On our 28 hour bus ride back to Boston from New Orleans I was asked this question by a number of people - the Alabama welcome center lady, the cashier at Cracker Barrel in Tennessee, and the gas station attendant in some state I don't remember. After telling them that we were doing relief and rebuilding work all three of these people were surprised. I could visibly see their surprise as well as hear it in their speech: "Oh, really?" "They still need that?" and "Oh, you weren't partying?" It struck me how quickly the country has forgotten about the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. In some ways I'm glad that people think things are back to "normal" because the city needs the tourism money. But the responses I got when telling people we were rebuilding made me really sad. Driving anywhere around the city besides the French Quarter, it is painfully obvious that there is a lot of work to do in a city that is still hurting. Numerous houses still have the spray painted marks made by the rescue teams that came through neighborhoods. Many houses are still in the middle of being rebuilt by owners who can only afford to come into the city one weekend a month to work to repair their homes. In the Lower Ninth Ward all that remains in some house lots are the front steps that lead to nowhere.
The media and their cameras packed up long ago, coming back briefly for "One Year Later" stories, but largely ignoring people and residents who are in need. It's old news and unfortunately the earthquake in Haiti is becoming this too.
We each can't care for every tragedy and natural disaster in the world, but we can care for one. I'm eager to continue to care for New Orleans by bringing student teams down each year and wearing my "ReNEW Orleans" t-shirt that starts conversations that help me communicate the need that still exists.
