During the week of spring break 2014, Global Studies/Spanish student V. Thomas Uthipratuma and 13 additional Missouri State students were involved with one of five annual community-service oriented Bear Breaks programs. Thomas, who is also currently a valued student worker in Study Away Programs, and his group traveled south to New Orleans, Louisiana, and he has generously agreed to share his account of the experience with Diversity Perspectives:
Each Bear Break program has a select location, along with a specific issue(s) that the group wishes to address and improve for the benefit of the local community and culture. Our group primarily focused on the prevalent problems of social oppression and injustice and racism, especially how these multiplied nearly a decade ago starting in immediate post-Hurricane Katrina. Overall, the project took many of us through emotional and psychological extremes as we gradually came to uncover the nuances of New Orleans’ culture, people, and politics.
Each day our leaders presented us with different projects around the parish of New Orleans. Having learned much on different levels, I can safely generalize two categories of projects in which we became involved: social and technical. Of course, each and every project invoked conversation or work touching various aspects of human concerns (e.g. wealth inequality, corruption in politics, communal resilience, etc.). On the social side of our projects, the most powerful one, in my opinion, had us located right outside downtown New Orleans in which we spent time with at-risk youth in an after school “safe” program. On the technical side of our projects, our most informative project paired us with local Tulane professor Dr. Stephen Nelson. With him, we visited the areas of the New Orleans’ levee system which broke in 2005, and he shared with us the results of his own research findings regarding why this happened and how it could have been/can be prevented. To say the least, we also received a great deal of information concerning how politics and money work in the city of New Orleans, and how this too contributed to the disastrous surges during Hurricane Katrina. On the whole, we could say that the issues really weren’t “issues” until they hit home. Our experience gave us a small taste of the day-to-day social and economic problems the city continues to experience. Ultimately, we hope to have contributed positively to New Orleans, and we continue reflecting on ways in which we can improve our own communities as well.
Overall, I was very lucky to have been a part of this group. As for New Orleans itself, we all agreed that there is a strong vibe and pulsing energy that comes from the city and the people, and even after staying for only a week, one comes to understand why the city is referred to as “The Big Easy”. Personally, I could see myself living there and continuing the work I started during our spring break. The people of The Big Easy truly know how to enjoy life while moving along through their regular work day. It is not uncommon that someone will arbitrarily introduce him/herself to you first and start thought-provoking conversation that I can only assume is daily gab for residents. The power and soul in their music, food, and character only reflects the resilience that continues to work to mend the wounds, social and economic, of Hurricane Katrina that were so openly and gut-wrenchingly displayed back in 2005.
Vinai Thomas Uthipratuma