After hearing the panel discussion about Rotary’s response to Hurricane Katrina, I knew I wanted to take the Rotary bus tour of Katrina. So early Tuesday morning I joined our tour guide, Barbara, and other Rotarians for a few hours of seeing areas where Katrina left her mark and how Rotary responded to the devastation.
Barbara is 60ish and has lived in NO all her life – although she and her family wisely evacuated when disaster struck. She has a very jaded opinion of FEMA, the state and national government, the Army Corps of Engineers and Brad Pitt – but she defended Ray Nagin for most of what he said and did because she felt he was powerless over the governor and FEMA. I took many of her comments with a grain of salt, realizing that the truth was in there somewhere!
We left the French Quarter behind and were quickly in the Lower Ninth Ward which received a great deal of press during the storm. This area was one of the hardest-hit parts of NO and left many of the poorer residents both homeless and powerless as they were evacuated from their homes and in many cases, relocated to other states where they remain today. According to Barbara, the Louisiana system of transferring property from one generation to the other requires legal assistance that’s more cumbersome than most states. So these people often just kept on living in their family homes which were casually passed from one generation to the other as deaths occurred. Without proper paperwork to prove ownership, these residents were out of luck with the powers that be.
As we rode along we saw vacant lots where homes once stood – where children once played – where families once lived. In many cases, a set of stairs leading to a vacant lot was the only indication that anyone had ever lived on this particular spot. Barbara told us that “someone” had designed concrete block homes for about $30,000 which would be affordable for these residents given that most of them work at minimum-wage jobs. However, the homes didn’t pass muster with FEMA so they were never built.
Another “someone” declared that all homes rebuilt in the Lower Ninth Ward had to be built at least three feet off the ground in the case of future flooding – which Barbara thinks is imminent given what the Corps of Engineers has done to the Mississippi River.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie started an organization called Make It Right Homes to provide energy-efficient architecturally designed homes for these residents. Pitt commissioned 13 of the world’s top architects to design green, sustainable houses and is building 150 of them at a cost to the new owners of about $150,000 each. Barbara told us they were running about $500 per square foot but given her disdain for the homes, I’m thinking that’s a gross exaggeration – but then I haven’t been able to verify how big they are.
One of the Brad Pitt homes in the Lower Ninth Ward
These houses are certainly a far cry from the original neighborhood and according to the website for Make It Right Homes, they are being sold to the new owners but donations are also being accepted to cover some of the costs. I also was able to find out that, indeed, they are energy-efficient and are resulting in much lower utility bills for their occupants. No matter who builds the homes, this area will never look like it did pre-Katrina! But, alas, there are still some empty shells of houses that are now inhabited with all manner of rats and vermin so I’m not sure how safe the neighborhood really is.
We left the Lower Ninth Ward and continued our drive towards Slidell, LA which is a bedroom community to New Orleans. Our destination was the Mt. Olive AME Food Ministry Kitchen which Rotary built in a converted church to feed the poor and homeless in that area. It was started many years before Katrina and after the hurricane, Rotarians from eight clubs came together to get it running again to provide sustenance for those in need. We had an opportunity to tour the facility and meet with some of the kitchen staff who were quite appreciative of all Rotary has done. When Katrina hit there were few areas of New Orleans that weren’t affected by the storm and that included many of the magnificent parks that the residents had enjoyed for years.
Rebuilding a city requires more than bricks and mortar – the people also need places to relax and where kids can run and play and get away from the everyday drudgery associated with the restoration process. Again, Rotary came to the rescue in the City Park where clubs from around the world donated trees to line the entrance to the art museum and the walking and running paths. Again, we were able to get off the bus and view the area where we have made an impact and see how people are enjoying their leisure time once again.
Our final “show and tell” was at Warren Easton High School where unfortunately we were not able to tour the school. From their website I learned that “Warren Easton has always educated the children of the working class of New Orleans. The school has changed in response to the times, (from an all boys school to becoming co-ed, later integrating, ten years later becoming a fundamental magnet school and now a charter school). Easton has been led by dedicated principals, faculty and staff. Easton out-performed almost all other schools in the district and has improved its SPS score for five consecutive years. The school’s reputation of academic excellence, high attendance, low drop-out rate and high graduation rate were all factors that earned the school National Blue Ribbon designation by the United States Department of Education.” It’s the oldest public high school in the state of Louisiana dating back to 1845 and has been open continually except for the 2005-06 school year thanks to Hurricane Katrina. Warren Easton became a symbol of recovery for New Orleans as Rotarians and others worked tirelessly to bring it back to life one year after it was flooded. Teams of club members from around the world descended on New Orleans during the summer of 2006 to help finish the reconstruction and have it ready for opening day of the 2006-07 school year. Many clubs who couldn’t send personnel, instead sent books and supplies. In this case, it truly took a universe, not just a village, to insure these students got their education back.
The tour left me emotionally drained, especially as I pondered the road ahead for our neighbors in Joplin – so when we got back to the convention center I was happy for a break to just walk around, grab a bit to eat for lunch and reflect on all I had seen.
And then it was time for more convention with the third plenary session. Again, friends were able to save us some awesome seats, and it was good to sit down and relax and listen to the Preservation Hall Band perform prior to the session.
