(Cross-posted many places.)
I have that “katrina look” today. Let me tell you why.
A guy came up to the truck looking pretty worn out. I asked him if he was okay and he proceeded to tell me how he’d stepped on something hard this morning. It had a leash attached to it. 6 months ago, it was his dog.
I hadn’t heard from my friend Bethany in a while, not since she graduated from my college and went off to be a VISTA volunteer for the Red Cross. Then, the other day, I discovered her LiveJournal, and it seems she’s volunteered to be in New Orleans, in the Ninth Ward, feeding people twelve hours a day.
A mother and daughter come up to the truck. It was the first time they’d been back to see their house (or what was left of it), and they had also come to bury the mother’s sister. Not sure if the death was recent or if they’d just found the body in their house. I didn’t want to ask.
Let me tell you a little about Bethany. She’s one of those quiet, earnest people that you overlook if you’re not paying attention. She has three passions: history, running marathons, and helping people. She was Secretary of our History Club when I was president, and I never saw a more committed or hardworking club officer.
And now, she’s turned her talents toward Katrina victims.
I’m all in-processed and checked into my hotel where I’ll be staying for the next 3 weeks. I’ll either be working in a fixed kitchen or riding around in an ERV (response vehicle) delivering food to the neighborhoods. Work starts tomorrow-good thing, because somehow it doesn’t feel right to be a relief worker but staying in a nice hotel with such gorgeous weather, just relaxing and soaking up the sun. It’s 72* right now, supposedly unusually warm for this time of year, but I ain’t complainin’. The food is excellent as well-all you who know me know I love rice and beans and seafood and that’s just what they specialize in down here.
Bethany’s the kind of person that doesn’t show any outward emotion, so when she wrote this after her first day in the Ninth Ward, you know she must have seen some horrible things.
As for today, let’s just say that seeing the ninth ward up close for hours on end will do things to you. Didn’t help that yesterday ran from 8:30 am-nearly 8 pm.
After a day like that, there are some things you want to forget. What happens in New Orleans not only stays here, it never happened. That’s as much as you’re going to hear, and it will not happen again.
But Bethany’s a tough gal, and she quickly adjusted to what she was seeing:
I hope they keep me on the ninth ward route because as tough as it is to see all that devastation, I’m already getting to know the clients.
And by the next day:
Where do I begin? I’ve been ERV-surfing in the Lower Ninth Ward. I’ve caught the “Katrina crudt” from breathing in mold and who knows what else all day. I serve hot food out of the back of a hot ERV while ERV-surfing over piles of debris. I spend 12 hours out of my day either on the road serving hot meals and snacks or scrubbing down the ERV and I haven’t made a cent beyond my Red Cross stipend for food and medicine to treat the “Katrina crudt.”
The amazing thing is that I’m having the time of my life. I’m meeting so many cool volunteers from all over the country, enjoying the 75* midwinter weather, and eating in a bunch of cool restaurants. I bought my own hurricane glass-my new favorite drink which one of the volunteers is going to give me the recipe for so I can order it back in Maryland-and filled it with beads that another volunteer gave me. We spend the evenings soaking in the hot tub and alternately relaxing and sharing our Katrina stories.
The best part is that I’m falling in love with the people of New Orleans. I’ve never met a more appreciative, more open-hearted, more hard-working group of people in my life. I just wish I could do so much more for them than give them a hot meal-I want to fix up their houses and look after their kids and give them a reason why the rest of the city is well on its way to recovery while they don’t even have electricity and there are houses in the middle of the road. It’s not just sad, it’s criminal.
I knew it was bad down here, but I couldn’t imagine anything like this. As one of the houses in Arabi (another neighborhood) said, “Thank You Katrina.”
When I found this journal, I knew what she was seeing had to have a wider audience. So I asked Bethany if I could alert the good folks at the liberal blogs I frequent to what she was experiencing. Thankfully, she assented. She’s also agreed to write up her own diary on her experiences for y’all upon her return in three weeks.
I also asked Bethany what we can do to help. She pointed me to the Red Cross site, where you can donate money, goods or volunteer help.
We’re all really proud of our friend who’s braving the “Katrina Crud” to help her fellow Americans. Feel free to follow along with her journey on her LiveJournal.
The best part of all this is that Bethany is truly selfless about it. She views the people she’s helping as the heroes, not herself.
The coolest moment of the day had to be telling a client that they reminded me of the song “Wind beneath my wings,” which we’d just heard on the radio. They are our heros, out there rebuilding their lives and living day to day, like we are theirs for taking care of them however we can.
