This being my first time on an actual build trip, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I’d heard great things about what Mack had been doing down here with the Lower Ninth Ward Village and after speaking with him at the Building Dreams in New Orleans benefit dinner in October 2011, I knew he would appreciate any help we could offer him down here.
Along with the Lower Ninth Ward Village, Mack is currently working to get a ranch, located two hours outside of the Lower Ninth Ward, childproofed and ready to take on weekend visitors. They plan to take groups of at-risk kids out to this ranch, and get them introduced to new responsibilities – cleaning, feeding, and working with the horses and working on a farm.
We spent a day on this ranch laying some groundwork to get the program under way. Many of us got to spend some one-on-one time with the horses that are currently housed there, me included. The horse I spent time with was one that holds a special place in Mack’s heart – a horse that hadn’t been ridden in over a year due to the devastating blow that Hurricane Katrina dealt to New Orleans and various other complications.
My new friend, yet to be named by Mack, was a very skittish creature, and initially was very unhappy to even be walked out of his stall with me. But as one of the volunteers at the ranch said to me – all he needed was some love, someone to talk to him, and someone to treat him right. Just by being calm around him, talking quietly to him, and being stern, yet respectful, the horse began to cooperate with me. We walked around the yard together, he ate lunch with me, and though it made him a little uncomfortable, he trusted me enough to let me brush his side and back – where he couldn’t quite see what I was doing.
Even though I only spent a few hours with this horse, I formed a bond in that short time that I won’t soon forget. The time spent with him proves to me that the opportunity to work with these animals is not one we can afford to keep from the children of New Orleans, and the Lower Ninth much longer.
After our visit to the ranch, we had a reflection with Mack and UC Berkeley, another group that worked with us this week, and the idea of a “Wish List” of all the tasks and projects that needed to be done was made thrown around; with constantly rotating groups of volunteers we thought that this would be the best way to keep track of things done, and things-to-be-done. Later that night we hashed out a wish list of our own – tasks that we wanted to see completed, or at least nearly completed by the time we left.
On our last three days here we have been working, and will continue to work to complete these projects – a large map of the U.S. to show where volunteers have come from, reorganizing the library, repainting what is to become the game room, and completing a shed for all the gardening tools needed for upkeep. With another half day of work to go all of these projects are nearing completion, leaving mostly clean up for tomorrow, and it really is a great feeling for all of us – we can really see the impact we have made on this space, and by talking to the community members, we know they truly appreciate what we have done here.
One of the biggest things I’ve noticed while I’ve been here, is that Mack is a thinker and not necessarily a planner. He has the most amazing and grand dreams of community involvement and improvement, from a football field and a small arcade for the kids to afterschool homework help for kids and GED programs for teens and adults but without the initial tasks of cleaning up the yard and community center, and having a sustainable source of funding for the Village, none of this can happen, and “Wish Lists” can help the program get there.
Over the last few days I’ve heard Mack talk over and over again about how the cavalry hasn’t come, and its not going to come, and I don’t want to contradict a man this amazing and self sacrificing – but he’s wrong. Groups like ours have come down here over the last six years, and continue to come and help him make the community’s dreams into reality. We eat with him, work alongside him, and try to get a feel for the needs of his community, though only for a week or two each year.
We are the cavalry.
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