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Saturday, March 18. Posted by Udara Soysa.
The moment we had been waiting for had finally arrived – we are
leaving for New Orleans! We went through the toughest part of the
journey, which was packing our million and one bags into the
15-passenger vans, each carrying 13 people. However, it was fun. It
reminded me of how the private bus drivers operate in Sri Lanka,
packing hundreds of people in one bus! For the passengers it was a
comfortable and spacious journey to New Orleans. I tried my best to
impress the gang with my non-sleeping abilities as I did not sleep
Friday night; however, I soon found myself dozing in the van, along
with many others, within couple of hours!
 Before reaching our destination, we witnessed first-hand the
devastation of Katrina. This was similar to what I saw in
Mississippi last year, although not as bad as what I saw in Sri
Lanka after the tsunami. However, whatever comparisons are made, the
devastation was far-reaching. We met a couple of folks before we
reached New Orleans who were very kind and nice to us. In fact, one
attorney offered us his assistance if we ever needed it. Meeting
these people was indeed such a heart warming experience. Although
Katrina affected the material environment of Louisiana, it did not
diminish the great spirit of the people here.
Once we reached Camp Algiers, we were amazed at the facilities. I
would say that these facilities exceed the luxuries back at college!
We have spacious tents, comfortable beds, hot water/showers, perfect
air conditioning and, of course, the best food in the country. New
Orleans food is my favorite! I never enjoyed food as I did in New
Orleans after coming to America!
We also met with Father Ed who enlightened us on our plans for
the weekend. We completed some paperwork and attended a few
briefings. The discussions at the meetings were fascinating. I
learned a lot of new issues related to disaster management from
Father Ed’s briefing even though I dealt with worse conditions in
Sri Lanka following the tsunami.
Amie Lane is becoming a professional photographer. She is
snapping photos like crazy. I bet by the time we get to the end of
the week, she will probably establish a world record for the
greatest photos even taken within a week by a single living mortal
human being!
Another fun part was meeting interesting people from around the
country. There are hundreds of people from Alaska to Alabama. Mario
Dunkel impressed everybody with his guitar playing and Ember Melcher
baffled others with her awesome dancing abilities. Socializing was a
great part of the experience.
At the end of the day, it was a perfect experience. Great food, a
great place and great new friends! What more can a guy ask for?
Photos by Amie Lane
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