Hanuman Hurricane Help

Background

August 27, 2005 Hurricane Katrina
80% of New Orleans under water
1,300 killed
500,000 people evacuated
100,000 homes and businesses uninhabitable
deadly mold everywhere
75% of the residents no longer live there
5 million tons of debris on the ground
Federal, State, and Local preparedness was terribly inadequate, despite advance warnings, and response was woefully insufficient.
Hurricane Rita, the following month, compounded the problems and sufferings.

Our Getting Involved

We’d planned a rare getaway, a vacation in Costa Rica, for December. The thought came to Shyama: why not go to help with hurricane recovery instead?
We trained with the Red Cross, but
1. we kept hearing that such organizations were less effective than grass-roots churches and community groups on the ground.
2. the Red Cross made it clear that we might not get called and were very unlikely to be called together.
So we explored other options.
Came up with several possibilities and one that was clearly the best one:
- A couple, Sheril a resident of New Orleans, an evacuee, and Curtis a native of Louisiana — both of them having been to the gulf to help since Katrina.
- Sheril and Curtis had great contact with a community group in a poor area of New Orleans where help was needed.
- They were going down again, at the December time that could work for us, and in an RV, so we could have our kind of food with us and have a place to sleep.

The Trip to New Orleans

Early the morning of Tuesday, December 6th, Curtis and Sheril picked us up with their 1981 RV at MMC.
Curtis put lots of signs outside the RV telling people that Louisiana still needs help, we’re on our way there, “Follow Your Heart”. This is the name of an organization he’s started to help with this disaster and with other desperate needs of poor people.
As we went through Pajaro, we were joined by Sean, an electrician whose tools and abilities were badly needed in New Orleans. I was really glad, worried about whether I’d be of use and knowing I’d be able to help with electrical work.
Very first night, not yet to L.A., smoke and smell filled the RV — fluid line from transmission to transmission cooler busted — by side of freeway, miles from nowhere, struggling to fix it, relative of Curtis gave him and Sean a ride to town to get tools and fluid. A security guard came by, checked us out, then later returned with food! Sweet guy. Sean persevered and stayed positive for hours, by flashlight in the dark and cold. Finally we limped to a town, slept, and got it repaired at a transmission shop next morning. Sean donated the cost. All of us sharing gas and other costs.
Lots of other stops, things to fix, no heat up front so driver and passenger travel in sleeping bags, paying for a shower at a truck stop, challenges of being 5 people in a tight space navigating lots of decisions, differences, styles — doing pretty ok.
Somewhere in Arizona, we get a call telling us Shyama’s older brother, her one remaining sibling, has died. We light a candle at a truckstop, say some prayers, and pass the news to our kids.
Through Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and finally into Louisiana Friday morning. Sean suddenly told us he was going through difficult stuff in his life, having a rough time, and needed to leave. Suddenly, he was gone.
We visited Curtis’ grandmother, Margaret (Medea) in Shreveport, LA. Wonderful old woman, full of the spirit (Jesus) and wisdom.
Arrived in New Orleans very late Friday night.

First Impressions of New Orleans

The first sights are of traffic moving normally, areas looking ok, no sign of serious damage, everything pretty normal.
Then we get to the poorer areas, “downtown”, and —
under an elevated highway, hundreds and hundreds of abandoned, flooded, destroyed cars stashed in rows to clear the streets.
street after street all dark, no lights, no movement, buildings damaged, piles of refuse in the streets.
a ghost town, destroyed.

Saturday

Curtis did lots of videotaping, documenting, to bring back to CA to help raise funds and build bridges.
Parked in front of “Mama D’s” — Diane “Mama” Frenchcoat, 60-yr-old long-time community organizer in the 7th Ward. Her house has become a community center for people struggling to rebuild their homes and lives. She hugs everyone and calls everyone “baby.” Puts out and gets back lots of respect and love. And is IN CHARGE. A fire burns 24 hrs/day in front of Mama D’s. It’s cold, people come for the fire’s warmth, for the free meals Mama provides (and often cooks herself) 3x/day, to take food, clothes, tools, medicine, furniture, housewares — all donated and free for the taking at Mama’s — or just to hang out, for the sense of community and support.
That’s Ashley, one of the volunteers. Shyama joined her in the cleaning and bleaching of furniture, dishes, etc. that’s been recovered so it can be given to returnees to use. Shyama also worked in the kitchen with Mama D, prepping sandwich lunches for all her volunteers going to the march and rally that afternoon.
After breakfast, I jump in on a crew going to get firewood for the fire in front of Mama D’s. I’m so glad that, even with just one good arm, there’s something I can do. One guy is on a chain saw, cutting up trees thrown down by Katrina, me loading the pieces into wheelbarrows, another guy pushing the wheelbarrows out to the street, another guy loading the old truck. Back to Mama D’s, unloading, stacking. Good, simple, physical workout. Great.
Getting to know people. About 12-15 volunteers here from all over: New England, Wisconsin, Oregon, California. Young, energetic, hard-working people. Sandy (Wisconsin) brought the truck, Josh (New York), Kevin (Wisconsin), Curtis (black landscaper from Santa Cruz). Matt has been here all 4 months since Katrina, quiet right arm for Mama D, knows the scene, captain’s crews.
Curtis, enormously energetic, cuts down a tree, roping it down in a very tight spot.
15 of us jump on bikes, donated by a local bike shop set up behind Mama D’s house, to pedal cross town to join the march, JUSTICE AFTER KATRINA. 95% black, poor people, not one dignitary or politician, a New Orleans jazz band leading the march, great music, many textures, simple anguished speeches by 15 people feeling abandoned, four months and still hardly any help, decisions being made “uptown” without including the people whose neighborhoods, homes, and lives are most affected, feeling betrayed.
Worst is the emotional, not the physical, damage. One man’s 15-yr old son died in the hurricane, FEMA has the body, and hasn’t yet released it to him.
Bicycling back, Shyama has a bad fall, nothing broken, but bruised and hurt. Matt, who hung back for us slow-pokes, now goes ahead and gets his car, takes us back.
That evening, Mama D hears of Shyama’s fall, sits her down and massages her knee and leg with an old home remedy for an hour, sitting on the floor, talking gently with Shyama.

