By Kristine Galli

In June I traveled to New Orleans and Long Beach, Miss., with The Beatitudes Society as a part of the annual Service Learning Trip. I had read that the trip’s purpose was to make prophetic witnesses of those who chose to participate. I read that a prophetic witness is one who “sees what’s wrong in society and dares to speak up and act for change, dares to dream God’s dream of justice on earth.” I also read that it would be a life transforming opportunity, but I had no idea just how life transforming it would be.

What I saw and heard that week outraged me. I could not believe that two years after the hurricane, piles of debris still sat on the side of the road. I could not believe that insurance companies could tell people that they wouldn’t be able to rebuild their homes because their policies only had wind coverage and flooding had destroyed their homes. I could not believe that hospitals were closed and strip malls were open. I could not believe that people were still living in trailers. And what shocked me the most was that I had no idea any of this was still going on.

My ignorance embarrassed me. I knew what was going on in Iraq, and Africa, and Israel/Palestine. I knew about global warming and fair trade and immigration. And yet somehow the Gulf Coast went unnoticed and unrecognized. Two years after the storm, the Gulf Coast holds barely any resemblance to what it was pre-Katrina. Life is not back to normal. Children that went to schools that were destroyed attend now-overcrowded schools that survived; families of four live in tiny, cramped trailers; affordable housing has disappeared; homes are still gutted and empty; and people have yet to rebuild their lives. When you look into the faces of the people who are suffering, you realize that you cannot forget them any longer.

I resolved that week not to forget. I left promising to tell the stories, to tell of what I saw and heard and felt. But I also left with a distinct calling to go back. So I did.
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In August I returned to Camp Coast Care in Mississippi to help rebuild houses for another week. And when I came back home, I knew that I would return again. The Gulf Coast changed my life, just as my reading predicted. I now plan on doing mental health disaster relief work -- I've just started a master’s program in mental health counseling in order to do so, because I want to help people rebuild their lives after disasters like Katrina and I want to be a part of making sure they are not overlooked or forgotten.

As we approach the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we must again resolve not to forget. We must dare to speak up and act for change. We must become prophetic witnesses of God’s dream for justice on earth, and in the Gulf Coast.

Kristine Galli is a graduate student at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.