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Instead of basking in the Miami sun or returning home during this year's spring break, approximately 500 Howard students participating in Alternative Spring Break (ASB) boarded 10 buses and traveled south to New Orleans to assist in the Hurricane Katrina reconstruction effort.
Students represented the University as well as organizations such as the NAACP and Project Amnesty. The buses departed from Cramton Auditorium and Cook Hall around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 17.
Students' reasons for attending the trip varied.
"I just wanted to basically see the devastation for myself," freshman political science major Johnetta Abraham said. "I mean I saw it on TV and whatnot, but I wanted to see it with my own two eyes instead of having it handed to me. And without the bias of the news," she said.
After a ride lasting more than 20 hours, which was plagued with breakdowns, confusion and exasperation, students arrived in the Gulf region on Sunday, March 18 at various times in the morning and early afternoon.
Participants crossed the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana and followed the path of the storm while taking in the devastation Hurricane Katrina brought the region. Dilapidated buildings, broken trees and bent signs, all facing the same direction, littered the landscape leading to New Orleans.
With the images of the city fresh in students' minds, they prepared for five demanding days of volunteer service which would be spent rebuilding homes, tutoring children or participating in debris removal and gutting buildings.
Ty Axson, the co-coordinator of the ASB 2007 trip, said, "I'm happy with the result of the trip. Taking 500 students, you never really know what to expect. I knew that the experience would be great. I knew that lives would be impacted, but I never knew that it would be to this degree."
Feven Woldu, a freshman marketing major and transfer student, said, "Initially, I was really surprised at the number and glad to see such a huge turnout. But at the same time, I feel like a lot of people here came with different intentions and used the trip as an alternative to Miami whether it was because of finances or because they tagged along with their friends."
During a social justice forum on March 21 that featured Mayor Ray Nagin and various city council members, residents shared their stories of life before and after the storm. Joe Gibbons, a resident of New Orleans, shared the story of his mother who, at 80 years old, was forced to take out a $180,000 loan to cover damages from the storm. She hired a contractor who took $150,000 of her money and disappeared, leaving her with $30,000 to rebuild her damaged home. Gibbons said the event was a common horror story and "not an exception." His statements proved that help is still needed in the city and reconstruction of the Gulf region is far from being completed. Despite the many organizations helping to rebuild the damaged city, many students believe that the government is responsible for restoring New Orleans and bringing its residents back home.
"The condition [of New Orleans] is ridiculous. It looks like it happened two weeks ago instead of 19 months ago," freshman television production major Andrea White said. She continued by saying that the condition of New Orleans is an accurate reflection of the government's attitude towards black people.
Abraham expanded the responsibility of restoration to the government and citizens.
"The government should provide the finances so they can build sufficient levies. The government should help people come back. Citizens should take the initiative to come back instead of giving up," she said.
Regarding future ASB trips, Axson said he would definitely bring the same amount of students although the location of the next annual trip is still to be determined.
"I don't know what I would do differently," he said "There's so much you can prepare for and, believe it or not, we prepared for so much, but things always change on you and things always come up."
A return trip to New Orleans is not out of the question for some ASB 2007 participants. Abraham said, "I would definitely do it again. After being here for a whole week I can clearly see how long the process is to get back to at least a semi-normal state. Just riding down the street is like a ghost town. You might have one or maybe two people on a street and the houses are just totally destroyed. Basically there is nobody here, and I would like to continue to help."
Axson shared his feelings about what the week-long visit to New Orleans left him with. "The most inspiring part is always speaking with the residents and understanding the people's perspectives," he said. "I think we get so many perspectives from the media, from the government, from different officials, but if you really talk to the residents you begin to see how things really are and how they were affected. To hear their stories is truly inspiring, and I'm humbled by it."
