make it right

Some people have money. Some people have values. Some have an understanding that what you are really worth has to do with what you can do for others. Today we drove by the Make it Right project in the 9th ward of New Orleans and I took the photos below that show progress. Thousands of homes in the lower 9th are gone. But Make it Right is trying to make it right by building new energy efficient homes where they are needed most. The project is sponsored and inspired by Brad Pitt who seems to have both money and values. I could say a lot about the failure of the Bush administration that almost seems unnecessary. Why go to an effort to state the obvious. I am hoping we learned a lot as a nation in the last 8 years. As we approach the 4th anniversary of the devastation from Katrina, there is still a lot of work to be done. I should point out that New Orleans is a unique American city and a precious cultural resource. You can go to New Orleans and have a great time and if you hang out in the right places, never really know what happened 4 years ago. Truthout.org has some interesting statistics from the 3rd anniversary, and things have not changed enough in the last year.
When you see a brick laid in mortar, or a piece of fretsawn ornamentation, or see a turned spindle on a Victorian era home, you are witness to the skill of the human hand. Some of what has been lost in New Orleans would have resembled what you see in the photo at left.