Benjamin Banneker high school students fundraise and gut homes for Katrina victims
When high school English teacher Terry Samuel returned to New York from a trip to New Orleans, she told the assistant principal of Benjamin Banneker Academy for Community Development she wanted her students to learn about volunteerism. As an ACORN volunteer, Samuels had helped gut a home damaged during Hurricane Katrina.
New Orleans was no longer in the news, Samuels said, but it needs to be. "New Orleans is close to home and not close to home at the same time," Samuels said. Eighty-five percent of Banneker’s students are African-American, so they strongly identify with the residents of New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, which was devastated during the storm.
So for Black History Month, her students pledged to raise and donate $5,000 to New Orleans ACORN's organizing.
After raising $5,000, 24 students with six chaperones flew to New Orleans over their spring break to present the check at ACORN’s Elysian Fields headquarters and to contribute some hands-on work.
When they returned home, they wrote essays about their experiences:
DEVON: "I went to New Orleans to help, to see the devastation for myself, but I gained much more than that. My closest friends were in the other van, but I had this feeling that they were feeling the same way I did, which was being in a surreal environment, of being trapped in another land very different from yours, but knowing that it had the same government.
On day three, I woke up a little. I realized why I came down to New Orleans – to help people. We started working with ACORN that day and once more I can’t remember what was said at the orientation, but I remember the feeling of eagerness, pain and fear of what I was about to see.
My teacher and mentor, Mr. Deschalus told me before I left that New Orleans has a vibe, a feeling, a sense of movement and I agree with him now."
JAHMALL: "From the moment I stepped off the plane, I could tell the difference between New Orleans and New York. It was just a feeling I had, but it was as if the city was welcoming me and thanking me in advance for my help.
...The first thing I noticed when I began to work is that almost nothing was done. A year and a half later and almost nothing was done. This is a disgrace to a nation that sends so much aid to other nations. How can you help others if you’re not able to help your own?
Then I realized something I didn’t want to believe. It isn’t that the nation can’t help their own people. It’s just that they didn’t want to help their own or they don’t consider the people who live in the devastated areas their own people.
...Though we are not considered adults, we are still able to make an impact on some of the major problems in our own nation."
OSCAR: "...Even though I have seen devastation in my own country (Honduras), nothing can compare to what was seen in New Orleans. New Orleans is one of the most elegant cities of the United States, yet it is tragic to know that our government does not fund the rebuilding efforts taking place down there right now.
...New Orleans is a place where culture thrives. From the arts to cuisine, New Orleans is rich in everything. The food down there was excellent.
...It is a misfortune that even after two years, there are areas that are still devastated. The world is blind and we as a group, we as humans, have to let the world see the truth and help our fellow brothers and sisters."
LA-KEISHA: "That Monday morning, when we went to work on a house, the realization of the devastation of a hurricane had finally set in. As I looked around at the houses, on the block you could tell that these houses were nice and not shacks or messed up houses as the media wanted people to think.
...Everything about the affected areas seemed so surrealistic. Nothing seemed real, like something out of a nightmare. I wished I could just blink, and everything would go back to being normal, people who lived in those homes were back and the little children who also lived there were in their yards playing ball and jumping rope.
...Knowing that there are many people who lost their family members during Hurricane Katrina, and seeing up personal the damages eon, made me think of all the things I am lucky to have, like a roof over my head and food in my refrigerator. Coming back from the trip, it made me realize how ungrateful I can get at times. It also made me want to appreciate my family even though we have our disagreements."
CINDY: "My first memory of New Orleans was the courtesy and kindness the people of New Orleans showed us. Everywhere we went, the natives said, "hi." They asked how your day was doing and were so down to earth. It was refreshing to me, because I’ve not been in this type of environment since I left Guyana.
...Since the hurricane, most people have not been able to move back to their homes as they were expecting to, so a lot of food was stacked up in the refrigerator and freezers. When the ACORN Crew attempted to move the refrigerator, it tilted over and fell. The most fowl smell came out of that contraption. It was a bag full of nearly years-old, moldy eggs. That is smell someone can never forget.
We met a friendly couple who lived next to that house we were rebuilding, Mr. Vic and his wife. They were on the light side in terms of complexion but they were happy because, even though they have seen others come down to help from other places, they had not yet seen a group of minority kids come down to help a city filled with minority people, so it was a "breath of fresh air" for all of us. I felt great throughout that whole time and was not tired because I knew that whatever I accomplished that day helps someone little by little to come back home and enjoy life again.
...On our walks through the great, great city of N’awlins, it seemed that nearly everyone knew their history and was proud that they did because so many things happened in New Orleans.
...On our trip to Mardi Gras World, everyone learned about the real Mardi Gras and how it’s celebrated. It is a "family show" unlike what the media broadcasts on television of young women showing off their bare bodies. Then again the media has a way of turning things around for the viewer. Nowadays, what happens in New Orleans, stays in New Orleans because the world seems to have forgotten about what happened in this city and its people because the media chooses not to show us the reality of what’s happening in our own community.
Queens is my community. New York is my community. The United States is my community and the world is my home. So what affects one affects all and we must all remember that."
Click to read about ACORN's Home Cleanout Program.