Drove our Chevy to the Levee

Today we drove into the Lower 9th Ward, which is one of the worst affected areas, right next to the levee breach. The level of destruction was beyond anything we had seen so far next week - not just damaged houses, but no houses left all. I understand now why the words "lunar landscape" were heard so often in the immediate aftermath of Katrina.

We then went into St Bernard Parish, and saw something that actually affected me more - very nice, seemingly very new houses, on wide streets, generally not apparently in terribly bad shape although with the odd gaping hole, all abandoned, with the ubiquitous "X" code spray painted on all of them (I won't even try to explain that until we have photos).

That's What School People Do

The main activity today was visiting St Bernard Unified School, which is housed in Chalmette High School, and currently has pre-school through 12th grade students from 14 different schools in the area. 2,200 students, with more arriving daily, under the tutelage of approximately 100 staff and teachers. Some of them are 60 or 70 to a classroom, which to me is unfathomable - I've just finished working on a paper into the quality of education which decried class sizes above forty imposed by circumstances in developing countries, never having once considered that it might be happening much closer to home.

We didn't spend as much time at the school as we would have liked, and in the end never got to spend any time with the students, but we met two truly amazing, wonderful, inspring men - Principals Warner and Calhoun (technically, Larry Calhoun, who was principal of another one of the schools now housed at Chalmette, is the assistant principal, but they actually described both of their job descriptions as "survivors").

Their story is truly remarkable, and I don't feel that I can do it justice right now - we've decided to hit the road tonight, so I need to be brief so I can pack my laptop - but I was incredibly touched by a phrase that Principal Warner used repeatedly in a speech of his we were shown a video of, and is the title of this section of my post - "That's what school people do". He used this to qualify the tremendous efforts he and his staff put into caring for the community that sought refuge in the school in the aftermath of what he refers to simply as 'The Storm', as well as the unbelievable work they've done since to get the school up and running again in such a short period of time, and to provide more than just a return to education for these kids, but a home from home until they get their own back.

It was a really wonderful way to end this amazing experience feeling motivated to go back to New York and do more. I fully intend to start fundraising for the school - and on that note, please please visit their website, St Bernard Parish Schools, and if you can make a donation, get in touch for details.

Also, whilst it's not really my thing personally, they asked us for prayers, and I would love for people who do pray to include them in that. They have been through a truly horrendous experience, and have emerged so strong and courageous.

From the Big Easy to the Big Apple

So we're about to hit the road, and we're due back in New York sometimes late on Saturday or early on Sunday. Lots of photos should be forthcoming after that, as well as much more of our thoughts as we reflect on our experience - and plan the next things we can do to help the communities we've been introduced to, whether that's through fundraising, advocacy, or just coming back...