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.

Next door was Jesse's neighbor, James Westwood, whose house was still unfinished inside. In this house, we measured, cut and set blocks on wall frames, caulked throughout, and cleaned the floors. A man in his 40's from New Orleans was also there, working on the side entrance door frame. He'd been coming Saturdays for some time, and he knew what he was doing. It felt good to be joining him.

We had lunch at The Joint, a neighborhood eatery a few blocks away. It's owned by a young couple who lived on the site. They were well known for their delicious backyard cookouts with neighbors and friends. After Katrina, they opened The Joint, serving a Cajun cuisine. In their backyard, we feasted on barbecued chicken, pulled pork, ribs, beans, and macaroni. Deciding to test their version of Louisiana bread pudding was easy.

After we had cleaned up the site and returned to the Guest House, Melanie surprised us with delicious poolside treats that she had brought from a very special New Orleans bakery. Melt-in-the-mouth kind of treats.

We had accepted a very generous invitation from Sandy Rosenthal '79 to have dinner with her and her husband at Zea's Restaurant on St Charles Street. This also gave us a chance to thank Sandy for giving us an unforgettable overview and insight into Katrina and the aftermath of this horrendous tragedy. For most of us, the evening ended on Frenchmen Street at Snug Harbor Jazz Club, where we savored first-rate jazz performed by The Herlin Riley Quartet. Our new friend Jesse McBride played jazz piano. It was a great way for us to come full circle on our last day.

Looking back on this event packed week, it seems remarkable in every way, and a tremendous learning experience for all. Highlights never to be forgotten: ...... Sandy's superb Katrina Devastation guided tour of areas equivalent in size to "seven Manhattans" ........ Fire Chief Armand Buck's moving account of his disaster experience ....... Front yard chats with disaster homeowners eager to post Sandy's Levees.org signs in their neighborhood .....Terry's bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace" after his safety talk on our last official Habitat morning.... The Habitat supervisor who said that it's the Humanity, not the Habitat, that counts ..... Meeting Lorena, her son and her dog Teddy by her house-in-progress ....... Listening to Lorena, Jesse and many others who shared their courageous disaster stories and inspired us to work harder ...... Beignets, po-boys, gumbo, crawfish, bread pudding, and cool Abita beer by the poolside......Preservation Hall Jazz, Frenchmen Street jazz clubs, Zydeco dancing at Rock n'Bowl ... and in the end, 16 uncommon women who became a part of something bigger than themselves and made Mount Holyoke proud.