One Beautiful Word

When thinking about my time in New Orleans my mind is flooded with countless questions and comments. With emotions running high and sleep being of a low priority one can understand how a volunteer may fight battle after battle in their heads, a result of trying to process too much information at once. It seems a natural reaction when one is subjected to the first-hand experience of one of the most painful and embarrassing moments in United States history. The national media didn't talk to the locals for hours, asking hard questions, giving them the respect that they deserve by letting them tell their personal stories of pain and heartbreak. We did. This country's democracy didn't lend one damn hand to the residents of the 9th Ward or brighten the day of the neglected, yet extraordinary children that we met and who have learned to process death and destruction at such an early age.

After finding family members dead inside their houses, waiting months for settlement money that just didn't come, and watching their property being seized before their eyes, it would seem that New Orleans would have a grim outlook on life and their fellow human beings. This is the most amazing part because it is not like this at all. These people have become the unknown role models for the common citizen, leaders for the struggling classes. How do these people get up every morning physically and mentally drained with nothing to their names and a brand-new obstacle to face? The answer is in one beautiful word: hope. Hope that the residents' actions will one day be rewarded. Hope that our country will open up its eyes to our clouded thinking and finally see the big picture. Hope that people will soon have their own bed to sleep in. Hope that more volunteers will do what the government refuses to do. Hope that repeated exposure to toxic chemicals, mold, and formaldehyde from FEMA trailers won't result in sickness or death for these people. Hope that the local businesses will return someday and flourish. Hope that a form of stability will be established. Hope that nobody ever has to go through this again.

-- Neale Baldyga

April 3, 2008 @ 10:09 AM