Day 2: Monday, June 18, 2007

I cannot explain the feeling of being emptied of all thoughts that occurred tonight after watching Act III of "When the Levee Breaks." It was not a ton of emotions, it was not necessarily pain. There was some guilt. Some shock. Some frustration. Some fear? But I really did appreciate the ability to sit there in the dark room in silence for a number of minutes before the 6 of us started sharing our thoughts.

"Hope is not a plan."

This was written on many buildings in the documentary. This is very much my personal opinion, but this applies to so many actions of the US government right now. I'm ashamed of our president and administration, as well as those proposing to pull troops out: as a citizen who stays moderately up to date on currents events (somewhere in between nothing and everything), I have no idea what an actual PLAN or STRATEGY might be. When are we going to bring these troops back to help our own people??? Money should not have been the controlling factor--we should have jumped to respond, not worry about cost, because THIS is what our national decificit should be from.

Over the course of the next 5-10- more years, there's going to be a significant need for relief efforts in the form of mental health and transitioning schools from shitty to above satisfactory quality.

Ana, from the Spanish Dept., told us all an expressive story this evening at our group reflection time. Today she tutored a boy named Jerry (age 8 maybe?), not for very long, as she was helping with cleanup at the Hands On site. Jerry is at English camp at the Catholic Church across the street where I also worked (but with younger children) today. Without any prompt, partway through the tutoring, Jerry switched to Spanish. Instead of saying, No, speak English, as we had been told was a rule to enforce usually, she listened. Jerry told her about how his dad was saved, and what was on his mind, and his story--a state of emotional and mental depth that he probably could not express in Engligh.
I hope someone can continue to be here for these children in all these different ways. Teaching them that Spanish and English are both wonderful languages, and that they must know BOTH of them (and that Vietnemese, the language of the vast majority of Biloxi immigrants, is also wonderful, and also necessitates learning English concurrently). And listening to them, too.

Carlitos the Trouble-Maker

Hands On Gulf Coast space.




















Rebuilding.