About Us
The Writer
John Hitch
Editor, The Burr
Kent State University ’09
Magazine Journalism major
Exploring the streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter, I can understand why some may think Hurricane Katrina is now just a part of American history. Everything seems back to normal. Upbeat jazz bands play for loose change. Street vendors scoop shrimp gumbo into disposable bowls for hungry tourists. About one million people attended the Mardi Gras festivities this year. That’s on par with pre-Katrina numbers.
But just a 10-minute drive from Bourbon Street lies a sobering world far removed from the landmark district. The world watched aerial views of the flooded Upper 9th Ward in 2005 coming in from news outlets’ helicopters. The devastation was well documented. In 2009, the roads are dry but scourged with deep craters in the asphalt. People are still struggling to recover. Those helicopters are out following new disasters, though.
Even so, the rebuilding continues. Musicians Village, a Habitat for Humanity project in the ward, provides a bright spot for depressed area.
Projects like Musicians Village, worked on by Kent State’s very own construction management organization, are going on throughout the Gulf Coast. Near Biloxi, a place called Camp Victor has helped thousands of families get through the past four years. Volunteers from Kent State have worked there as well.
I wanted to spotlight these selfless contributors to the region’s regenesis, and that’s what photojournalist Christabel Devadoss and I did when we went down this past February. These students see a world beyond themselves and seek to change it for the better.
They aren’t the only ones. Sympathetic donors from around the world have poured vast amounts of blood, sweat and money into the Gulf Coast. By contrast, government aid has merely trickled in. A 2009 FEMA report revealed the agency has yet to distribute two-thirds of a promised $5.8 billion to Louisiana and Mississippi.
As time passes, interest in helping our Southern neighbors has waned. Kent State’s spring break caravan to the Gulf Coast has shrunk every year. Look around this Web site, check out what we found down there — from the gorgeous seaside sunsets to the hideously warped houses — and maybe you too will discover Hurricane Katrina is still very much a part of America’s present.
How to help:
New Orleans Habitat for Humanity
Camp Victor Ministries, Ocean Springs, Miss.
Kent State United for the Gulf Coast
The Photographer
Christabel Devadoss
Web Photo Editor
Kent State University ’09
Photojournalism major
Website, photographs and multimedia pieces by Christabel Devadoss
We would like to thank:
Donald and Dolores Boos, who housed and fed us in Ocean Springs, Miss.
Joshua Miklowski and Maria Mohan, who gave us free room and board in New Orleans.
George Mohan, for driving us around New Orleans when he could have been enjoying Mardi Gras.
