Lights, Camera…Activism!

April 25, 2008 - Friday (Written by Sheehey … on Saturday) First I’d like to say that we’ve had some requests from our readership for students to give their perspectives of the trip by writing a few lines in the blog entries.  I can only say, well, we’ve tried.   I’m sure the parents understand! Friday began with our four film groups working after breakfast on the structures of their movies.   Once everybody had a plan for their final day at NOCCA, we drove into the city proper to spend time doing our choice of  “things New Orleans.”  The group I was with took the Canal Street streetcar to the oldest burial ground  in the city, the Saint Louis Cemetery (1789).  It’s noteworthy for its above-ground tombs and ornate artwork.   Others shopped, ate in interesting locales, went sight seeing , and had their own streetcar experiences (including one that took its passengers half way to its destination only to break down). We were present in time for the afternoon session at NOCCA, where we were all together – the NOCCA creative writing class and the SB students – just like our first day.  We wrote with them, shared our work,  and processed our experience here over the last week … the joys (making new friends, hearing their stories) and regrets (never having enough time, not being able to be in all places at once).   Some things said were:   by Michael (a NOCCA student), “I was touched and happy that South Burlington students were interested in what we had to say.”    Several others in his class confirmed this, and finally one student (Lauren) piped up, “You guys are basically in Canada, and yet you come all the way down here to talk to us!”   This prompted all the New Orleans students to get up, walk up to the map, and see just where Vermont really is!  The SB students took heart in hearing firsthand from the NOCCA students that their interviewing, videotaping and documenting was not seen as a burden to our new friends, especially when Lauren said, “It’s not that we LIKED telling our stories about Hurricane Katrina –“ then Hillary finished with, “We just liked telling it to YOU.” So it was with a little sadness that the class ended and the students left us, but not before they all exchanged email addresses and phone numbers, and not before a few promised to meet up with us in our last days in New Orleans. In the evening, we went for dinner in the same district we went on our first night in town ( Frenchmen Street in Marigny), and several students returned to NOCCA at night to view the culminating recital for the dance students.  Everyone was in bed early (11:00 pm!) in order to get a good night’s sleep before our day of manual labor at our N.O. Habitat for Humanity site.