Day 2 - Biloxi Blues pt. 3

Our only contact in Ocean Springs was Thay Minh, monk and only resident of the only Vietnamese Buddhist temple in town. Following a slightly circuitous route, we reached the temple, basically a converted home standing on about an acre of land, with a statue of Kwang Jin, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, in the front. Thay Minh has been providing food and supplies to all ethnic races, which made him an extremely rare case. Unfortunately he did all the work by himself, and looking at his eyes allowed us to easily understand the amount of strain this may have caused him physically. He was nursing a cold, but still was gracious enough to invite us in. He spoke candidly of his current situation, the lack of resources, and overwhelming number of fishermen and shrimpers who, losing their livelihood, were forced to receive weekly donations from him. He showed us a room where pieces of the roof and ceiling broke off and struck him in the head while he was meditating. Despite his injuries, he still found the strength to consistently deliver supplies after the hurricane hit. He displayed a resiliancy and conviction that continues to resonate with us to this day.

We decided immediately that our financial resources would be best served in assisting Thay Minh in providing direct relief, so we returned to New Orleans, and bought 50 bags of rice, sugar, and salt, 30 boxes of Theraflu, and produce and medicine, all for Thay Minh to distribute. We created a bit of a scene at Hong Kong Market, with our convoy of 10 carts in the check out line...

After rendezvousing with Ha, our 6^thcontingent member back at St. Josephs in NoLA, we decided that Vu, Ha and I would leave around 6am and deliver the goods to Thay Minh, and check out Bayou La Batre in Alabama, and make contact with the monk in Biloxi, while Sherilyn and Ly-Huong would assist in the cleanup and salvaging of the Maria Goletti Church (predom. black) in east New Orleans, in the Catholic-Vietnamese communities' attempt at community building with the black parishoners in the area, and Truc would attend a city-wide rally on the issue of the potential gentrification of the whole east-side, hosted by city councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis.

Well, that should hopefully give you an idea of our first two days out here. We were able to perform a significant amount of needs assessments in Mississippi, with the understanding that the following two days would predominantly involve direct relief work. The needs assessments were crucial for our efforts in the gulf coast region, as we not only were able to fulfill our advisory capacity for NAVASA, but we also could distinguish several glaring issues in the reconstruction process of the area that will require close follow up. Firstly: New Orleans itself, while receiving the majority of media exposure, seems to be well on its way in the rebuilding process. There seems to be a cohesive Vietnamese community support network, centered on the Catholic Church. However, Mississippi seems to lack a general cohesion among resource providers for Vietnamese people, despite the reality that direct relief is critical for this area at this time. There seems to be a significant role class and religion play in this disparity. Secondly, although the individuals and organizations we connected with thus far are certainly doing their best, it is imperative for them to also develop a clear long-term infrastructure. Although short-term mitigation is necessary, building sustainable communities must be planned as well. Lastly, community-based economic development is basically non-existent at this point. The Vietnamese in these areas clearly rely on a cash-based economy, even as homeowners and business-owners. This can create financial strangleholds during disasters such as this. The amount of economic opportunities for the Vietnamese in more rural areas have basically vanished, as most rely on the fishing and shrimping industries for their livelihoods. We’ll see as we visit Alabama tomorrow the efforts to circumvent these issues by community activists and organizations.

Vietnamese immigrants have historically been always placed in extremely dire conditions in this country, and seeing communities completely uprooted and livelihoods destroyed only contributes to this distressing reality. This experience has certainly hit home for all of us, as we have either lived the refugee experience, or our parents and families did...It's very difficult to witness how the Vietnamese in these areas are basically re-experiencing the hardships of being refugees once again, being forced to either resettle or rebuild...

This blog is intended to be an accurate conveyance of the events we’ve experienced in the Gulf Coast Region. We are trying to avoid offering you our full opinions, as we simply wish to provide information that would allow you to develop your own. Tomorrow, we’ll continue with day 3’s events, as we all split up.

Day 2 - Biloxi Blues pt. 2

After backtracking a bit, we finally made our way to Biloxi. Lying right on the Gulf of Mexico, Biloxi is known as one of the Gulf Coast’s primary resort destinations. Its 3 main industries are it’s casinos, tourism, and shrimping. The Vietnamese population here was employed mainly in the last, although some worked in gaming as well. It was here that we were able to finally comprehend the amount of destruction leveled by the hurricane. Words could not accurately convey the horror we felt driving through the city, so hopefully these pictures will. Just imagine that the water level was 10-12 feet high. And that homes and buildings existed where now there is only debris.





































