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Back from the Big Easy!
By Sam | December 23, 2009
After spending a week in New Orleans I can see why Louisiana is ranked number one as the U.S.’s happiest state. The people there were always friendly, and constantly showed their appreciation for the service we were dedicating to the city.
Upon our arrival in New Orleans, it was raining but we did not realize to what extent until we ventured out into the city. We attempted to meet up with an organization, called Girls First, but were unable to because every other street we attempted to go on was flooded. After about an hour of trying to find our way through the city we decided the safest thing would be to find our hostel. All three vans that we had were separated. The van I was in was driving past the street our hostel was on when we saw another one of our vans floating in the water with one of our fellow cohorters on its top. Our van managed to find some higher ground to park on and we all got out to help the other van. Once that van was pushed to safety we contacted the third van, which was a mile away in waist-high water. People were forced to dive out of the windows and try to push the van to higher ground. Approximately an hour later the flooding on our hostel’s street subsided because the pumps were able to kick in and drain some of the standing water. It was a very interesting, and stressful, first evening in New Orleans that gave us a very tiny taste of the flooding that occurred during Katrina.
The flooded street outside of the hostel
Following the events of the first night, some of our group attended Mass at St. Augustine’s Church. This Mass was energetic and welcoming, which many people claimed was different from what they were accustomed to at home. After Mass we had time to explore some of the famous French Quarter. The architectural styles were unlike anything I had ever seen and all the food in the area smelled fabulous!
Over the next week our group interacted with nuns at St. Mary’s and also contributed time at that school. I loved working with the children and seeing how happy they were to have us visiting. We also worked with Operation Helping Hands. Unfortunately, every time we worked with this group it was raining so we were not able to work on the housing sites. Instead the organization had us working, and painting, on interior doors. By the end of the trip, my work clothes were covered in paint, and I can contribute this to my clumsiness, but also to some of the classmates’ desires to cover me in paint.
There were three events that really stand out from my trip to New Orleans. The first was a tour conducted by Contemplatives in Action. Our group was shown areas of New Orleans and told how each one was affected by Katrina. We were able to see where the levees broke and how that impacted the areas immediately surrounding the break. It was amazing to see that even after five years some houses still have water lines on them from the flooding, and the marks that were left after the houses were inspected (these marks are “X”s that tell what team did the inspection and how many bodies were found in the house, as well as any other notes that must be included), how many of the houses are nonexistent or still being gutted, and the transformation of the lower ninth ward. There is still so much work to be done to help New Orleans recover from the devastation of Katrina.
The lower 9th ward... Make it Right homes
The other two events that impacted my trip were the visits to Dillard College and Loyola University New Orleans. Our group was able to meet with student affairs professionals from both institutions to hear their stories. We were shown videos from both schools and told how the flooding impacted the colleges. These interactions were especially helpful because as future student affairs professionals we must recognize our role when a disaster, like Katrina, occurs. In the case of Loyola, this meant identifying the need to evacuate the school and to send students to other institutions while the school was being repaired following Katrina.
Overall, this was a great experience that incorporated service and allowed me to further get to know members of the cohort in both the first and second years. It is now back to work in Buffalo as I prepare for the holidays and adjust from dealing with rain in New Orleans to snow here in New York.
Happy Holidays!!
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