I love the feeling of being in New Orleans. When we first arrived, I could immediately feel the history, the colors, the character, the soul, and the spunk surrounding me. The people are vibrant, the food is amazing, and the city is truly unique. It’s almost magical.
Despite all of this splendor, there is still an underlying sense of gloom. Though my first views of the city were the large park filled with children and runners with their dogs, bright New Orleans mansions with columns and wraparound porches, and trees weighed down with Mardi Gras beads, everything looked worn or damaged upon closer inspection. I could definitely see water lines on some of the houses that we passed by. There were some areas of the city that were overtaken by FEMA trailers and spooky abandoned homes. Driving around to see some of the remaining damage from the storm left me emotionally and mentally drained. This is when I first began to realize that no matter how much I try to help these people this week, no matter how far I reach out to them, I will not be able to empathize or fully understand their situation. This is when I began to worry that I would not be as useful here as people needed me to be.
It turns out that the people of New Orleans don’t need people to empathize with them. They just need people who are willing to help and provide support for them. The clients were just happy to see that there were some extra people that had their backs and work on their cases.
A lot of the cases that Shauvi and I are working on are contract fraud cases. There were quite a few people who came back after Katrina to houses that were still standing, but uninhabitable. So, they decided to take initiative and hired contractors to get their houses back up and running. Unfortunately, some contractors did not do the all the work they were being paid to do and some even left the houses in worse condition than they found them. Looking at some of the pictures left me speechless with my mouth open and indignant at the very thought of someone trying to pull off such deceit. The client would then look at me as if to thank me for sharing in their outrage. I think that they were just glad that someone from the outside listened to their story, looked through their pictures, and conclude that there was a great injustice being done to them. I think that they needed the reassurance and I was more than happy to help them in this way.
What is amazing to me is that the clients have so much sadness going on in their lives, and they are still able to say with conviction and passion that New Orleans is the best place in the world and that there is nowhere else like it. I believe it. The spirit of this place is remarkable and I cannot express how happy I am to be here right now.
-Audrey Kyu
1 Comment
March 9, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Audrey and all,
I’m so impressed at your selflessness in spending your spring break in New Orleans to help the hurricane survivors in whatever ways you can. While the rest of us chose easy spring breaks that will have left us refreshed, you chose to do something difficult that will make the world a little better. I admire your kind hearts and strong spirits. You are all assets to Santa Clara, and I’m proud to call you my classmates. Safe travels!