necessary it is to continue to support the people who were so affected by the storm. I can personally say that it was an experience I have never been given, one that I will never forget, and I look forward to what the rest of my week here brings.
~ Fern Kachuk is currently the program director of Canadian Young Judaea and grew up in the Movement.
