Plenty crew heads back to the Gulf
by Ralph McAtee

Monday morning, March 13, we gathered our camping supplies and food, along with a van load of food and supplies for Biloxi and Pass Christian, and began our trip to Louisiana and Mississippi. Our gang included Elaine Langley, a Registered Nurse, Joel Kachinsky, an attorney, Kara French, from the staff of the Farm Community's Ecovillage Training Center, Phil Schweitzer and Douglas Stevenson of the Farm's Village Media company, and myself. We were going to cover much of the area we had already been supplying before, along with documenting our work with the help of Phil and Douglas. Jeffrey Keating and Gordon Soderberg were already in Mobile, AL for the Veterans Gulf March, and would provide coverage of that event along with meeting us in New Orleans for the final days. This was the first time we had set out to not only give out some supplies and continue the work of disaster relief, but to try and publicize the disasters of the gulf alongside the war in Iraq. The fact that the Iraq Vets Against the War and the Veterans for Peace, along with Cindy Sheehan and the GoldStar Families for Peace were going to be there made this a large Peace march and gathering of Anti-War activists. We drove the 8 hours to Slidell, Louisiana without a hitch, and our caravan arrived in the Bayou Liberty camp right at dusk. Niki Wison was our host, and she allows folks to stay at her camp and then work in whatever area they choose. People from Common Ground collective can come for a break out of the city, and volunteers flow through as they go back and forth to home. We met Niki in Covington, LA in the early days of the relief work, and she's been an angel. We quickly set up some tents and were treated to a nice hot veggie dinner. Naomi Archer from Four Directions Solidarity Network, which is helping the tribes in the lower bayou areas, was waiting for Joel to arrive so she could take him to a full moon meeting with the tribal chiefs on the following day. Joel and I had been discussing the need for something like a community land trust in that area, and Joel was going to continue researching that option with the tribes down there. Immediately after dinner, Naomi and Joel hit the road for the 90 minute drive to the bayou.  Our first day (Tuesday) was to be spent in Biloxi, and Elaine has been taking that city on as a personal project. She is well known and loved wherever she has set foot, and we got some great video of her work there. (Read Elaine's report). I talked with one woman on a porch in the neighborhood where we gave out some food boxes, and here six months later not that much has changed for most of these people. The woman told me that "the little things" kept her going, and seeing us giving out food and talking to people about their needs had her in tears. She talked about how hard it was to go to bed at night, knowing she would awake to the same situation in the morning. Our help there is precious, yet obviously a small drop in the large bucket of need. Another man we met in a different neighborhood had stayed through the storm, riding it out in his house that he had built "to code" after Hurricane Camille. He said that when he saw the neighboring homes flood, he got nervous. His floor was 8 ft. above ground level. He had enough composure to take pictures of the flooding, and wound up giving us a cd of those pictures. His house stood tall during the first 8 ft of water, and he captured the rooftops of other houses starting to disappear. He saw that his stairway outside was disappearing, and it didn't take long for the water to come into his home. Finally, he was chest deep in the water, standing on a chair in his kitchen, still snapping pictures. His dog is seen in one picture, floating on the couch in about 6 ft of water inside the living room.  Unbelievable if I hadn't seen it on film. We made another friend that day and got his name and address.  Pass Christian was our stop the second day, and it was the hardest hit area of Mississippi that I think I have seen. Almost every house on the first few streets near the gulf shore was demolished, and the town was in the process of bulldozing about 80% of some neighborhoods. We delivered our bulk food supplies to a distribution center called A Walk in The Park, run by two sweet angels named Eleanor Jones and Marley Paul. These two were good friends before the storm, and had talked immediately afterward about starting a center where the townspeople could get needed food, water, and supplies. Imagine that the closest 10 stores near you had suddenly closed, you live in a small town, gas has more than doubled, and you need the things to get through each day. These two made that happen in Pass Christian, and they will continue until "all the needs have been met". We shared their experience of the hurricane, and also got some video of Eleanor's house where 65 people weathered the storm in the second floor of her home. Her neighbor was home and told of seeing around a dozen people running up the street towards her house, which was directly across the street from Eleanor's. She went outside to see if they were running from a house that had collapsed, and found herself standing in over a foot of water, with more pouring up the street. She told the people they could stay with her, but after seeing hers was only a one story, they pointed across the street to Eleanor's two story house. Eleanor wasn't home, so they broke out a window and all ran upstairs. In total, 65 people stayed on that second floor during the storm, surviving the flood by getting above the water. They had a scare when the water almost made it up into the second floor, and were looking at breaking into the attic to escape further. That didn't need to happen, but they were getting ready. The next couple hours we spent talking to some folks with Ameri-Corps, who were now running a free day care and trying to keep their tent city going. After