Returning - Rana

When the destruction of Katrina was first shared with the rest of the country through the media, I was awed by it. Never had I seen a natural disaster that had caused so much destruction and affected so many people. Years later, the lower 9th ward still seemed like a war torn country that wasn't part of the United States the first time I saw it last year. We got out of the vans and when you looked around, the number of homes that had people living in them could've been counted on my fingers and toes. After watching the documentary a second time and remembering my first trip down to New Orleans, I am still amazed. I am amazed that our society continues to forget about what happened. There are beautiful pictures of the Eco Friendly Brad Pitt housed, but few pictures of the barely rebuilt lower 9th ward. That while people blame our leaders and our government, few have done something to help the people rebuild their lives. It is easier to forget or think someone else is taking care of it. We are too consumed with our own lives to even think to spare a thought to what people in our own borders are experiencing. At a holiday gathering some of my family asked why I want to go again on this trip. It is because I too am consumed sometimes by my own life and responsibilities and forget to be thankful for what I have. If I can help someone by spending a week painting a wall or installing a closet or getting on a roof (even when I know I don't trust ladders) why shouldn't I? How can I be content with allowing myself to forget what I have seen and move along with my own life? It is the same reason I am involved in service.

I find it almost ironic that this year the freshman are going to Philadelphia this year. They are to learn about the city that was pretty much the birthplace of Democracy and Government in the United States. From there they will go to a city that experienced first hand how that democracy and that government centuries later failed its citizens, especially its most vulnerable populations. The footage compiled in "When the Leves Broke" shows that failure. The government can send thousands and thousands of troops into a country halfway around the world, but they can't send medical care to people in our own country. They can sit at a desk and use a joystick in Washington DC to send a bomb to some remote cave in Pakistan, but they can't allow get bottles of water into a city 5 states southwest from the capital? When hollywood actors get involved in disaster relief before the national guard, someone should be embarrassed. While many are still angry at former President Bush, I hear no mention of the golf from our current president, no agency reform, no new strategies, nothing. We as a country have forgotten.

I am curious to see what has changed, if more houses are up, if more houses are down and being rebuilt. I want to hear about homeowners and hear from more locals such as the poet/pastor my team met last year who talked to us in the middle of our day. I hope to see changes that prove me wrong.