My War of the Words

I'm having a much harder time than I expected telling people about the trip. I literally don't know where to start. On the one hand, I want to get all excited about how amazing an experience it was, how wonderful the people on the team were, and how much I learnt and how much it meant to me - but on the other hand, I want to tell people how angry and sad I am about the fact that right now, seven months on, there's been so little done to fix the damage, let alone to prevent it from happening again.

I think the anger and the sadness is winning. But I'm not being terribly constructive about it, I'm just sort of ranting. And nearly crying, which is very unlike me. The last thing I want is for people to feel sorry for me, or to worry about me - I want to inspire them to do something, at the very least to find out more about the situation. I also want them to feel that they can make a difference, which is why it's so important to emphasise that our experience as volunteers was a really positive one.

That's something that I am actually completely comfortable talking positively about: the opportunities to help.

Here's What You Can Do

Give Money - There's a lot of people out there doing great things for New Orleans and other Katrina-afflicted areas. We've told you about Relief Spark and St Bernard Unified School.

Give Time - The tens of thousands of student volunteers giving up their spring breaks to help out are having a huge impact both on a practical level (the total financial impact of all the volunteers on the ground was very roughly estimated by one volunteer coordinator at $500,000 for last week) and on an emotional level (the outpouring of gratitude we received was amazing). Spring Break is over for NYU though, and in a couple of weeks the entire cycle for all the schools in the country will come to an end, and the number of volunteers will drop drastically. The work, however, is nowhere near done. If you can spare the time and the energy, please consider volunteering. As an individual, it has the potential to be a very rewarding experience - and as a part of a bigger movement, it has the potential to be a very productive one. On both levels, it will be very meaningful to the people you will have the opportunity to help. For more information, and to sign up for April, see Relief Spark - once again, there are other groups out there, but this is where our experience was based.

Give Attention - Not everyone has time to volunteer or money to donate. Something that everyone can do is learn. These days you mostly have to look a bit beyond the headlines to find Katrina stories, but they're out there. That's something I plan on using the blog for in the future, actually, but in the meantime, do some digging of your own. Find out what the current situation is, what the implications are, and how the outlook's shaping up. Keep reading this - I promise we'll have photos up soon. Check out the local press in hurricane-affected areas. Just keep an ear to the ground, and if something comes up, listen to it.

Give Voice - Once you've learnt more about what's going on, from us or anywhere else, pass it on. Talk. Email. Paint a picture, do a dance. Better yet, write a letter. Or two. To the people who can make decisions that can improve the New Orleans story. We'll be posting some suggestions about that in the coming weeks, so check back. Or go ahead and do it now, and let us know what you come up with.

Through the Looking Glass

By that, I mean that I almost want to take myself out of the picture. I know that's impossble to do completely - even if I never once use the first person again on this blog, what I write will inherently be infused with my opinions and perceptions of the situation. Right now though, I feel that what has happened, the current situation and the prospects for the future are all so much bigger - and so much more important - than me and my experience, that it feels my time is best spent telling you about the big picture.

On the other hand, the only things I can speak about with any authority are my own experiences.

For now, I'm going to spend some more time processing both what I heard and saw and what I did. What I do know for sure is that one way or the other I'm going to keep talking about it, and I really hope that the others will too - so check back!