giving out a few quilts from the More than Warmth group (Thanks! Judy!) to the babies at the day care, we split up with Elaine, Phil and Douglas heading to Ocean Springs to meet Jeffrey K. and the marchers, and I going to New Orleans to pick up Joel who was now at Common Ground. These first two days were full, and exhausting, but so much more was still to come. Thursday morning we woke to find the Slidell area damp from a small sprinkling the night before, but no rain to speak of. Today we would travel into New Orleans to see Common Ground and the St. Mary's church/convent that was housing up to 500 student volunteers from all over the country. I had picked Joel up at St. Mary's the night before, and we had stayed to have dinner there. The meals were served in shifts, with salad and vegetarian option on the main course. Hand washing stations were situated at the beginning of the serving line, so it was easy to get clean before getting your food. Common Ground had done great cleanup in the neighborhood, and the local pastor donated the use of the dorm rooms in return for their help. The drive was short, and we were looking for a large distribution center when we saw three young students walking down the street. This is off of North Claiborne, middle of the 9th Ward, so I stopped to ask if they were with Common Ground and they smiled and nodded yes. We were seeing a lot of this in the devastated areas of town, college age young men and women walking or biking down the streets in contrast to the dreariness all around us. The network onto the college campuses is obviously strong. We were given directions to two of the distribution centers close by, and to the "blue house," an office and kitchen used to coordinate smaller groups of volunteers.  We were told of a large "action" going down today, over at Martin Luther King middle school and library. The school wasn't damaged other than debris and some water damage during the hurricane, and the state had taken the school from the city's jurisdiction. We also found out that the city school system was bankrupt before the storm ever made landfall. We spent the rest of the afternoon documenting the cleaning of the school by volunteers from CG, and the former principal and some teachers brought by refreshments for the young folks working. New Orleans PD stood by and observed, but no arrests were made for what was considered "trespassing" by authorities. This was one of those moments that could have been right out of the movement in the late 60's. Non-violent civil disobedience to affect great change, in a city that has a 39% illiteracy rate according to recent studies, seemed entirely justified. With problems like that, it's astounding that these education centers are left standing empty while we send billions of dollars overseas. We left the city that day with mixed emotions, but had also heard from some folks who knew us just how much they appreciated Plenty's help in the early days after the storm. I was thanked again and again for bringing busses with supplies into town when it was locked down behind the National Guard checkpoints. That part felt great. Friday, we got an early start so that we could get back down to the bayou area, around Dulac and Chauvin, to see how the tribal communities were doing. Plenty volunteers Dr. Robin Rose and her husband, Brandon Lerda, had spent a few weeks in that area right after the storm doing medical aid and helping with construction and roofing crews. I think Dr. Robin had given out a record number of tetanus shots and other vaccines to those survivors. It's hard to say how many would have become ill or worse without this medicine. We met with Ronald and Cheryl Courteaux of the Biloxi Chitimacha Indian tribe, and saw their home where they were hosting Four Directions relief volunteers. The small town of Dulac, like several in the area, sits right on the bayou waterway, and the street running down one side is named Shrimpers Row, after one of the community's largest employers, the shrimp industry. When Hurricane Katrina went through Louisiana, wind and storm damage occurred in this area, but since the prevailing winds were from the north, not too much in the way of flooding. Hurricane Rita was a whole 'nother story as they say. Rita made landfall west of this area, and the prevailing winds were coming from the south, pushing tremendous amounts of water inland. With the destruction of the barrier reefs and the canalization of the bayou waterways (large cross-canals) to accommodate the larger oil tankers, there was nothing to stop the storm surge. The people here have heard enough about Katrina. They were flooded by Rita, her less heralded sister that visited almost two weeks later. The people here suffer some of the same plight as those in New Orleans. Times were already very hard before the storm, the economy was taking its toll, and the wind, rains and flood of these Hurricanes was so much more destructive than anyone could have imagined. We saw cleaning and repairs being made, but not on the level of other towns we had visited. Small changes were taking place day by day, but overall the place had the same look and feel of almost seven months ago. Despair would be an understatement, and the people were coping in a fierce way with their surroundings. People like Ronald and Cheryl were doing a superhuman job, along with the other tribal leaders, of keeping their communities moving in a positive direction. Funds were not coming in like before, when the Hurricanes were front-page news and some funding didn't make it here at all. We did see some FEMA trailers being used, but also saw a Parish notice saying that NO MORE trailers could be brought into the Parish. Some locals found that to be more than unacceptable, and are fighting their own local government to change the issues. We headed back to camp in Slidell and were going to meet up with the Vet Gulf March later in the evening. The Vet Gulf March