Sunday

Group breakfast outside Mama D’s, then
7 of us go off with Mallet, a local resident trying to rebuild his business (restaurant-bar-dance place), to paint the walls. Sheril, Shyama, and I join Meg, Lisa, Anne, and Ashley (Conn, Mass, Wisc). Meg’s a firefighter, carpenter, EMT. Mallet paints alongside us, and it’s all done in under 3 hours. Great energy.
After lunch in front of Mama D’s, Shyama finds sit-down job, sorting donated foods, to stay off her bruised knee. I’m off with another group (Matt, Sandy, Curtis, Kevin, Ashley, Josh, Anne, and me) to gut a house so it can be rebuilt. Because there’s deadly mold in all the flooded buildings, we can’t do such work without complete hazmat (hazardous materials) gear. This means being covered from head to foot (hood to booties) and wearing a heavy-duty respirator to filter the air we’re breathing. Again, I’m relieved that there are things I can do — in this case, pulling nails out of framing where sheetrock and insulation have been removed.
Dinner in front of Mama D’s, supplemented by our tofu jerky, then some hanging out into the evening, and very tired to sleep.

Monday

We were very fortunate that all during our time in New Orleans the weather was clear — cold (long johns almost always), but clear and often sunny.
Out again with a crew — Matt, Sandy, Kevin, David, Josh, and Air — to finish gutting the house we worked on yesterday. I get to pull nails and sweep sheetrock, insulation, and other trash into wheelbarrows, taking them out to dump on the sidewalk. Huge piles like that in front of many houses. Back there again after lunch at Mama D’s, and we finish the job. Satisfying.
Shyama’s working in Mama D’s commissary, her large basement, where there are great stores of food, clothing, medical supplies, tools, and household items, all available free to anyone coming by. Mama D is always busy, very hands-on, slow and steady, and at the same time always available to stop and talk with someone who’s come by and is hurting, or exhorting the young people to good behavior and teaching them. She sees and accepts all individuals and helps her neighbors by making connections that need to happen.
Please help this girl get her medications!
But don’t let me catch you selling any of this or I’ll come beat you with a stick!
And return those respirators and tools when you’re done so the next person can use them.
What do y’all need?
C’mon in.
Take some food.
Donations keep coming. Great energy. Shyama’s also working on gift-wrapping donated stuffed animals to be given to school kids in Shreveport as part of an effort by Curtis and Sheril to get a pen pal exchange happening between Shreveport and Santa Cruz schools.
Curtis puts out a last spurt of energy, using his landscaping skills to redo a little plot in front of Mama D’s, talking with some local residents, and rebuilding the firepit in front of Mama D’s.
This is not the poorest section of New Orleans, the 9th Ward; this is the 7th Ward, very modest but nice suburban houses of which folks are proud, which they want to rebuild.

Tuesday

Curtis and Sheril have decided to leave to work on establishing a pen-pal program with schoolkids in Shreveport. There goes our ride, our own foods, our sleeping space, and our heated, lit space. Other volunteers are camped out in various houses around Mama D’s, and in her basement dorm, without heat or light, a little too rough for us, so we decide to leave with Curtis and Sheril, seeing that we can visit old friends in Arkansas and still be back to cheer our grandson, Camilo, in the Mount Madonna Middle School play, Seussical.
Before we go, we put in a morning in the commissary, helping a steady stream of people to feel welcome and ok in taking whatever they need. Mama D dealing with all kinds of people, local officials, other organizers, dozens of residents she knows, all with a great combination of loving care and great strength.
We get to a TravelLodge in Shreveport with Curtis and Sheril, the motel full of evacuees.

Some Reflections

We felt it was very worthwhile that we went.
On one level, it was a great experience for us, to have such direct contact with people in need and be able to be of some help. We also learned a lot and it’s become part of us. We’re thinking maybe we could do more of this, not necessarily in New Orleans, maybe closer to home where there’s also plenty of need.
On another level, we felt that the help we gave was meaningful, not just, not even mainly, the physical help, but beyond that just the fact that we had come. People let us know how much it meant to them that, in the midst of feeling abandoned by the world at large, there were people who cared enough to come help. That’s what’s needed most: feeling not abandoned, feeling cared about. So any donation, any visit, makes a real difference.

For More Information

This story was formatted into a self-published book.
You can preview the whole book in full screen and order it here.
A slideshow of images from the trip.
For more on Mama D, here’s a Google search for Mama D New Orleans Katrina.
For a comprehensive overview of the effect of the hurricane on New Orleans see this Wikipedia article.
Many thanks to all who supported the trip.