Wetland Planting

Last Wednesday, the four of us worked with Colleen, from Bayou Rebirth, and 25 volunteers from Clif Bar to replant a marsh on Bayou Lacombe.  In the morning Colleen gave a presentation on the importance of wetland restoration.  

The Mississippi River used to deposit sediments on the wetlands of southern Louisiana. Levees built to prevent flooding also prevent the deposit of soil, so now that soil is washed out into the Gulf of Mexico.  Additionally, the wetlands themselves are eroding.  Without sediments to replace what erodes, the wetlands of Southern Louisiana are shrinking.  Approximately a football field of wetlands is lost every half hour.

This is obviously a grave problem.  Planting in the wetlands is an easy way to combat erosion.  On Wednesday afternoon we went to a marsh on the lower end of Bayou Lacombe, near Lake Pontchartrain.  We planted marsh hay (Spartina patens) and smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora).  Both kinds of grass tolerate flooding and salt.  

The planting was successful and a lot of fun.  All the grass was planted, and no tools, boots, or volunteers got lost in the mud.  Hopefully the grasses will take root, spread, and hold on to the soil.

Symantec project

On October 13th, my group of 20 Symantec people turned this:

From New Album 10/13/08 12:06 AM

Into this!

From New Album 10/13/08 12:06 AM

It was not only my first corporate project, first construction experience, and first school beautification project. . . it was pretty much my first time being in charge of anything. I was nevous! Lucky, my group was awesome. They were helpful and eager to get things done - I had trouble convincing them to take a break for lunch!

All in all, we had about 200 people. Ap was inside with the group that painted 17 classrooms, Rosalie's ground mural team covered the blacktop with games and maps, along with building a basketball and vollyball court, Willa's team planted gardens, and other teams built more benches and puppet theaters and movable walls for inside classrooms. It was kind of amazing what we got done in a day.

Here's an album with more pictures I took, if you want to see some of this looked like.

Symantec

Reflections and project updates

It has been a while since my last post, and a lot has happened. In addition to working on a wide variety of projects, I've really been taking the time to explore and get to know the city. What I've found is that as I've begun to better understand New Orleans, I have also come to better understand myself. The past month or so has been an incredible learning experience for me.

The Volunteer Leaders have been busy working on a wide range of projects throughout the city. Here is an update on some of the work that we've been doing:

Women's Rebuild: Jessica and I participated in a day of rebuilding homeowner Mary's house (one of the warmest women I have had the pleasure to meet) with the Saint Bernard Project. As we hung sheetrock, Jess and I fully embraced the motto "a women's place is rebuilding the home."

Biloxi: We spent 5 days in the city of Biloxi, Mississippi, working with Hands On Gulf Coast and Hope Force rebuilding homes.

Crescent City Art Project: Fueled with 1900 volunteers from Starbucks, we team lead a project that created 1400 original paintings which were distributed to 25 schools throughout the Orleans Parish.

Main Street: We got our hands dirty working to restore an abandoned historical building on Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

Bayou Rebirth: After an educational (and beautiful) canoe trip through the bayou, we team lead a wetland planting in the Lacombe Bayou, working to rejuvenate the damaged wetland infrastructure.

Saint George's: We volunteer on a weekly basis with Saint George's Dragon Cafe, preparing and distributing hot meals to members of the community.

So you see why I said that we've been busy!

I found this quote copied down on a picnic table at Hands On Gulf Coast. I thought it was beautiful, important, meaningful, and above all true. Reflect on it for a minute:

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” - Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

If you want to get involved, or have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at rbcohn@gmail.com.