was initiated by the Veterans for Peace, Goldstar Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans against the War, and Military Families Speak Out. The march was in full swing by the time they rolled into the Bayou Liberty camp, and their story stands on its own. Their web page,  http://www.vetgulfmarch.org/ contains the story, history, and  route of the march. We were honored to celebrate with them on Friday night, and the party included a Gumbo fest, with gator, sausage, and chicken gumbo along with the always-needed vegetarian portions. All were delicious, and all were gone by the next day. I think the two kegs of brew helped wash the goodies down, and in my case helped cool the heat from the gumbo. A good local mix of musicians played into the night, and the marching group had enough energy to dance it up for a few hours. The night's sleep was a welcome respite, and some good drumming was heard coming from the 20 ft. tepee set up right next to the bayou, along with a lot of laughter. We also were treated to some good video previews from Gordon Soderberg and Flux Rostrum, who were still in the gulf area documenting the recovery work, and now the Veterans march. Gordon's site, a peace and action network, is http://www.neworleansvfp.org, and Flux has an excellent site at http://www.fluxview.com. Both are attempting to keep the public eye focused on the plight of the gulf region and the attempt to reclaim the area in the name of the original inhabitants. I say reclaim, because as many as 70% of the residents have been relocated, or have not returned since the hurricanes. Those who have returned are destined to find little in the way of government assistance, while waiting for the insurance companies to either make a reasonable offer or to show up at all. We have seen notices left on peoples homes declaring that "you were not home, so we could not make an accurate assessment." NOT HOME? How on earth could they be home, when the place is either roofless or in a shambles. While driving down the deserted streets, we don't bump into any insurance company vehicles either. No traffic jams here.  We spent some time filming in and around New Orleans, and in the afternoon went to St. Mary's, Queen of Vietnam Memorial. This area of East New Orleans is populated with many immigrants from SE Asia, and they too are attempting to rebuild. The large memorial area had enough room for many tents and campers, so the lot here would be the stopover point for the marchers on Saturday night. A stage was set up here, and a food line efficiently fed what appeared to be a few hundred marchers and some "joiners." I sat and ate my food while listening to Camilo Mejia, one of the first COs to refuse redeployment back to Iraq. He served his time in jail for following his conscience, and told of his abuse by commanding officers. His story was one of many that were told, but one that I was fortunate to finally see in person was the story of Casey Sheehan, as told by his mother Cindy. She stood on the stage, now lit with a few small spotlights as she told of her continued push to end the war and try to bring our troops back home. She was obviously tired, yet talked to the crowd with a freshness that made you think she was just getting started. After listening to her speak, I was up near the stage and fortunate enough to meet her. Our crew was still filming, so I asked her if we could get her to speak for our crew, and she agreed. While walking over to where Phil Schweitzer and Douglas Stevenson had the camera set up, I asked her about her schedule, and she rattled off several stops she would make in the next week before getting to spend "a day and a half" at home. Wow, I said, a day and a half. I thought I was pretty tired until I spoke with her, and then I immediately began to feel rejuvenated. I couldn't be tired yet, I thought, if she was still doing interviews at 9:30 at night after marching for hours that day. We arrived to find Phil on the cell phone. He turned, saw us, said "I got to go" to whoever was on the other end, and got the camera ready. Douglas welcomed Cindy and told her our intention for getting some video. She was gracious and patient with us, and when Douglas and I both were speechless for a moment, she just smiled and told Doug to "ask me a question." He did, and she made our whole week by spending ten minutes talking to us. While her face was tired, her voice was strong and didn't waver. She made a statement that struck me hard, saying, "We need to stop being the superpower of killing, and start being the superpower of peace." I knew by hearing those words that what she spoke of was possible. I had been told many times that if you can imagine something, it is possible. This night I could imagine a superpower that turned to helping people, including it's own people, instead of waging war over politics and oil. We can make it happen, even one day, and one hour at a time. Today was truly one of those days. Tomorrow we would turn north, heading back home, and the march would continue to Congo Square, where more speeches and music and dancing would occur. Jeffrey Keating and Gordon would stay and film Sunday's culmination of the march, and that video can be seen at http://www.neworleansvfp.org/node/1829, then click download the Video. Good stuff, and well-edited by Flux. So where from here? What do we do to follow this? I think in the next few weeks we will take what we have documented and make use of the footage to bring the story of the continued rebuilding back into peoples living rooms. The story has left the front pages, but it's still a historic time in my opinion as we need to see how this government acts over the long period it will take to affect true recovery. We'd like to help increase the success stories, and reduce the tales of this disaster taking more victims. If you would like to help, you can contact Plenty. Thanks. Ralph McAtee Chief bottle washer, and bus driver.