Michelle Michelson
Time is truly fleeting in NOLA. I can’t believe we have already spent four weeks here. There has not been a dull moment yet. While our service commitments have kept us all busy during the week, our engagement with the historic city does not stop at our community partner sites. In addition to our community partner dinners on Thursday evenings, our program directors have also organized group outings for us on the weekends, which have given us the chance to truly get a “taste” of NOLA. On Tuesdays we have reflection sessions during which we discuss our reactions and sentiments pertaining both to our work and experiences in general. It didn’t take much time for our group to grow comfortable around one another and open up. I’m both humbled and inspired by the stories and experiences everyone has shared. Even though we are all here together, we are each witnessing the struggles NOLA faces - as it continues to rebuild itself - through a slightly different lens.
Last Saturday we visited the famous WWII museum in NOLA. The museum is a must – see if you are ever to visit. We learned a lot about the war and its global impact. Interestingly, we learned how the WWII was tied to an industry in NOLA, namely that of Andrew Higgins. Higgins created and produced the Higgins boats, which were used in the Allied forces’ D-Day invasion of Normandy. We wrapped up our tour of the museum with a 4-D film produced by Tom Hanks. The film was absolutely sensational. It had many of us jumping out of our seats!
On Thursday, we visited the Covenant House for our community partner dinner. Our speaker shared with us his story and understanding of how NOLA has been able to put back the broken pieces of its culture, architecture and community since Katrina took a hit on the city’s heartbeat. The stories he shared were unspeakably amazing. One story in particular stood out to me. Upon visiting the D1 terminal at the airport he had the chance to spend time comforting and empathizing with a group of women who were extremely ill and likely not going to survive. The D1 terminal space was temporarily being used as a space where the women could rest and have their health monitored by professionals. As this gentleman leaned over to greet each woman his greeting was often met with no reply however one woman used all her might to return his blessing with three taps to his forehead. To this day, he does not know what the meaning of her gesture was however he said it was at that moment that he understood NOLA would be okay. The people of NOLA would find and found a way to connect and help give each other the strength to repair what had at one point seemed like the end of the world for many. And it gave me the chills to find out that only one week earlier this gentlemen had flown out of the D1 terminal to help move his daughter into her dorm at Duke…
This past week during reflection session we were asked what we would title our book if we were to write a book about the sweet and hot summer we are spending in NOLA. This summer has been very much a learning experience for me – and not necessarily in the traditional classroom setting. The children in the hospital playrooms have taught me how to play board games I had not played as child, the first being Apples to Apples. The children have also reinforced to me the power of the human touch – I understand now more than ever before that sometimes words are not necessary. We can communicate a tremendous amount with our eyes and bodies. Sometimes the children feel so weak from their respective treatments that they don’t have the energy to talk and thus I’m learning how to communicate sans words. The children do everything they can to get the most out of every day and to me their strength and will power is an inspiration. Age is no measure of their ability to teach and I’m so grateful to be learning beside them as we spend the summer together.
So Apples to Apples – yes a board game but also figuratively a phrase that embodies my time in NOLA. As I give pieces of my own culture and self to the families I have interacted with they have also given me so much more of their own culture and selves!
Michelle
Last Saturday we visited the famous WWII museum in NOLA. The museum is a must – see if you are ever to visit. We learned a lot about the war and its global impact. Interestingly, we learned how the WWII was tied to an industry in NOLA, namely that of Andrew Higgins. Higgins created and produced the Higgins boats, which were used in the Allied forces’ D-Day invasion of Normandy. We wrapped up our tour of the museum with a 4-D film produced by Tom Hanks. The film was absolutely sensational. It had many of us jumping out of our seats!
On Thursday, we visited the Covenant House for our community partner dinner. Our speaker shared with us his story and understanding of how NOLA has been able to put back the broken pieces of its culture, architecture and community since Katrina took a hit on the city’s heartbeat. The stories he shared were unspeakably amazing. One story in particular stood out to me. Upon visiting the D1 terminal at the airport he had the chance to spend time comforting and empathizing with a group of women who were extremely ill and likely not going to survive. The D1 terminal space was temporarily being used as a space where the women could rest and have their health monitored by professionals. As this gentleman leaned over to greet each woman his greeting was often met with no reply however one woman used all her might to return his blessing with three taps to his forehead. To this day, he does not know what the meaning of her gesture was however he said it was at that moment that he understood NOLA would be okay. The people of NOLA would find and found a way to connect and help give each other the strength to repair what had at one point seemed like the end of the world for many. And it gave me the chills to find out that only one week earlier this gentlemen had flown out of the D1 terminal to help move his daughter into her dorm at Duke…
This past week during reflection session we were asked what we would title our book if we were to write a book about the sweet and hot summer we are spending in NOLA. This summer has been very much a learning experience for me – and not necessarily in the traditional classroom setting. The children in the hospital playrooms have taught me how to play board games I had not played as child, the first being Apples to Apples. The children have also reinforced to me the power of the human touch – I understand now more than ever before that sometimes words are not necessary. We can communicate a tremendous amount with our eyes and bodies. Sometimes the children feel so weak from their respective treatments that they don’t have the energy to talk and thus I’m learning how to communicate sans words. The children do everything they can to get the most out of every day and to me their strength and will power is an inspiration. Age is no measure of their ability to teach and I’m so grateful to be learning beside them as we spend the summer together.
So Apples to Apples – yes a board game but also figuratively a phrase that embodies my time in NOLA. As I give pieces of my own culture and self to the families I have interacted with they have also given me so much more of their own culture and selves!
Michelle