Author: Lauren Siverly
Occidental’s Rebirth Week 2011: Five Years Out, dedicated to raising awareness and donations for a post-Katrina New Orleans, was organized last week by Rebirth Club. The keynote speaker of the week was a civilian responder to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Earl Barthé Jr.
Barthé told his story to an at-capacity room of students. News reports said that Barthé and his fellow rescuers saved the lives of about 500 people in the first few days after the hurricane hit.
“Ten of us ran five boats for twelve days. We became known as the Soul Patrol,” Barthé said. This name would become synonymous with the civilian effort to save the people of New Orleans. After firefighters and police officers fled the Lower Ninth Ward to save themselves, the Soul Patrol paddled their boats through rows and rows of houses, transporting people to higher ground.
Barthé told the audience that he is now dedicated to sharing his story of the aftermath of Katrina to audiences across the country. He spoke about the death he saw, as well as the injustices he and the people of New Orleans underwent in the aftermath of the hurricane.
He explained how the Catholic Church took the 8 million dollars the local congregation raised and gave it to a wealthier church. He also spoke of how the government of Louisiana gave orders to shoot suspected looters. However, Barthé stated that few believed and supported his claims.
“It doesn’t matter to me what they think. I am standing on the truth, and they can’t knock me down. . . The story must be told,” Barthé said.
First-year Douglas Pentland was one of the organizers of Rebirth Week. Many members of Rebirth Club are a part of professor Heldman’s Disaster Politics class, which included a winter break service trip to New Orleans.
“I signed up for this trip, and I just thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to go to New Orleans and volunteer and build some houses and meet these families and everyone’s going to be happy,’ but then I got there, and I was just astounded at the devastation that still is there,” Pentland said.
While in Louisiana, the group had the chance to work on a dry-walling project with Barthé.
“One thing about the culture that Earl rubbed off on us was having fun while you work. He was on the water for 12 days, and when you’re doing that and seeing the things that he saw and dealing with dead bodies and seeing people drown, you have to lift it up or else you can’t keep going, and you have to keep going. There’s not a question about stopping,” Pentland said.
Urban and Environmental Policy major Clarissa Boyajian (sophomore) also enjoyed working with Barthé.
“I felt honored to have been a part of multiple groups that he shared his experience with. I hope that his talk and other Rebirth Week events will encourage students, who may have not previously thought about the many issues connected to Hurricane Katrina and the continued struggles of those affected, to become more involved in issues they are passionate about,” Boyajian said.
Members of Rebirth Club also expressed how much the people of Louisiana impacted their lives.
“They are the most resilient people. . . They’re still working to rebuild, they’re still trying despite the obstacles,” Pentland said.
Rebirth Club is planning to continue to help the people of New Orleans and raise awareness of the work still to be done.
“One of the reasons why our theme is ‘five years out’ is because Katrina was five years ago and these communities are nowhere near back,” Pentland said. “New Orleans is back because the Saints won? No. The affluent areas are kickin’, but what about these other areas? We can’t forget about Japan or Haiti or Chile and the others. Just because these disasters are in the media now, nothing’s going to be happening five years from now unless we do something about it.”
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