[media-credit name=’Courtesy College Democrats’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]"I want to make a difference." Taking these words to heart, the UW-Madison College Democrats united with thousands of students from across America to rebuild the communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina during spring break. The week-long adventure was filled with fun, frustration, and many moments of solemn silence. Simply stated, the rotting remnants of the once vibrant metropolis are far worse than anyone imagines.

We worked out of Chalmette, the seat of St. Bernard Parish, which is a low-income community east of New Orleans. Residents of Chalmette feel that their plight has gone mostly ignored, as media coverage focuses on the less extensive damage to the city itself. Of the 27,000 structures in the Parish (which is similar to a county in Wisconsin), only one was not destroyed by the 14-foot high floodwater.

Complicating an already perilous situation, the once humble, well-kept homes are filled with toxic oil sludge due to a spill caused by Murphy Oil Corporation, which refused to follow federal guidelines for hurricane preparedness. The company is offering to buy victims' homes for an insulting $10,000, along with $25,000 if the owners promise not to sue. This, of course, ignores the fact that owners still owe mortgages on their homes — homes which may be unlivable for 15 years. Housing accommodations for victims are just as terrible; hotels which had been previously keeping residents have now evicted them, and FEMA trailers are in short supply.

However, we simply knew none of this when embarking on our well-intentioned journey. Indeed, we looked forward to rebuilding houses with Habitat for Humanity in combination with Opportunity Rocks, a program lead by John Edwards. Yet our delusions of heart warming reconstruction quickly faded when sitting through the safety briefing, in which we learned we would be utilizing Tyvek suits and respirators while removing "debris" from homes — in other words, removing the filthy reminders of the once content life enjoyed by people we would never meet.

Possessions were littered about the homes we entered. Walls were covered with deadly black mold. With ceilings lying about the floors, decayed food in overturned fridges, and foul odors permeating homes untouched for half a year, it was emotionally draining to remove the little that these people had and place it on the corner to deteriorate. Nothing could have prepared us for the emotions caused by toys covered with contamination and "Batman" posters decomposing on the walls. A particularly poignant moment occurred when one group recovered a U.S. flag, miraculously undamaged, that was a prized possession of a son whose father fought in the Second World War. With tattered American flags proudly waving over a once quintessential American town, we had to remind ourselves that this isn't a war zone — this is America.

With FEMA's lack of organization, volunteers are unable to channel their strong convictions to just "do something." The saving grace, for us, was the friendly leadership of fellow young people found in the AmeriCorps. Resolved to make a significant sacrifice, these college students have taken a year out of their lives to help in what ever way they can. They taught us how to remove the waste, how to rely on one another for support, and how to tear down a house to its studs; in a way, this process was symbolic, as we created shells of homes, just as the lives of the victims are a shell of what they used to be. Unfortunately, President Bush's proposed budget has quietly cut funding for most of the AmeriCorps program.

While sympathy is obviously widespread, it is impossible to comprehend the situation until trying to reconstruct an entire life from photos strewn across a floor. As cliché as it sounds, this was a life-changing experience. While the magnitude of the Katrina crisis may seem unfathomable, each person has the ability to make a difference. Whether it is writing a letter to congressional representatives to demand funding for the AmeriCorps Program, sending a donation, or contributing to the effort in person, we must be the catalyst to repair the lives of our southern brethren. The victims starve for leadership. We must come to realize that we are the leaders they are looking for.

Andrew Gordon is a sophomore majoring in political science. He is one of the many members of College Democrats who spent spring break in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The College Democrats would like to thank local businesses, students, and the Dane County Democratic Party for donating funds to make the trip possible.