We first headed to the Biloxi Community Center to find information on local Vietnamese community-focused resource groups in the area. I spoke to Steve, a parks and recreation supervisor, and he gave me his first eye account of the hurricane, and really exuded a strong conviction for staying and rebuilding. While most of his friends and family had left, and his home and possessions were lost in 12 ft. of flooding, he adamantly refused to abandon his city. When asked what resources were needed at this point, he mentioned that with winter arriving soon, warm clothes and blankets were becoming a priority. We were able to receive information about 3 places in the city serving the Vietnamese community, and headed out amidst the wreckage of the city.

We decided to first stop by the Renew Hope Center (RHC), Henry Le’s community development organization. RHC has positioned itself as the primary source of resource distribution and assistance for the Vietnamese community in Biloxi. For all of those who don’t know Mr. Le, he is the founder and owner of the lucrative Lee’s Sandwiches franchise, and is originally a Biloxi resident. Although now living in California, he still maintains a significant business presence in his adopted hometown. We were able to speak to the director of the center, Mr. Michael Hampton, as well as one of the staff there, and received a general description of what services the center was trying to provide. They talked of “rebuilding the community” and allocating resources to displaced Vietnamese people, although their methods and long term goals were not articulated clearly. We were also fortunate to meet two volunteers from Hands on America, an organization that donated volunteers to help people take out drywall from their homes and remove debris, using heavy machines, in order for people to begin the salvaging process. Sort of like the opposite of Habitat for Humanity. They were trying to reach out to the Vietnamese community to provide assistance, but lacked the translators necessary to do so.

Next we reached the Church of Vietnamese Martyrs. This church, as well as the buddhist temple next door, remained virtually intact, while the surrounding area was virtually destroyed. Father Phan, head priest at the church, attributed it to a "miracle." This photo can be deceiving, however, as in the next photo you can see the green mold line, which was the water level in the church, about 12 feet. Everyone at the church had to seek shelter in the attic during the flooding.

Father Phan gave us a tour of his facilities, told us more about his experience during the flooding, and drove us up and down the coast, where the casinos were located.

This structure here, about 4 stories high and half a block long, was actually a part of the casino pictured above, broke off the foundation and traveled about a quarter of a mile down the strip!

The casinos seem to be the only buildings undergoing significant reconstruction, while the majority of homes all are either totally destroyed or in the process of being salvaged. It brought up a conflicting issue for us: since Biloxi's economy is centered on gaming, rebuilding the casino's would obviously provide the economic foundation necessary for the community to resettle and rebuild its homes. However, casinos, previously located on the short, are now being rebuilt further inland, which would create substantial gentrification. A catch-22 if you will... Father Phan also spoke to us about his role as the local spiritual leader within the local Catholic-Vietnamese population, and his desire to formulate a concrete strategy to speed up the rebuilding process. He is offering direct relief at the moment, but clearly lacked the resources to offer long term aid. His case still is a clear example of the impact and influence of faith-based support networks that are prevalent in this region. According to Father Phan, most of the Vietnamese population (~10,000) had left to Texas, Louisiana, or any other place they had family or friends. Some were returning on the weekends to work on salvaging their homes, but the homes in the surrounding area seemed damaged beyond repair. We offered to liaison him with Uyen, as well as the Hands on America organization, which delighted him, and he bade us farewell.

Our last stop in Biloxi was Tien Tinh Buddhist temple, which was conveniently next door. Again, not too much structural damage compared to the rest of the surrounding area. It was an interesting scene at the temple, as all relief efforts from the temple were being provided by a volunteer contingent from the Burning Man group. The site of nearly all Caucasians camped out on the grounds of a Vietnamese Buddhist temple was certainly amusing. Greeted by a man in a cowboy hat, we lead us to the temple entrance, but unfortunately we were unable to reach the head Monk, Thay Thien Tri, as he was resting. Vowing to return the next day, and growing slightly anxious to move on to the next city, we hit the road again, on our way to Ocean Springs, about 10 miles east of Biloxi, along the gulf coast.

Day 2 – Biloxi Blues, pt. 1

(French Quarter, New Orleans)

Definitely an intense day for all of us. We left for Mississippi in the morning, making sure to soak in the scene along the way. We passed through the French Quarter, and came across relative stability, and a semi-reestablished tourist infrastructure. People were walking around, snapping shots, having coffee at sidewalk café’s, a strange sense calm pervading in the air. We had heard that it was the most policed area following the hurricane, and being New Orleans’ most prized neighborhood in terms of its viability as a source of income for the city, this came as no surprise.

Making our way out of the city and onto the freeway, however, we continuously encountered sagging billboards, hanging ever so precipitously along the sides, debris strewn virtually everywhere, cars completely flipped over, all telling signs to what we would see at our destinations.

We arrived in Waveland, pop. 7,000, as we had heard about distribution tent “cities” being setup as makeshft resource providers in the area. The town didn’t seem the fare any better than the freeway landscape that we passed through; stores, even franchises, were all still boarded up and closed, with no perceptible signs of rebuilding.

