Deja Vu

NORTHFIELD, MINN. 12:20am --

Two years ago, on approximately this night, I was doing approximately the same thing: packing until midnight, trying to find enough clean pairs of socks to toss into a suitcase already filled with t-shirts, old denim jeans, sunscreen, and work boots. Now a graduate and employee of my alma mater, I once again feel like a student. I guess a degree and an apartment can't change everything, because here I am procrastinating until I have no choice but to proceed with the tasks at hand: last minute preparations for a trip not-yet-taken, but highly anticipated.

Two years ago, I was a junior getting all set to leave for Ole Spring Relief (now referred to as OSR1). Having done several service trips in my late teens and early college years, I thought I had quite a few significant volunteer experiences under my belt. I soon learned that none of my experiences could prepare me for witnessing firsthand the monstrous effects of a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina. In March 2006, nearly seven months after the hurricane hit New Orleans, houses were still filled with water, sludge, and the scattered remnants of lives and homes. Many had not been opened since their inhabitants fled the neighborhood for higher ground.

Now, this year --two years after the first OSR trip-- I'm told that some houses along the Gulf Coast have still not been opened, gutted, or torn down, leaving bedrooms to mold over, photo albums to deteriorate, and the trinkets and heirlooms that once decorated sitting rooms to vanish from memory.

I've heard from many of the student organizers of this third OSR trip that they have seen progress since the first trip in 2006, which had students mostly removing debris and doing clean-up work. During Spring Break '07, OSR2 spent much of their energy taking down drywall, and now this year we are expected to help out in the rebuilding process. As exciting as it is for us to revisit New Orleans and Biloxi each year to see how far the efforts have come, the time must past much slower for those whose property and lives have been taken away by flood waters over two and a half years ago.

I'm getting pretty nostalgic remembering my first glimpse of New Orleans back in 2006. I recall our tour of the Ninth Ward and the story of Robert Green and his family. I recall the faces of the homeowners we helped search for family photos amidst the rubble that lined their boulevard, waiting to be removed by garbage trucks we weren't sure would even come. Most of all I recall the gravity that floated in on the coastal air and saturated the Gulf. It was a heaviness that touched everyone and everything in Lousiana and Mississippi, and a heaviness that reached the many Americans who made their way down South to volunteer or tour the area --many times both. But even more powerful than this weighty feeling was the camaraderie that arose from the debris of this disaster.

Now, here in Minnesota, sitting among my own belongings --sleeping bag rolled up, backpack ready to go --I am once again sent reeling back to the emotions that go along with a group of people trying to fix a wound we're not entirely sure how to heal, but one that we know must be worked on if we are to offer any kind of hope for hurricane victims --our fellow Americans.

I'm excited and nervous and tired. And I'm a little embarrassed to share this, but my thoughts are beginning to wander and I wonder if we'll see any "high profile" citizens while on OSR3. Apparently Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought a house in New Orleans, and although we'll only be stopping through there for a few hours on our way to Camp Biloxi in Mississippi, I have faith that our Oles will find something equally exciting to chat about once we step back onto the bus. In 2006, my OSR1 group in New Orleans came across Denzel Washington filming a scene from the movie Deja Vu. The film, which postponed shooting after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, decided to resume filming in the same section of the city as before, both to stimulate the economy of New Orleans and to bring hope back to this devastated area.

OSR3 may not be bringing too many "celebrities" with us on our buses tomorrow morning, and we may not be working on a blockbuster movie, but perhaps this blog, which will continue from the Gulf Coast, will refocus our attention on the continued efforts to rebuild these communities in the ongoing wake of Hurricane Katrina.