The chair of the Trustees of the Rotary Foundation, Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar of Sweden, gave a riveting speech about the future of Rotary which included suggestions that perhaps we should stop the practice of changing themes and presidents annually and instead, replace our top position with a 4-year paid employee. He even went so far as to suggest perhaps we should look for someone younger! A focus for the coming year is on our “New Generations” which suggests searching for younger members and what better way to entice young professionals than to update our image. It’s only been 25 years since Rotary ceased to be an all-male organization and that move has only strengthened us – now we need to ramp up to the next level! I’m sure Mr. Stenhammar had a rapt audience in part because of his remarks and also because of the next speaker who was Bill Gates.
Yes, I’m talking about “The Bill Gates” – that college dropout who started a little computer company many years ago and actually did quite well! Since his retirement three years ago, he and his wife Melinda has become very involved with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and their primary focus right now is the battle to end polio worldwide. To that end they have given Rotary International $355 million with a challenge to Rotary to raise and additional $200 million by 2012 – so far we have raised $174 million and I have no doubt we will exceed our goal.
Bill not only gives money for polio eradication, he also makes trips to Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria (the four countries which still have active polio outbreaks) and participates in National Immunization Days. Considering India has over 1 billion people and 24 million births each year, polio immunization is a never-ending process until it is annihilated. So far in 2011, there has only been one new case in India so as Bill said “we are this close” and he held his thumb and index finger about an inch apart. Our final inch. And in his words, “Failure in this fight is unacceptable.” He shared that the Canadian government matches individual donations for polio eradication and the U.S. government has been giving $1.3 M a year from but this year’s budget not passed. The total annual spending needed for the vaccines and distribution is $1 billion! Many people don’t realize that Rotary International has been involved with polio since 1985 and our PolioPlus program is the largest non-governmental program in the world. Great strides have been made and many U.S. citizens don’t even think polio is an issue anywhere – but it is. And we will win the battle!
Springfield Rotarians show we are "this close" to winning our fight on polio
Our work is cut out for us – raise the money – get the vaccine to the children in the four countries where polio is still active – and win the battle over this crippling disease.
It was our last night in New Orleans and I was so happy that we had the foresight last fall to sign up for the French Quarter Dining Experience offered by the convention.
Our choice was The Court of Two Sisters which offered an authentic Cajun and Creole buffet with a beautiful outdoor setting in a patio hidden away from Royal Street. We arrived at the same time as a couple of other single Rotarians so the four of us were seated together at a corner table – and near a fan to keep the atmosphere cool. We all agreed we didn’t want to hurry the evening – we ordered drinks and settled in to get to know each other before tackling the delights of the buffet which was inside.
Lisa is a 40ish Rotarians from Philadelphia who has her own company doing voice-overs and also works as a DJ. Her radio program is on during the evening and she shared that earlier in her hotel room she had taped her show for that night. She also told us there was a possibility we had heard her voice as she does commercials as well as narrates training videos, etc. She was on a Group Study Exchange (GSE) team several years ago which was her first introduction to Rotary – and then a couple of years ago she served as a GSE team leader.
Philip is the face of Rotary’s future. He’s 24, a recent college grad with degrees in computer programming and Russian and he works at NASA where he spends several months a year working in Russia. He comes from a family of Kiwanis members and wanted to get into a service organization so he researched Kiwanis, Lions Club and Rotary. Obviously he’s very intelligent – he chose Rotary! He’s been a club member for 7 months and decided to come to the convention on his own. Since Rotary is trying to attract and retain younger members, we were most intrigued by his experiences and his observations about Rotary. It was no surprise that his biggest complaint was the lack of hands-on projects that his club has done – in fact, he has yet to work on a project but that will soon change.
Dinner at The Court of Two Sisters with Lisa, Philip and Vickie
So here you had a very young member, two young-by-Rotary-standards women in their early 40s and me – part of the upper age group of Rotary but one who is determined to keep an open mind and work to change the face of Rotary to meet the wants and needs of the next leaders of our organization.
We did indeed take our time with dinner – the restaurant was only open for those who booked through the convention and since we were at the late seating, there was no rush to turn our table.
We feasted on Turtle Soup with Sherry (oh so tasty), had fresh boiled shrimp and crawfish from the Seafood Station, sampled salads like Zesty Cajun Pasta and Creamy Crawfish Pasta – then moved on to the entrees which included Fresh Shrimp in Spicy Etouffee, Crawfish Louise, Creole Jambalaya and Veal Gillades and Gravy with Corn Grits. I paced myself and only took a bit of each item – and I passed on the Eggs Benedict and Omelet station – because the dessert bar was calling my name! Southern Pecan Pie, Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce and Mardi Gras King Cake. Just a bite of each but such a wonderful finale to a gourmet meal.
The four of us left the restaurant and strolled together through the French Quarter enjoying our new friendships – and then went our separate ways. Vickie and I talked about how the experience just reinforces the spirit of Rotary – all of us from all over the world coming together to embody the motto of “Service Above Self” and each reaching out to others to accomplish our goals. It was the perfect way to end our Rotary International Convention experience.
Sadly, Wednesday morning was our last in New Orleans and Vickie had one request – she wanted beignets! So being the wonderful person that I am, I timed my morning walk along the river and through the French Quarter to include a final stop at Cafe du Monde. With a couple of orders of beignets and cafe au lait in hand, I finished my walk back to the hotel and finished packing.
The trip home was uneventful which is always good when you’re flying – and no free tickets this trip!
My thanks to dear pal Vickie for making this convention experience so meaningful for me – and for all the new friends in Rotary (hi Lisa and Philip) along with already-friends for the great experience.
We are “this close” – let’s don’t stop now!
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