By Ebba CG ‘65

We broke up our group again this morning. The "skilled worker team" spent one last day in Harvey, demonstrating their tremendous commitment to the residents of this community. The rest of us were picked up by Glenn and taken to the Musicians' Village in the Upper 9th Ward. We were joined by Melanie Bopp '04, who had re-arranged her work schedule for the occasion. As a jazz fan, I had really looked forward to this day. How would the musicians' community be different from Harvey? It was in the colors of the houses - they were decidedly more vivid and different from the muted tones of Harvey. More like jazz tunes - purple, blue, grey, pink.... The Musicians' Village area will have 72 single-family houses, with about 50% of them completed to date. I imagined the block with all the musicians in place, strolling the streets, visiting on porches, music playing. Infrastructure held together by music. What kind of new jazz creations will come out of this place? Ground had been broken for the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, located in the middle of the block where we worked.

We worked on two houses. Jesse McBride's house was near completion. He was at the site so we had a chance to meet him. Jesse is 28, a pleasant and friendly pianist with a weekly gig at the Snug Harbor, New Orleans' #1 jazz club on Frenchman Street. He studied jazz piano with "the father of New Orleans jazz," Ellis Marsalis. Jesse's house needed another coat of inside paint. Half the group picked up paint buckets and set to work.

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Thursday's bloggers sheepishly admit that they skipped out on their duties because they stayed up too late dancing. Here it goes anyway... a day or two late (Hey, we're on Southern Time here!).

Today was our third and final official day at the Habitat for Humanity Jefferson Build. We arrived early itching to get to work. After we had set up our work site and the other groups arrived Terry welcomed us with his own rendition of "Amazing Grace" on his bagpipes, and he continued to serenade us throughout the day. What a treat!! Each us of us threw ourselves into our siding projects in hopes of finishing our sections by the end of the day. Zach and Terry bestowed the great honor of doing the siding on the front of one house to Krysia, Lisa, Elizabeth and Laurel, saying that since it was the most visible they saved it for the most trusted volunteers. Shontia, Shraddha, May and Maria were able to finish their enormous and tricky wall with much pleasure and triumph. On the other site the rest of the ladies continued their projects and helped lead others in their work. With such excellent work going on, Mount Holyoke received some good natured ribbing from Howard of Montclair State University, but he was silenced by the sound of our hammersJ After a long hot day of work we were sorry to call it our last day, and quickly convinced Zach and Jorden to let some of us come back on Friday morning to try to finish up the rest of the projects that we started. Happy, tired and covered with dirt we returned to the Guest House to share a couple beers around the pool and scheme for the evening and the next few days.

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Our day on the Habitat site started with a group meeting where foreman T took a little time to tell us about his experience with the local Habitat for Humanity here in New Orleans. This year marks their 25th anniversary of building homes in the area! In the first 23 years they built 101 homes in and around the city and in the last two years alone they have built just over 100 more. One hundred new homes for families who have struggled to recover from Hurricane Katrina and to rebuild life in New Orleans.

They were particularly excited to talk to us about the upcoming Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project 2008. Four of the houses that we are working on this week will be completed and turned over to their families that week in May. In that same week seven homes will be built from start to finish so that when President and Mrs. Carter come to visit they will meet these families and see them take ownership of their new homes.

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Last night was St. Patrick’s Day, traditionally celebrated as a day of spiritual renewal and service, and as you read in yesterday’s blog, our day was insightful, emotional, and profound. As New Orleans’ citizens and tourists celebrated, with green attire and festive music, this vibrancy juxtaposed and counterbalanced its communities in crisis.

Alarm clocks rang at 6am (and some, due to excitement, rose at 5am) followed by breakfast and we reached the Harvey site at 8am. There were close to 100 volunteers from Universities of Illinois and Iowa, George Washington and Mountain State in New Jersey. We were guided by three Habitat for Humanity staff, and three AmeriCorps volunteers. Energetic teams divided into working groups to continue the construction of 8 different homes in progress (there are 12 total on the sites).

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Hello from New Orleans!

The Janet Tuttle service group has now been in this incredible city for over 24 hours, and we definitely have some stories to tell. We arrived yesterday (Sunday) afternoon and spent some time acquainting ourselves with the lovely and charming St Charles Guest House-- run by MHC alumna Layne Hilton's ('06) father.

We then hopped the St Charles street car down to Bourbon Street and the French Quarter, one of the hot spots of the New Orleans social scene. Bourbon street is hopping with plenty of Jazz, Blues, and Zydeco music, as well as incredible food and (of course) bourbon.

We found some of that Zydeco at the Tropical Isle in the form of the dynamic Bourbon Street Boys. They seemed excited that some "angel girls from Massachusetts" came and sat in the front row and even selected a couple of us up to play the washboards. Maria tore it up with the washboard and spoons, and then Anni and Lindsay had washboards put on them and sat (looking mildly alarmed) while the washboard player played on them (video forthcoming).  We then met up with most of the group at the famous Cafe Du Monde for cafe-au-lait and beignets. Delicious!  After dinner in the French Quarter, we headed back to the Guest House for the night.

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The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College and the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, New Orleans City Park, and Levees.Org, announce a joint rebuilding project in New Orleans. The New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity (NOAHH), New Orleans City Park, and Levees.Org are partnering with the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College for a week-long building project March 16–23. Seven Mount Holyoke alumnae and seven Mount Holyoke student volunteers, all chosen from a competitive applicant pool, will work with staff from NOAHH, New Orleans City Park, and Levees.Org at various construction, park, and city sites in and around New Orleans.  They will be joined by Alumnae Association staff members Maya D’Costa, associate director of campus programs, and Krysia L. Villón, assistant director of clubs and graduate of the Mount Holyoke class of 1996.

The New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity project is the second annual service-oriented travel program sponsored by the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College through the Janet Tuttle Alumnae and Student Service Travel Program.  In 2007, the group traveled to Costa Rica for a week of home construction with Habitat for Humanity.