Sunday, June 29, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
From Gordon Soderberg
It was a honor to fuel the Dirty Hands efforts earlier this year. I would like to be kept informed when the next caravan will be here and share information with your readers about what Bio Liberty is doing every day for the recovery efforts.
Check out http://www.bioliberty.net for updates on the greening of New Orleans.
Here are some photos I took during the last trip.
All my best,
Gordon Soderberg
Check out http://www.bioliberty.net for updates on the greening of New Orleans.
Here are some photos I took during the last trip.
All my best,
Gordon Soderberg
Sunday, June 22, 2008
From Ame and Alex in New Orleans
Hey Dirty Hands, We both returned to New Orleans this week. It's nice to be here and to see the state of our organization. We were welcomed into the Dirty Hands House on the corner of Fourth Street and Dryades by Texas Tony, Sarah, Francis, Vince, Dean, Saffron, Ezra, Gabby, Zack, and Sean.
Two blocks away from Noah's Ark Church, we are staying in a narrow, long house. Upon opening the front door, you see the office where there is a desk, computer, file cabinet, some chairs, and beautiful hardwood floor. Connecting to the office is the living room with its carpeted floor and two couches. There is one bathroom here. Keep walking and you will pass through two bedrooms containing numerous mattress' before reaching the cozy kitchen. Behind the kitchen is a small storage room, off of which is a back door to the concrete patio behind the house.
We have enjoyed hearing about the projects that the Dirty Hands have worked on since the Caravan left New Orleans. Today, some of us went to a house in the lower Ninth Ward that has become a new project for the group. It was eye-opening to walk into a home and see such wreckage - appliances, furniture, and other items sit in mounds. Black mold spreads on walls across the house presenting serious health hazards. Dirty Hands volunteered to gut this home to prevent its seizure. The owner is elderly.
Also, Alison and Oscar returned this week with their friend Petra Nemcova. Petra is the woman that connected Alison to Sean, so it was wonderful to let her see what her action inspired. Petra founded a global organization called Happy Hearts with the mission to improve children's lives through education, sustainability, and technology. Her first US project is at a New Orleans school, which culminated this week.
Tomorrow night, we will be sitting down as a house to talk about the direction for our group. We recognize how critical it is to define short-term and long-term goals. We will be having this conversation over dinner.
-Ame Eaton and Alex Rose
Two blocks away from Noah's Ark Church, we are staying in a narrow, long house. Upon opening the front door, you see the office where there is a desk, computer, file cabinet, some chairs, and beautiful hardwood floor. Connecting to the office is the living room with its carpeted floor and two couches. There is one bathroom here. Keep walking and you will pass through two bedrooms containing numerous mattress' before reaching the cozy kitchen. Behind the kitchen is a small storage room, off of which is a back door to the concrete patio behind the house.
We have enjoyed hearing about the projects that the Dirty Hands have worked on since the Caravan left New Orleans. Today, some of us went to a house in the lower Ninth Ward that has become a new project for the group. It was eye-opening to walk into a home and see such wreckage - appliances, furniture, and other items sit in mounds. Black mold spreads on walls across the house presenting serious health hazards. Dirty Hands volunteered to gut this home to prevent its seizure. The owner is elderly.
Also, Alison and Oscar returned this week with their friend Petra Nemcova. Petra is the woman that connected Alison to Sean, so it was wonderful to let her see what her action inspired. Petra founded a global organization called Happy Hearts with the mission to improve children's lives through education, sustainability, and technology. Her first US project is at a New Orleans school, which culminated this week.
Tomorrow night, we will be sitting down as a house to talk about the direction for our group. We recognize how critical it is to define short-term and long-term goals. We will be having this conversation over dinner.
-Ame Eaton and Alex Rose
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Diaries of the Dirty Hands Clan
I don't know if you remember me talking to you on the bus about the book my friend Kaf and I were compiling. We have already been given about 30 amazing entries from some of the dirty hands clan but a lot of people weren't in the right frame of mind at the time to share a little piece of their hearts. After this past month of looking back at the experience and I know a lot of us are feeling a bit lost or like we're missing something and each other, we've decided now is the right time to let everyone know that we are still REALLY excited about this and about what this book could become, and we want EVERYONE to submit something..stories about things that happened on the caravan, thoughts about how you felt when we were all doing these amazing things, diary entries, pictures, photos, drawings, anything and everything! Good things, bad things, real emotion. It might take a little bit of your energy but think, we will be able to share these feelings, and stories with each other and maybe other people in the future too and it will help us reconnect with that amazing experience that changed all of us in some way. So please send us your entry, we live at...
