Nawlins!

So basically what I learned on this tour was that the disaster was mostly man made because the levees werent done right. I also learned that the gov't turned down alot of aid from other countries after Katrina hit, many people made a lot of money off selling FEMA trailers and taking advantage of peoples desperation, and that even after 3 years the gov't still hasnt done much to restore peoples homes, but they did fix the tourist areas so it looks like nothing happened. It took 5 days for the gov't to get people food and water who were in the convention center or super dome. and even longer for search teams to rescue ppl trapped in their homes.
When buses finally did come to take people out of the city, families were split up onto different buses and sent to all different corners of the nation. People had no way of knowing where their family members were going or how to contact them so they could get back together.
People left with nothing. All important documents had been destroyed, birth certificates, dental records, anything in a bank security deposit box, ect. All their old photos and memories were gone. and even for personal items that were not destroyed by the water or swept away in the current where not always easy to recover later. It took people weeks to be able to make a trip back to their houses in NO. Some people still havent been able to come back. and for those who could make the journy, there was no garuentee their homes were safe enough to enter and retrieve personal possesions or that their homes hadnt been looted.

Katrina and the broken levees caused the most damage to property in American history.

The people who lived in New Orleans suffered more than most people when they lost their homes and jobs because many NO families all lived close together in the same neighborhoods. So while for the typical family who looses everything to a natural disaster can be taken in by another branch of the family until they get back on their feet, a NO family would have no one to turn to because every branch of their family had lost their homes and jobs also.

Think about loosing your home and what a home really means to people. People work their whole lives to pay for or build their homes. Home is a sense of pride and security. It's a foundation (no pun intdended) on which you build your family and life. Home is where the heart is. For the people of NO, there was heart all around their homes. Family's lived in tight knit communities and neighborhoods. Many people havnet come back to NO because their friends and nieghboors cant move back and because there are no stores yet. and because people havent moved back yet, corporate owned businesses wont come back. So it's a catch 22.

***I'll say more later***

Thibidoux is where we spent most of the week doin work with Bayou Area Habitat for Humanity

***I'll say more on the service part later too***

I uploaded some pictures on picasa.... here are the links

09-02-28 First night in New Orleans! Spring Break Serivce Trip

09-03-01 New Orleans

09-03-01 Katrina damage tour

09-03-02 Workin in Thibidoux baby!

09-03 New Orleans Artwork