New Orleans - Hurricane Katrina.
People tend to associate things with each other, but Hurricane Katrina is not everything there is to know about New Orleans. In fact, its long history under French and Spanish control, and its struggles for civil rights movement portray a more holistic picture of New Orleans. I had the chance to go to this city on a service trip called ServeUp last spring break, and it opened my eyes to a different world in the US.
It has been 12 years after Hurricane Katrina swept over the city; however, its demolition is still present in the hearts and minds of the people down here. The houses, streets, and infrastructures are built and renewed thanks to the work of the government and many organizations-such as ServeUp-but that disastrous event is unforgettable for anyone who had witnessed it. In the trip, we got to interact with people living there while contributing a part to help renovate their houses. The conversations were meaningful to us, as we heard about their memories of having had to stay in the roof of their floating houses due to the hurricane while waiting for someone to assist, having had nothing to eat for many days and tried to survive by eating candles, and having seen dying people on the street. An owner of the house my friends painted also told us that she lost her son in the hurricane. Hearing about such tragic events broke our hearts. However, the people here were sharing their stories for us because they said that it made them feel better, as once shared, they knew that there were still people who cared and listened to them. Everyone was thankful for us coming here to help, and we appreciated their warmth and optimism towards life.
A typical day of our group
(Photo source: Young Sun Lee)
We then got the chance to learn more about the history of the city through a trip to William Frantz Public School, and listened to a speech from a historian –Evelyn Turner- who has lived in New Orleans for all her life. The special thing about this school is that it used to be an all-white school until Ruby Bridges, the first black female who ever attended classes after the ruling for integration took place. Before the ruling, schools were cited as “separate but equal”, but it was never the same between black and white schools: white schools had better facilities and high-quality teachers, while black schools were poorly funded and the teachers were not paid well. Ruby was the subject of racial epithets and threats during her first year, and all the white students left the school. However, thanks to people like her, the civil rights movement made progress. Sitting on the historical steps and listening to Evelyn talking about the past made me aware of how privileged I am, since not everyone is able to do what they dream of for social barriers. That night, during the community time, I got to learn about racial reconciliation and discussed what we liked about the speech. One of the volunteers spotted out that although Evelyn, a black woman, had observed what the white people did to her black community, she did not blame the white for their irrational deeds, instead she thought that it was their illogical fear that they treated the black like that. It was because of the colonizing countries that tried to demonize the black as an excuse for enslaving them for cheap labor, the white was afraid of the blacks.
Therefore, once everyone’s mind is opened up, racial reconciliation is on the way.
Sitting on the historical steps at William Frantz Public School
(Photo source: author)
Besides volunteering, we toured around the city by visiting the French Quarter, a city’s cultural hub that blends different cultures such as Spanish, French, Creole and American into the architecture, food, music, and human. My friends and I went sightseeing in the streets at night and listened to live Jazz music during dinner. There were so many food options such as beignets (French donut), poboys (sandwich), and jambalayas.
(Photo source: author)
It is amazing to see how faith connects everyone to one mission. I came here just expecting to contribute something to the loss, but when I returned, I took so many things with me: a hope for racial reconciliation continuing to happen, and a respect for everyone’s ideas. Reconciliation can only happen when everyone is aware of that and opens their heart and mind wider to embrace other people. Although I am not Christian, I learned a lot from the trip about another religion, and came to appreciate other people’s belief. So if you ever want to experience something like me, or just want to take a break out of school work in the spring, sign up for this trip next year.
