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When I got home from the trip, I started thinking about how we, as students are going to make the difference that is deserved by so many New Orleans residents, some who we've met and talked to/listened to. We can only do as much physical labor as possible in two days, but what we can do to make even more of a difference does not come by picking up a paint brush. It comes from opening our mouths. By sharing our experiences and the stories we've been told with friends, family, and as many people as possible we are spreading a stronger awareness than we think.
One of the main concerns addressed by the hurricane victims was the lack of assistance and funding by the federal government. These people feel ignored and let down, but most importantly they feel pushed aside and abandoned in a time of great need. One women - a victim of Hurricane Katrina who lost everything; her job and her home, told us when she called F.E.M.A. for help they hung up in her face. Is that the kind of government we want representing our country? Is that the kind of government we want supporting and protecting us? If God for bid something happened to you is that the kind of help you want guaranteed? I don't think so. The federal government has showed interests in giving up on New Orleans, because they think that a city under sea level shouldn't exist. Well, no one said that New York City shouldn't be rebuilt after 911 because it is too dangerous with terrorist threats. Just like New York City is our home, filled with culture, memories and loved ones, so is New Orleans. I don't have to live there to see that residents are proud to be a part of their city. They love their city and everything it holds and represents.
Something that stayed with me about this trip was talking to a local taxi cab driver named Ron. He represents the two traits belonging to a typical New Orleans resident; 1, extremely nice and 2, grateful. When Susan (a teacher from the Trinity School) and I told him we were from New York, down here with our schools doing volunteer work, he looked at us through the rear-view mirror and thanked us. He told us how happy and grateful that made him feel to know that people all the way in the north were helping them out. Ron wanted me to get a taste of New Orleans culture and gave me a website to go to so that I could listen to some New Orleans music from the Jazz Festival. He said that it was wonderful and that I'd like it. (Here is the website: www.wwoz.org.) He told us how he'd love to give us a free ride but he had to support himself. I was stunned. This man who had just told us that his house had been flooded and then ruined from mold wanted to give a student and a teacher who were on their way back to their warm, intact homes of their own a free ride to the airport. We obviously refused and the man told us that sometimes when he picks up upset and broken down people who need to get home in the middle of the night and don't have any money, he gives them a free ride. He told us he wishes he could give everyone a free ride. I thought to myself, how can someone, so in need be so willing to help and be so generous? Then, it hit me. These people know what it is like to need help. They truly have experienced it to the highest degree. This is why Ron was able to be so generous, because he knows what it's like to pray for generosity in a time of disaster.
-Emma K. (Fieldston-Sophomore)
Posted by ChiaChee Chiu on 3/27/06; 11:48:56 PM
from the dept.
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