Today was our first day at Drew Elementary in New Orleans. At first glance it seemed to fit right into the traditional historic buildings seen throughout the city. Our 17 Global Hope volunteers were joined by 8 long-term Common Ground Relief volunteers and 3 volunteers from Georgia. Immediately three different groups set to work inside and outside of the school. A carpentry team began hanging new bulletin boards. A group began painting the outside entrance stairway despite the blistering heat that would surround us all day. Another group was sent to the third floor to begin organizing a room that appears to have become a dumping ground for much of the school.
It was truly heartbreaking to see a storage room of brand new instruments abandoned due to the fact that school had to cut their music program from their budget. There were also a surplus of school supplies, some brand new, many of which came from other schools that were forced to shut down due to Katrina. At first the job seemed a bit overwhelming, but after hours of organizing and sorting it was obvious we had made significant progress.
We took a lunch break and realized all we had already accomplished. In just a morning’s work we had painted the outside stairwell, installed 12 bulletin boards, as well as clean out nearly half of the 3rd floor room. It’s clear we still have lots of work ahead of us, but so far we are off to a great start! Emily Spencer
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Awesome work!! Thanks so much