Not your average spring breakers

By Mary Carey
Staff Writer

Published on May 02, 2008

Taylor Aldrich was in the "sophomore girls" van, Lucy Atkins was in the "swimmers van," and Nino Figliola was in the "Northampton" van. Together with the occupants of a fourth "sophomore" van, more than 40 Amherst Regional High School students and chaperones converged in New Orleans during spring break to help rebuild houses damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The trip was organized by students, some of whom have been to New Orleans to help with the rebuilding effort four or five times. They joined forces with Southeast Disaster Recovery, putting up drywall, sanding and painting during the day and sleeping on the floor of a United Methodist Church at night.

It's been almost three years since the hurricane struck and some parts of the city are still utterly devastated, to their great dismay, the students said. And yet, some of them told their parents that it was the best time they have ever had.

The sadness of it all hit Aldrich, when she saw a mud-spattered teddy bear and a doll still lying in the mud in New Orleans' poorest Ninth Ward. But she felt so good about the trip, she plans to return next year.

"We got to meet the homeowner whose house we worked on," Aldrich said, "She was really grateful for our help."

Figliola said he signed up for the trip because he likes to travel and enjoys woodworking.

Seeing damaged houses can only tell you so much about a hurricane, Figliola said. "Talking with Mr. Simmons, a man who lives in the Ninth Ward, about his experience during the hurricane helped me understand the impact of the hurricane on New Orleans' residents."

An image that stuck with Figliola was of a fire hydrant in the Ninth Ward surrounded by a jungle of tall grass. "It made me realize how certain parts of New Orleans, especially the Ninth Ward, have been forgotten and, for the most part, abandoned," he said.

The students in his van, dubbed the Northampton van because there two people from Northampton aboard, worked in a relatively well-off area, Figliola said.

"Plenty of houses were damaged, but many had been rebuilt and had people living in them. There was a huge contrast between the conditions of the houses. The house across the street from ours had been completely gutted and was in bad condition. However, the house next door was in near-prefect shape. It was a beautiful house with a new car parked in the driveway."

Atkins, one of the organizers as well as one of three members of the swim team after whom the "swimmers" van was named, has been on five trips to help rebuild houses. The first time was three months after the hurricane.

"I got pulled into it," Atkins said. "Just the physical labor, which I absolutely love - spending a week hacking away at whatever, painting or putting up sheet rock - that's one thing. It doesn't make a huge difference, I know, but just knowing that 40 or more kids were able to fix some houses feels good. It's been over three years now (since Katrina). Anything we can do is really helpful. They're desperate for volunteers."

The camaraderie that developed among the volunteers is another reward.

"I guess the community that I found in the group of kids that go every year is really special," Atkins said. "You form really tight bonds with people that you wouldn't even realize would be there."

In three years, Atkins has also seen some signs of improvement.

"It is actually looking a lot different than it had," she said. "It's kind of turning back into this unused marsh. Last year when I was there, there was this chapel that we went to in the Ninth Ward. It was gutted and you could see the water lines, the pews were overturned and it was desolate and abandoned. I'm not religious at all, but it really struck me that that's a center of the community and it was just left. I had no idea if people were going to come back."

It turns out that they did.

"This year, in the same place, there were construction workers," Atkins said. "There are signs that people are starting to build their roots again very slowly."

Mary Carey can be reached at mary.carey@att.net.