7.1 Trauma in New Orleans

Trauma in New Orleans Post Katrina - Alan Meyers

The day after 9/11, my son, then a first-semester student at a major university, was scheduled to make a presentation in his public speaking class. Directly after the planes hit the buildings and later that night, he talked to my wife and me; although normally reticent to discuss his emotions, he was clearly upset and unable to focus on his assignments. The next day, however, his instructor, a young TA, insisted that he make the presentation, on which he received a C. My son was not a C student.

This was, of course, poor judgment on the instructor’s part, but she, like most of us, was not prepared with how to respond to a crisis. Our unpreparedness is compounded when the crisis strikes so close to home, or to the homes we’ve lost, as in the aftermath of Katrina. What role can we, as writing instructors, play in fostering healing process for those affected? Three participants in the Greater New Orleans Writing Project (GNOWP) directly addressed that question in the opening session of the Conference on Basic Writing, April 2, 2008, in New Orleans.

Ken Rayes of the University of New Orleans began by describing the work of the GNOWP and then introducing Deborah Alvarez of the University of Delaware. Alvarez has spent several years in New Orleans studying the psychological after-effects of the tragedy and the role of communication as the disaster happened, immediately afterward, and then later as the displaced residents returned to New Orleans and tried to reestablish their lives. In the first stage, rescue, students typically experienced numbness and shock, suspended their interests and skills, frantically sought information about the safety and security of their families and friends—or any kind of information (text messaging becomes the primary medium for communicating)—and looked to teachers as their surrogates for family. Notably, young students suspended their childhood and took on adult-like responsibilities.

In the second stage, reconnection, people became obsessive information seekers. They were trying to locate family and friends, revisit familiar places that had been destroyed, spray paint contact information on the walls of houses, ascertain if they still had jobs (many of the teachers in New Orleans were informed that, no, their jobs no longer existed), and confront the reality that their homes and possessions were gone. Resettled in Corpus Christi or elsewhere, they constantly e-mail family and friends from whom they had been separated (adolescents posted information on their MySpace accounts)and watched CNN nonstop.

The third stage, reestablishment, began with people who returned to the city. This is the point at which New Orleans still finds itself today. Hoping for a resumption of something akin to normalcy, they have had to adapt to continuing change and surprise (e. g., the FEMA trailer has formaldehyde), instability, and delayed nonstop frustration.

In the final stage, recovery, which will continue far into the future, people are unpacking and moving into their homes, discovering new places for their personal interests, renewing their sense of hope for the future, and resuming their previous literacy habits.

Alvarez maintained that as teachers, we can aid people throughout these stages by fostering literacy activities that must

1.be connected by and through traumatic events

2.begin with oral storytelling, telling, and more telling

3.include a variety of creative expressions

4.give support and celebration by teachers and students

5.show an awareness of bizarre student behaviors (such as stealing or even open sex in the hallways—or lack of affect)

6.create a positive classroom environment

7.not involve lessons that depend on physical objects from home

8.and work on reconnecting emotional and rational thought processes

More specifically, these activities should be aimed at

1.linking the expression of trauma and grief

2.re-establishing control (editing is important in finding the control over the emotions)

3.re-linking the brain processes of reason and emotion

4.releasing repressed thoughts through verbal expression, both spoken and written words force thought

Margaret Gaffney Leaf, a Master Teacher of English in 7th grade at a local secondary school, spoke next, outlining the kinds of writing activities writing that may advance the post-traumatic healing process. She began with a personal anecdote about her evacuation with her new husband, then returning to her (undamaged) school in January only to be told that she had been terminated and had to find a new job. With only one document—her driver’s license—and no certification of her teaching credentials, she settled in Minneapolis, where she eventually found a temporary teaching job until she returned to New Orleans. There she assumed the role of guiding students through the post-Katrina trauma.

Her lesson plan, which essentially emerged from trial and error with her students, is entitled “What I Thought I Lost Was Really in My Pocket.” It emphasizes the need to mourn and recognize loss, channel energy into positive endeavors, and reinvest in the present (versus the past). Each step in the process is posed as a question, accompanied by examples of charts, surveys, writing prompts:

1.Is there a hole in my pocket? (identifying and acknowledging feelings and needs through a written self-survey)

2.How do I deal with the hole in my pocket? (learning to cope through a self-survey, as well as quick writes)

3.What slipped out of my pocket? (through a written round robin, acknowledging loss through writing: what was and is no more)

4.What is still in my pocket? (through a writing circle, identifying what is and will endure: faith, sense of humor, resiliency, and memorializing what was lost or still endures while honoring feelings and places)

5.Can I sew up the pocket again? Can I keep it sewed up tight? (emphasizing renewal)

None of us can be fully prepared for the difficulties our students (and we) face during and following a trauma, but the wise council of the three presenters from the Greater New Orleans Writing Project can be an invaluable help. After all, there is much more at stake than a grade in a speech course.