We arrived at the main tent city, located in the parking lot of a supermarket. Temporary clinics, a cafeteria, an internet center, clothing & food distribution tents, even a café all occupied the space.

(Tent city)

We were able to talk to a nurse at the clinic, a med student from Nebraska. According to her, about 1000 people are fed there everyday, and people drive in from other towns seeking the free clothing and food.

The Red Cross had apparently pulled out of Mississippi, due to a purported lack of resources, so it was understandable why so many people were depending on this center.

We found a middle-aged Vietnamese couple looking through the clothing bins, and discovered from them that the Vietnamese population there, roughly 700, had all deserted the city. They directed us to Biloxi, which was where we were heading anyways.

Continuing on the 90 highway, which runs along the Gulf Coast, we met an imposing dead end…an entire bridge crossing the bay had been destroyed.

Day 1 , pt. 2

(St. Joseph's Church, Algiers, NOLA)
At Woodland Church (Algiers), we met our first local on the ground, Greg the church groundskeeper. Born and raised in the area, he expressed a lot of optimism for the surrounding area…all the streets were clear of debris, and the only hint of any hurricane passing through were the blue tarps covering some roofs, a few windows boarded up, and the photos he showed us of the damage inflicted to his home. It was evident to us that the residents have been persevering at getting their community up to shape the past month. After realizing we arrived at the wrong church, we finished our rally’s burgers (a little southern flavor burger joint) double time and headed out to St. Josephs church, just about 5 minutes away. We met up with Uyen Le, our NAVASA contact here, and another contingent member, Ly-Huong, debriefed for a bit, figured out our schedules, and headed to bed, in anticipation of a very big 4 days ahead…

(Vu Bang and Sherilyn getting settled in our room)

Back in the Bay

Our minds are swirling as the incredible amount of activity has kept us so busy the past 5 days. It's been non-stop, very intense, and very eye-opening. Many apologies for not delivering the updates as frequently as promised, as internet access at our church was very unreliable, but I’m sure you understand. I managed to write a few updates in MSWord, and will be sending out mulitiple posts each day this week. Many thanks for everyone's support. Hope these accounts keep you interested and informed...

Day 1, pt. 1

We arrived in New Orleans around 2pm, with a nearly full flight to my surprise. People seem to be returning in droves, and optimism for rebuilding seemed to be the prevalent theme in the conversations I had with people on the plane. The aiport lacked the general hustle and bustle that would be evident in a metropolitan city, but there was still a perceivable amount of activity. We were immediately reminded that we were certainly not in CA anymore as the humidty hit us with a *boom! with our first steps out the exit. Through the hidden blessings of rush hour traffic we were able to get a good first impression of the city from the freeway. Broken down homes missing pieces of their roofs, tall office buildings with shattered edges, and boarded up windows all seemed to dot the landscape of the city, and as we headed towards downtown the image of the superdome with its scarred roof loomed ahead of us. We arrived in Algiers (in the Westbank area) around 5, at the Woodland Presbyterian Church; generally middle class area, streets virtually free of debris, and evidence of opportunistic commerce was apparent with the many signs advertising roofing and landscaping services coming up at every street corner.

Well, at this point we are all extremely tired from the events of today, my internet connection is patchy at best, so the rest of the report will have to come tomorrow...Good nite!

Into the fray...

I've been sitting at my computer for about an hour, trying super hard to articulate something that everyone can ingest in facile chunks...but to be honest I'm having a hard time conveying what this project is really about. Deep breath, here goes...

It's like this: I'm trying to make a detailed, responsible, and all-inclusive account of the next 2 weeks, everything from now, through our intial arrival in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) on Nov. 3, to Nov. 7 when we return back to the SF Bay. This documentation will be slightly slightly ad hoc, extremely rookie-ish, but the intention is for you the reader to understand what exactly is going on down there at the moment, what support mechanisms currently exist...plus I have a feeling it will be substantial corroboration of just how fucked up things still are down there.

Who are we? The Vietnamese Bay Area Katrina Relief Fund, which henceforth will be known as Vietbak, for convenience's sake. We are like-minded, socially concious Viet-Americans from the San Francisco Bay Area who are embarking on an extremely arduous task: providing direct assistance to Vietnamese communities displaced and affected by Hurricane Katrina. I'm Chuong Bui, and will be maintaining this blog...the rest of our crew is Vu Bang, Sherilyn Tran, Ha Tran, Ly-Huong Nguyen, and Truc Phan. We come from different backgrounds, different interests, different perspectives...but we share an intense passion for proactive community development.

Be sure to check in periodically, as the count down begins for our departure...

(DJ Ayre - From Sweden with Love, Depeche Mode - Speak and Spell, and Shingo2 - 400 helped fuel this writing session.)