Rebuilding New Orleans
Itinerary
Day 1
Arrive at Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY) in New Orleans where your Rustic
Pathways staff members eagerly await you at the airport. Meet the rest of the group at
Home Base, take a tour of the city, and see some of the rebuilding efforts that have
come from within New Orleans’ neighborhoods and from volunteers from around the
world. Learn where the levees breached, how it happened, and gain a sense of the
extent of destruction that currently remains in New Orleans more than five years later;
end up back at the base for a hot, local dinner of jambalaya and veggies from a local
farm. Welcome to the Big Easy!
Day 2
Start rebuilding in St Bernard Parish, a county alongside New Orleans that was hit
severely after the levee breaks. Meet more volunteers from around the world who are
pitching in and learn how this parish (county) is unique, how it is being rebuilt, and what
we can do to protect the Gulf Coast residents from future flooding. After dinner, check
out live music at historic Preservation Hall in the French Quarter – a historic venue
preserving traditional jazz music in its town of conception.
Day 3
Continue your work this morning! Pick up where you left off, grab your mudding knife
or a slab of drywall and move quickly – we need to bring people home! After work,
explore your new neighborhood and have a chance to see Tulane University, right down
the street from Base House. After dinner, check out a local art museum or visit Lake
Ponchatrain, the estuary that forms the northern border of the city. Head back to the
Base for a movie and bed – get some sleep for another big day of building homes.
Day 4
Spend another day on the worksite, putting the finishing touches on your walls or floors
– break for lunch and chat with the neighbors and project staff about what is changing
in the city more than four years later. Drive through the Ninth Ward and learn about a
neighborhood that received about 20 feet of flood water after a levee breach.
Understand the recovery process, see some new projects being built, and get to know
what a real New Orleans neighborhood looks like. Go home and shower before heading
out for bowling and music – a favorite New Orleans tradition!
Day 5
Spend the morning at a festival, take in some local customs, and soak up that gorgeous
New Orleans sun! In the afternoon, learn about the Mardi Gras Indians from an expert
and explore the Faubourg Treme neighborhood and the famous Congo Square, where it
all began. Check out the Garden District for a little shopping, and spend the night by
the Mississippi river with dinner and games, watch the sun set over the shores.
Day 6
Wake up Sunday morning and explore the Vieux Carre, the Old City: the famous French
Quarter! Shop in the French Market, eat some beignets, and wander down the
Mississippi towards the Quarter’s best shopping areas, taking in the smells of shrimp
ettouffe and Cajun jambalaya. Stop and catch some breeze by the banks of the river and
see the old steamboats as they wait for passengers to board. After dinner, head down to
Frenchmen Street for some live music and dancing, Louisiana-style!
Day 7
After breakfast and packing lunch, go “down the bayou” and learn about how the
wetlands are important both environmentally and for hurricane protection. Get your
waders on, jump into the swamp, and help save the delicate ecosystem provided by the
old Cyprus trees. After lunch, explore the estuary and see some of Louisiana’s wildlife –
maybe an alligator if you’re lucky!
Catch one last dinner with your group and jump on
an airboat for a chance to see some gators, watch the sun set, and enjoy a cool bayou
summer evening before grabbing one last round of beignets in the now-peaceful
Quarter, enjoying the Big Easy in yet another way.
Day 8
Spend the morning with the friends that you’ve made and enjoy one last hearty New
Orleans breakfast before you return home and share your experiences and photos with
your friends and family.