Thursday, January 12, 2006
 Benjamin
Cooper, College of Arts & Sciences
A group of us began the day by traveling over to Jackson
Square, the site of a protest set to precede President Bush’s
speech in the area. The protest was apolitical – a gathering
of people from all over the political spectrum to advocate
the construction of levees that could withstand the fury of
a Category 5 hurricane. We were surprised by the somewhat
low turnout, though we speculated that this was due to the
fact that many residents are still unable or unwilling to
return to the region. The journey also gave us the opportunity
to (briefly) see the Mississippi River and St. Louis Cathedral,
both of which were firsts for many of us. The St. Louis Cathedral
is absolutely breathtaking, from its sprawling mosaics to
its soaring spires.
Unfortunately, boosting the New Orleans tourism industry
was not our cause – we knew that our help was desperately
needed elsewhere. We all piled back into our caravan of minivans
and went to join the other group at St. Augustine. St. Augustine
was located in one of the harder-hit areas of New Orleans,
as evidenced by not only the height of the watermarks (well
above seven feet) but the absolute destruction of the area.
Rubble of the likes one would never expect to see in America
covered yards and roads alike. Abandoned bicycles and toys
littered the curbs, painful reminders of the devastating effect
this hurricane has had on the children of the area. There
is something positively chilling about the X’s that
mark every house, perhaps because they put in stark contrast
the fact that these impersonal remains of houses used to be
homes to many families.
The work was winding down by the time we arrived at St. Augustine,
where the group had been cleaning mainly cooking supplies
all day. The priest who tended to St. Augustine and served
as our organizer for the clean-up work was yet another reminder
of the desperate state of need the residents of New Orleans
are in. He was extremely grateful for what we had done, even
though the school still had a long way to go in the recovery
process. From what I gathered from the other students, he
had actually stayed behind with the school during Katrina,
letting in over 300 people to take shelter with him despite
having a minimal amount of supplies and food. As painful as
the bad times have been for the residents of New Orleans,
it is refreshing to know that such overwhelming good exists.
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