1804 Water Street
Kelowna, BC
V1Y1K5
Canada
Or email it to rebeccamorgan122@hotmail.com
I know it's out of the country for most of you but please, please, please make the effort for all of us! We want so much material! We want to document the experience by having something special from each and every one of you! So help us make the book (titled...unless someone else has a better idea!)..
Diaries of the Dirty Hands Clan
(Stories from the Caravan)!
Love from the crazy Aussie and Kiwi, Becca and Kaf xxx And anyone is welcome to come and visit us. We have an amazing, huge house in a beautiful city on a lake, with a big back yard for lots of tents! Love xx
1804 Water Street
Kelowna, BC
V1Y1K5
Canada
Or email it to rebeccamorgan122@hotmail.com
I know it's out of the country for most of you but please, please, please make the effort for all of us! We want so much material! We want to document the experience by having something special from each and every one of you! So help us make the book (titled...unless someone else has a better idea!)..
Diaries of the Dirty Hands Clan
(Stories from the Caravan)!
Love from the crazy Aussie and Kiwi, Becca and Kaf xxx And anyone is welcome to come and visit us. We have an amazing, huge house in a beautiful city on a lake, with a big back yard for lots of tents! Love xx
Thursday, June 5, 2008
From Alex Rose
Hi Friends,
I saw a lot of Dirty Hands last night at The Third Wave screening and then at the bar afterwards. It's so exciting for me to see how many of us have become more engaged with New Orleans and other volunteering opportunities. I know I'm not the only one that came home transformed and it was so special to hear how other people on our journey have changed since getting back home.
Let's step back 5 weeks. The day before most of us left New Orleans, Paul encouraged us to do something concrete. We built a driveway and sidewalk at Noah's Ark church. We made a garden. We fixed the landscaping at the church. I think back and realize I made a lasting impact in the rebuilding process. It's small, but it is real.
A few people in Pastor Willie's congregation told me that our caravan was a beacon of hope for their community. All of us who left New Orleans came home transformed with knowledge and awareness to share with others. I know my experience has inspired other people. I'm sure yours does too. And now, I look at the new website and I feel the same way. http://www.thedirtyhands.org/ I can't wait to see photos of the Youth Center we will be building and the music festival stage in the Lower 9th Ward. This is more than talk guys, what we are doing is real and it is helping people whose lives are still not back in place since the levees broke.
The Dirty Hands in New Orleans are working hard to build a home for us. They are doing this while they are also making a difference in the neighborhood they are living in. I get goosebumps thinking about Sarah, Vince, and Saffron yesterday telling me about the joy they feel of continuing the Dirty Hands mission.
I will be back in New Orleans later this month and will have a place to stay. I am not going to take this for granted. Thank you to all of us!
Alex Rose
Venice, CA
I saw a lot of Dirty Hands last night at The Third Wave screening and then at the bar afterwards. It's so exciting for me to see how many of us have become more engaged with New Orleans and other volunteering opportunities. I know I'm not the only one that came home transformed and it was so special to hear how other people on our journey have changed since getting back home.
Let's step back 5 weeks. The day before most of us left New Orleans, Paul encouraged us to do something concrete. We built a driveway and sidewalk at Noah's Ark church. We made a garden. We fixed the landscaping at the church. I think back and realize I made a lasting impact in the rebuilding process. It's small, but it is real.
A few people in Pastor Willie's congregation told me that our caravan was a beacon of hope for their community. All of us who left New Orleans came home transformed with knowledge and awareness to share with others. I know my experience has inspired other people. I'm sure yours does too. And now, I look at the new website and I feel the same way. http://www.thedirtyhands.org/ I can't wait to see photos of the Youth Center we will be building and the music festival stage in the Lower 9th Ward. This is more than talk guys, what we are doing is real and it is helping people whose lives are still not back in place since the levees broke.
The Dirty Hands in New Orleans are working hard to build a home for us. They are doing this while they are also making a difference in the neighborhood they are living in. I get goosebumps thinking about Sarah, Vince, and Saffron yesterday telling me about the joy they feel of continuing the Dirty Hands mission.
I will be back in New Orleans later this month and will have a place to stay. I am not going to take this for granted. Thank you to all of us!
Alex Rose
Venice, CA
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Broken Levee Blues
aaah levi... yesss... concerts in the 9th... sounds good to me... it was music that brought us together in the first place... well... here's a song that i cant help playing over and over... reminds me of the first time i crossed the levee a short month ago... but one thing is different... thanks to y'all... the haunting ending (listen closely) has a new meaning... somebody cares... you've all proved that... more people will care... yeah... please give a listen.... m'ska
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