Alternative Spring Break Trip to the Gulf Coast

This Spring, Water Watch organized an Alternative Spring Break trip down to the Gulf Coast for the third year in a row.

This year 45 college students from Rutgers University and Richard Stockton College, traveled down to New Orleans with 5 Water Watch organizers. The group spent weeks preparing by fundraising close to $17,000 for the cost of the trip and to donate to the relief organizations.

“The road trip was long, but worth it as we pulled into New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward and discovered how much work there was to be done,” said Water Watch Organizer Rebecca Grinstead. “We spent the next four days living and working in the Lower Ninth Ward, wielding hammers and paint brushes to rebuild a portion of New Orleans completely devastated by a levee that broke during Hurricane Katrina.”

Students spent the week sleeping on cots and waiting hours for a shower. At one campus the students volunteered for food shifts to help feed everyone and at the other the students ate MREs for lunch.

“My conversations with these students gave me hope for the future of my country. They are unwilling to remain complacent when social injustice and disaster occurs in our country, and they sacrificed their personal comfort to help out their fellow Americans.”

The trip was a powerful experience for everyone who participated, as Jill Gomez, a student from Cook College noted, “This trip was amazing. Before going [to New Orleans] I really did not know what to expect. It was a rude awakening to see how terrible the situation was down there. I know a lot of people don’t understand the full extent of the problem since the media has not brought attention to it, so for most people since it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. However, there is no doubt that New Orleans needs a lot of help, and I am grateful I was able to do my part.”

Another student from Rutgers University, Priya Munagla, had attended New Jersey Water Watch’s 2007 Alternative Spring Break Trip to New Orleans. Her trip back this year was hopeful as she observes, “This year the Lower Ninth Ward was beginning to show some signs of activity. There are many houses being worked on, and people are beginning to return. New Orleans still has ten years of work ahead, and it is nowhere near the lively and vibrant city it was before Katrina. The city, however, shows signs of life--thanks to the wonderful volunteers who have devoted their time and energy into helping this city.”

Even two years after the storm, the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans are almost completely reliant on volunteer labor. Water Watch partnered with two organizations while in New Orleans - Lowernine.org and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Both organizations are continually seeking financial support and volunteers. Please visit their websites if you are interested in finding out what you can do to help rebuild New Orleans: www.lowernine.org and http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/.