Western Oregon Journal

"It's not over" Senior Jolene Brunson states, in regards to one of the biggest natural disasters to occur in a long time: Hurricane Katrina. "There are hundreds of thousands of people who still need our help. It is easy for us to forget now that the media is not covering it everyday, but reconstruction in New Orleans has just begun."

Brunson, along with a team of nine other staff, faculty members and students from Western and a group of ten students and faculty members from Willamette University, took a week-long service trip to New Orleans over the break to do just that, help with the reconstruction of the once bustling metropolis.

After completing a basic application form, the approved members of the Alternative Break team got to work fundraising to afford their trip down south. The team did everything from write letters to businesses and family members to holding a bake sale and doing a can drive in order to earn money to make the trip. But as Brunson says, "The reward is much greater than the effort it takes to get there."

The team of 20 volunteers was assigned to a different house every day during their stay, some of which had been untouched for four months, and had been covered in as much as 13 feet of flood water. Their task was, basically, to gut the house. They removed destroyed furniture, knocked down walls that were crumbling and desolated due to water, mold and mildew, and essentially left the house in a bare-bones state.

Signe Bishop, the Community Partner Liaison for the Service Learning and Career Development Center, who went on the trip, as well as helped to organize it, clarifies, "The homes were not necessarily livable [after they were cleaned out by the volunteers]; they need to be reconstructed to be livable."

Bishop explains that while the Service Learning and Career Development Center was planning their Spring Break service trips the hurricane occurred, and they decided sort of spur of the moment to assemble a team to send down. Brunson's reason for wanting to attend the trip is something most students can relate to. She says, "As a poor college kid I don't have money to give, but I have my time and energy."

Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Gary Dukes, who also volunteered on the trip, explains that this is a good experience for faculty and staff as well, because they get to know students better, on a more personal level. He explains that you get an opportunity to work with them as team members in a different element than you would at school. He also includes, pertaining to faculty and students alike, that going down to the area effected gives you the true story of the devastation, that people have the misconception that because the hurricane occurred four months ago that New Orleans is all clean, but that is not the case.

Senior Sarah Cole, who also went on the trip, agrees. She says, "It is so indescribable in words; even in pictures you really can't understand until you're there and you see it. All your senses are turned on, but you hear nothing because the neighborhoods are deserted. It's silent and it smells musty, like mold."

Brunson compared the devastation to a war zone and admitted that seeing the town in shambles, "triggered a sense of determination to do something."

One of the most rewarding parts of the trip, for all the members involved, was the gratitude they received from the home owners. Dukes recollects home owners offering everything from tools and a hot meal to the volunteers, to invitations to come stay with them should any of the group members return to New Orleans.

Cole remembers being surprised at how much hope was still in the city-that it wasn't just grief and destruction. She recalls the son of one of the home owners telling her, "Ya'll brought our family back together. You have no idea what you've done for our family. We'll be forever grateful."

Bishop agrees, saying she was amazed by the positive attitudes and recalls, "Every one was SO grateful and commented on how wonderful it was to see college students coming together for such a cause. One commented on how they had new faith in the 'youth' of America." Brunson was also amazed by how willing the home owners were to help out the volunteers. "The point was for us to give to them and all they wanted to do was help us," she said.

The home owners in New Orleans were not the only ones to benefit from this service trip. All the members of the team benefited. All responded that they would return "in a heartbeat" to help out. Brunson has developed a better understanding of class politics through the trip. She explains, "I asked every family what they thought about the debate of whether or not the flood damage and lack of help to those affected by the hurricane was a class/race issue. Every person, black or white, younger or older, agreed that it was a class issue. And from my perspective and from the experience we had, I agree and back that up 100 percent. It is a class issue."

Cole has also taken away a lot from her first-hand experience. She says that it has made her appreciate what she has in life and not take things for granted or waste time. To put it simply, "This trip was an inspiration," and she says she hopes to reunite the group to build a home locally to do something for our own community. "If you have the means or the resources to go it is well worth it," Cole added. Something to keep in mind, as the Service Learning and Career Development Center send alternative break groups to do all sorts of good works around the country during the breaks between terms.

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