Yesterday, a group of about 25 San Jose State students arrived in New Orleans to get things started with Louisiana Winter. And about 150-200 attendees were present for today's orientation at Xavier college.
It's just amazing to witness the blooming of an idea, into a beautiful movement.
On the taxi ride from the airport to Xavier college, I saw abandoned houses with boarded up windows and spray-painted numbers that don't make sense to me just yet.
Here are photos I have taken...
Walking just around the block of Xavier college, numerous houses look has if they havn't been lived in for a really long time. I can't help but wonder what happened to the residents? Did they have a chance to escape the wrath of Katrina's aftermath? Did they seek refuge somewhere else? Or were they stuck...
We're not too far away from the Superdome. When I saw it, I remembered the image in the news during the storm, when it was surrounded by water on all sides. Where we are staying right now, was basically under water at one point. It's hard to believe when one is driving through, but being on the streets for just 10 minutes, and being exposed to empty abandoned structures that used to be homes, is a definite reminder that what may have seemed like only a movie on the news, actually did happen. It's not that I denied it; it is rather that it's hard to believe that after more than a year, conditions have not changed. The crazy thing is, that we havn't started the interviews yet. We've met and talked to residents and students here, but we're about to embark on neighborhoods that were hit the hardest.
Today, we welcomed more than a hundred students to Louisiana Winter. It is definately amazing to hear where they all have come from: Pennsylvania, Mississippi, North Carolina, etc... The first thing I always ask them is: How did you hear about this? Mostly all of them reply via email or internet. It's overwhelming to meet so many people from different places that see eye to eye on the necessity of something being done.
From left, Xavier University students of New Orleans, Victoria Lewis and Zuri Oliver, register for Louisiana Winter with San Jose students Danny Boyd, Darcie Kylan, and Cheri Nelms Sunday Evening.
About 150 students from colleges nationwide attended Louisiana Winter's orientation Sunday evening.
San Jose student Victoria Chavez, right, tells Xavier student, Shante Berry, about Louisiana Winter's week agenda before orientation on Sunday at Xavier college in Louisiana.
San Jose State student Joseph Nance, hangs up the Louisiana Winter banner to welcome students to the week's events.
It's only the beginning, but I'm quite excited about the rest of the week. The purpose of the trip is to hear what residents of the Gulf Coast have to say and to hear their stories. Far too often do we, as outsiders, assume that we know what should be done, but we are going to see for ourselves, what they have to say.
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