Today started at 7:30AM when we left the YMCA and headed to
the Rockaways, which were very heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy. We went to
a church and heard from volunteers from AmericaCorps, volunteers who just went
down after the hurricane and haven’t left yet, a representative from FEMA, and
victims of the disaster. The victims had tragic stories and are still not in
their houses, as is true for many of the residents of the Rockaways. They also
said that within the Rockaways there are many different areas, and they were
angry that the news only talked about them as one area. The richer parts of the
Rockaways were redeveloped first, but the poorer parts are still dangerous and
need work. The volunteers were impressive because they left their homes and
jobs to come down and help, do not have any income, and won’t leave until the
job is done. The media forgets that this is still a constant struggle.
After eating pizza with the victims and listening to their
stories in more detail, as well as listening to them fight with the FEMA
representative, we painted the church that we were stationed in to give back.
This church had to be gutted because of molding, as were many of the buildings
and houses at the Rockaways. It took a very long time to paint, but we had a
great time doing it.
We went to China town on the way home and ate at a delicious
restaurant called XO Kitchen. Then we went to a bar at night and sat around and
talked about life, our aspirations, our families, etc. Great day with great
company.
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