Volunteer reflects on relief efforts
Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: Opinion
While many of our fellow students were spending mid-term break in the sun and sand, 46 fellow students and I heeded the call of the BonaResponds hurricane relief trip to Mississippi. This service trip abruptly turned into an emergency detour to Enterprise, Ala., which had been hit by a tornado mere hours before.
Seeing all the crosses that the friars handed out as we boarded the bus before our departure was a powerful symbol for me, not just of us being a part of a group and how we all wore them trip, but how they brought us together, a sea of brown shirts and wooden crosses. We all had our reasons for spending our break here: our various backgrounds, hometowns and histories.
However we all felt the pull, like some hidden gravity, to come together for a cause bigger than ourselves. Even though we were facing a problem we all knew to be completely beyond our power to solve, that at best we will only be able to make a dent, all of us decided that was enough.
Our arrival in Alabama is something I know stuck with everyone who was there. Grabbing our rakes, shovels, chainsaws, hacksaws and tree trimmers, we marched as one, a sea of brown, and one could almost pick out the strains of "Onward Christian Soldier" on the wind.
As we came closer to the epicenter, our presence had a dramatic, palpable effect on everyone we passed. People were taking pictures, shooting video, pointing and waving as they gave a furtive Sign of the Cross at the sight of the Brown and Gold. Our warm reception was chilled when we turned the corner to see the stage of CNN's Tragedy of the Week for ourselves. What had been mere pictures in the paper and sound bites on TV was now painfully real.
There were times in both Alabama and Mississippi when I felt overwhelmed; I'm sure I wasn't alone. I was just one person, and coming face-to-face with my limitations as a human being was frustrating. But then I talk to the people we've helped and see their faces, the look in their eyes of sheer gratitude, and realize even if we haven't moved mountains, just being there was enough.
Seeing all the crosses that the friars handed out as we boarded the bus before our departure was a powerful symbol for me, not just of us being a part of a group and how we all wore them trip, but how they brought us together, a sea of brown shirts and wooden crosses. We all had our reasons for spending our break here: our various backgrounds, hometowns and histories.
However we all felt the pull, like some hidden gravity, to come together for a cause bigger than ourselves. Even though we were facing a problem we all knew to be completely beyond our power to solve, that at best we will only be able to make a dent, all of us decided that was enough.
Our arrival in Alabama is something I know stuck with everyone who was there. Grabbing our rakes, shovels, chainsaws, hacksaws and tree trimmers, we marched as one, a sea of brown, and one could almost pick out the strains of "Onward Christian Soldier" on the wind.
As we came closer to the epicenter, our presence had a dramatic, palpable effect on everyone we passed. People were taking pictures, shooting video, pointing and waving as they gave a furtive Sign of the Cross at the sight of the Brown and Gold. Our warm reception was chilled when we turned the corner to see the stage of CNN's Tragedy of the Week for ourselves. What had been mere pictures in the paper and sound bites on TV was now painfully real.
There were times in both Alabama and Mississippi when I felt overwhelmed; I'm sure I wasn't alone. I was just one person, and coming face-to-face with my limitations as a human being was frustrating. But then I talk to the people we've helped and see their faces, the look in their eyes of sheer gratitude, and realize even if we haven't moved mountains, just being there was enough.
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