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Blog Entry 5 of 5 A CU Student's Perspective
I'm Lisa Doan, a student at the University of Colorado - Boulder. For spring break, I traveled to New Orleans with the Alternative Breaks volunteer group, and I'll initially be blogging about the experiences I had down there.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~LDoan

My Guilty Conscience
Contributed by: Lisa Doan   on 7/13/2006

Less than 3 months ago, I went with CU's Alternative Breaks volunteer group to New Orleans to help with the hurricane recovery effort during our spring break. While we were down there, we gutted 2 houses, helped restore another home, and moved a domestic abuse shelter closer to re-opening. The work was hard and the situation was emotionally devastating, but none of us regret spending our spring breaks covered in mold.

Volunteering in New Orleans had a very profound impact on me -- I've never been so affected by any tragedy as much as Hurricane Katrina. I was conflicted with several emotions all at once. I was angry that the victims, fellow American citizens, continued to suffer 7 months later with little help from the government. I was devastated by the losses so many people were continuing to endure. I was uplifted by the resilience I saw in peoples' faces and heard in their voices. And I was spirited by their hopefulness and faith that things would improve.

And when I came home, I was wracked by frustration and guilt.

Sure, I spent a week down there doing what I could. And yes, I've told anyone who would listen about the experience to raise awareness. So what, though? I helped gut a house in St. Bernard Parish. In St. Bernard alone, there are 7000 other homes that need to be stripped bare in the wake of Katrina. I was frustrated because there is so much work left to do, and I felt like I hadn't done nearly enough.

I felt guilty because I was constantly talking about how much there is left to do, and yet, I was doing nothing. Sitting in class and taking tests just didn't seem very important anymore. The first week I was back, I sat in class thinking about how I could be helping someone restart their life instead of daydreaming my way through a lecture.

Well, it turns out that all of the other volunteers on the trip felt the same way. We were all happy to get back to Boulder, but we all knew how much work was left in NOLA. So when I received an email about volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans, I immediately started planning a second tirp and contacted everyone from my group. Each and every one expressed a strong desire and excitement at the possibility of going back and trying to help some more.

So, with any luck (and some help with funding), we should be journeying back to New Orleans August 12th - 20th, 1 week shy of the 1 year anniversary of Katrina. This time around, we'll be housed at Camp Hope, a former elementary school turned into a Habitat for Humanity shelter, and participating in the St Bernard Recovery Project. Check out http://www.habitat-nola.org/ for more information, or watch this video.

There are 27,000 homes in St Bernard Parish and almost 70,000 residents. Of those, over 30% were elderly and on fixed incomes, with the majority of other residents having low-to-mid income - very few carried flood insurance. St. Bernard was devastated by Katrina. Virtually every structure was significantly damaged by the storm: an estimated TWO homes were untouched by floodwaters. In January, it was estimated that some 8,000 people were living in the Parish, only about 200 of whom were in their pre-Katrina homes. Many were still waiting for the trailers promised by FEMA.

Our job in August will be to gut homes (tearing out sheetrock, insulation, furniture, etc. and hauling it to the curb), focusing on the homes of the elderly and disabled. Of the 7000 that need to be gutted, 1391 homes had been completed as of May 29th. Clearly, there is still an immedate and significant need for help.

Our non-profit group, Alternative Breaks, is looking for donations to help us pay for the cost of driving down and back to New Orleans. Every donation is greatly appreciated. Please contact me at lisa.doan@colorado.edu for more information on donations or volunteer opportunities.


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Showing 1 of 1 comments
Submitted By: Jeff Thomas
posted on 6/12/2006 @ 7:54:29 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Thanks Lisa, jeff, your friendly neighborhood web host
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Lisa Doan

Longmont , CO

Lisa Doan has posted 5 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 4/5/2006. Lisa Doan 's average blog rating is 5.
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