Blog Spot: SVA Students Help Rebuild NOLA
By Jessica Gordon
Hurricane Katrina’s unthinkable devastation compelled thousands to leave
the comforts of air conditioning, clean socks and cable TV to help their fellow
citizens. It was no different for ten students from the School of Visual Arts
in Manhattan, who used their most recent spring break (March 6-12, 2006) to
join relief and rebuilding efforts in New Orleans.
After collecting some $6,000 through various fund-raising activities—yard
sales, concerts, flower delivery and letter-writing—student organizers
Kristen Basile and Kira Beougher made travel plans and arranged volunteer opportunities
with H.O.P.E., a grassroots cleanup operation based in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana,
about five miles south of New Orleans.
The trip was documented on the blog “SVA Spring Break: NOLA” www.springbreaknola.blogspot.com,
compiled mostly when the group (which included two photography majors) returned
to New York. The blog includes stories and photos of the students’ daily
experiences during the trip. In between cleaning out residents’ personal
belongings and sleeping on cots in a converted church, students snapped photos.
“I wanted to do something good with my spring break,” says photography
student Chris Davis. “We mostly gutted houses. My photos focused on the
group and our interactions as we tried to get as much done as we could in so
little time.”
Davis says the elderly homeowners were present during the process. “They
were staying next to us in a trailer, and they would walk around when we were
on water breaks and just see how we were doing,” he says. “It was
sad to see all of their possessions turned into garbage while they watched.
It was a weird spot for us to be in.”
Recent SVA photo graduate Jennifer Yip used her camera to capture the devastation.
She hopes her pictures will remind people that there is still much work to be
done. “I went in with the intention of letting people know that [the people
of New Orleans] still need a lot of help,” she says.
©2006 All photos copyright Jennifer Yip, All rights reserved.
|
