Laura Kowalczyk

This year for our annual build trip, we went down to the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana to stay and work at the community center Mack established there. Since hurricane Katrina, he has converted an old warehouse into what will one day be a functioning community center that the local children can come to. The Lower Ninth Ward used to have seven schools, but since Katrina, only one has been reestablished. With no parks or other centers in this area, the city is doing very little to help the children. Mack has made it his mission to give the local children a safe place to go.

To help Mack make this dream a reality, we have been working the past week to make the center safe and kid friendly. We cleared out and sorted unused furniture, put up and painted walls in what will be a game room, and reorganized and expanded the library. Yesterday we took some of the old chairs, sanded them, and then painted them to make them colorful for the game room.

Today we are painting a huge mural, 20x15 feet, of the United States of America. When different groups come to volunteer at the community center, they will be able to put a dot on the map for where they are from. This mural will be a great visual to show just how many groups from all over the country come to volunteer here. We thought that the mural would be a fun project, but has proven to be more challenging than we expected. The projector we got to project a map of the United States on the wall didn’t work, forcing us to free hand the map. While making a grid to help us draw it on the wall, we ran out of tape. These little setbacks have not stopped us from continuing the map. Hopefully by the end of the day we will have a completed mural of the United States!

There is so much that can be learned from the people down here. Through their experiences, they have learned so much and are just waiting to pass on their wisdom. From talks with Mack, other groups staying at the village, even our waiter when we went into the city, I have learned so much. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to come down here.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.