Comments on: Can we fathom the reality of the Katrina disaster?

By: Wesley Fryer

Wesley Fryer — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:02:18 +0000

Charlie and Tom: You are both welcome. Tom you are right, as you think about and reflect on a story like this, it really does affect you. It certainly helps keep things in perspective. I did some interviews in Greensburg, Kansas, about a month after the category 5 tornado hit there, and that experience was similar for me. I still need to publish those. I will try and get them out in the next few weeks. I know sometimes I get so focused on small details of my life that I lose sight of big picture issues. I wish I had asked this woman for her name so I could have followed up with her and actually recorded her story. The thing is, I think there are MANY people with similar tales– Katrina affected so many in so many places. The entire incident raises some important issues about how our present welfare system fails to empower many to become self sufficient and ascend a ladder of economic improvement. I was thinking about this yesterday myself when we were in downtown Oklahoma City for our annual arts festival. I was explaining to my son that in the Katrina tragedy, some of the affected families had been receiving government welfare for four generations. It is unfortunate that it can take a major tragedy to highlight issues like this, but if one of the outcomes from the attention which is focused on these situations is improvement– then that can be a blessing. We’ve certainly got a lot of big problems to move forward on… and surely education must be a centerpiece of these conversations.

By: tom

tom — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:12:03 +0000

Wes, this story has been sticking with me for days. Thanks for sharing it. These stories have such power that you just have to be quiet when they’re done, and let them do their work.

By: Charlie Roy

Charlie Roy — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:19:14 +0000

@Wes
Thanks for sharing your experience. This is a powerful post. I truly enjoy your posts and this concept of digitally capturing the stories of victims is fabulous. All the best.

By: Paul R. Wood

Paul R. Wood — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:53:53 +0000

Amazing! Recently I traveled toBay St. Louis, MS for the funeral of the former Principal of my high school Brother Adrian Gaudin. The devastation that still exists today was amazing. Our school took in 40 families and students that came from the New Orleans area. We even had a family living in our library until Catholic Charities was able to find them housing. I wish I had been aware enough to record those stories. The power of voice and story telling is becoming greater to me all the time. I sat the other day and listened to a nun from Rwanda tell the story of the 30 days of “house arrest” while the genocide took place in that country and the things they faced during this tragic time. I truly felt as if I was standing on sacred ground as she spoke. We are now working with her to get her story recorded and the school is beginning a section on it’s web site with voices. Thanks for your continued work in this area and for being another person in the revolution.

By: Tricia Neal

Tricia Neal — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:04:26 +0000

Certainly an experience reading today’s entry.. introduced to Carl Honore and his Ted talk, not previously seen, to the international day for sharing life stories, via the centre for Digital Story Telling and to the thought provoking story of the Katrina survivor.
Deep down I think none of us are really surprised about her experiences.. we know of other situations historically (recent and distant) where law and order break down… but we don’t face up to them. We also know that the realities of such events don’t become generally known for some time, initially only a few involved begin to tell their stories, often reluctantly and then the world begins to believe, reluctantly (and their’s always the doubters) .
I’m ‘re-reading’ Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Slaughterhouse-five ( well listening to the CD in the car as I travel) and remembering how, when it was first published in 1969 and I read it the firebombing of Dresden by the allies came as a surprising new piece of information to one who knew well about the bombing of Coventry Cathedral, of the H bomb and the concentration camps.
Lots to think about today then
Thanks