College student volunteers flocked to New Orleans in droves after Hurricane Katrina wrecked the Gulf Coast in 2005. Now, several years later, students with Habitat for Humanity, Brown/RISD Hillel, the Multi-Faith Council and the Brown Christian Fellowship spent this past spring break lending a hand to ongoing reconstruction efforts.
Rebecca Russo '08 of the Multi-Faith Council organized a group including 18 students, University Chaplain Rev. Janet Cooper-Nelson and two staffers at the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life, Faye Jaffe and Angela Howard-McParland, to work with the Phoenix of New Orleans, a volunteer-coordinating organization. They worked to rebuild houses at two sites in the Mid-City neighborhood and spent free time visiting various religious communities in the city to explore issues of faith-based service and social justice.
"The religious leaders were incredibly uplifting. They found a way to be positive amidst the tragedy," Russo said. The group visited two churches and a synagogue in addition to meeting with secular leaders, she said. "It was cool to see different perspectives on the same story."
Cooper-Nelson said she was particularly interested in seeing how the work of religious NGOs differed from that of non-religious ones. She said the group hoped to capitalize on churches' ability to "mobilize and reach out to local communities" to respond to disaster more effectively.
"The people in New Orleans were so grateful to us for caring," Cooper-Nelson said. "They are facing a serious problem. They are exhausted and have been coping with this for so long." She added that she felt New Orleans is a "magnificent city, full of resilience and warmth," noting efforts by political leaders to draw in young professionals to rebuild schools and other institutions as well as to shape the New Orleans of tomorrow.
Sumbul Siddiqui '10 said that the trip gave her a better perspective on social problems such as poverty, education and government corruption. "It was just awful that it took a disaster like Katrina to highlight these issues," she said, "and it is still an uphill battle." Siddiqui said that she was touched by the way the people of New Orleans appreciated her group's work. "Many of the people feel like they've been forgotten," she said.
The Brown Christian Fellowship, as part of a larger effort by its intercollegiate affiliate, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, also traveled to New Orleans. Twenty Brown students joined 30 from Wellesley College on a 26-hour bus trip. BCF stayed at St. Bernard Parish and spent time working and considering the intersection of service, social justice and the Christian worldview, said Robin Davis '10.
"We worked putting up sheet rock, cleaning and moving carpets," Davis said. "I definitely want to go back and help." Even two and a half years after Katrina, she addded, "for every house that was being rebuilt on, there are two more in need of work."
Matt Thanabalan '10 led the 17-student trip organized by Habitat for Humanity, working as part of the national organization's Collegiate Challenge.
The group previously went to New Orleans in March 2006, and Thanabalan said there was significant interest in returning.
"We went to New Orleans again because it seemed like it had a bigger need than anywhere else," he said. He left New Orleans with the distinct impression that the time was well-spent, he said, adding, "every volunteer matters."
Hillel first sent volunteers to New Orleans in 2006, and this trip marked the second time they participated in Hillel International's three-year commitment to aid the city.
Jonathan Mitchell '09 said the trip was an amazing experience. The group met with local leaders - Mitchell described the meeting with the editor of the New Orleans Times-Picayune about the media's perspective on Katrina as "terrifying and amazing." The trip was "the most meaningful spring break I have had," Mitchell said.
The groups had all conducted significant fundraising before heading to New Orleans in March. Much of the fundraising came from writing letters to family, friends and Brown and community contacts. Mitchell said the Hillel group's funds came from Hillel International and from holding events such as "Jazz and Jambalaya," a night of music and food earlier in March in a fraternity's lounge.
Students with the Multi-Faith Council paid for their own airfare and financed the rest of the trip with $3,000 from the Office of the President and additional funding from numerous local and on-campus groups.
"There is still so much work to be done," Cooper-Nelson said. "12,000 to 20,000 people are still living in tents, and another 120,000 are said to still be in Houston waiting to return."
