Sometimes, vacations don’t quite go as planned. For Mary Washington, this would be a tremendous understatement.
Washington, an administrative assistant in the language arts division, planned on to take a trip to Japan in September. When Hurricane Katrina hit, she changed her plans.
Volunteering at the Houston Astrodome seemed like a logical choice, since thousands of evacuees were taking shelter there, but a phone call changed her plans once again.
Howard Irvin, the acting dean of counseling, was at the Astrodome. He told her not to come.
"It was dangerous, and the people there were out of control," he said.
She flew to Dallas and drove her rental car over 150 miles to Marshall, Texas, a small town near the Texas-Louisiana-Arkansas border. The town’s civic center was being used as a makeshift shelter. The building held over 400 evacuees at a time, but many more had to improvise for space.
"There were people that had been sleeping in their cars for a week straight," she said. "One evacuee was so frustrated that he came in and said ‘I’m going to steal whatever I need.’"
She spent nine days checking displaced people in and out of the shelter. She also helped people turned away from the shelter find places to stay.
"All these people wanted was some southern cooking, a shower, and a bed, and then they were happy," she said.
Television sets and computers with Internet access were also made available, much to the evacuees’ pleasure.
"Once we got a TV in there and put on the news, all of the people got quiet and just watched the news, hoping to see something good," she said.
She saw people transcend the boundaries of race and language to help each other out.
"There were a lot of people who only spoke Spanish, and a local woman who spoke both Spanish and English helped them out for hours," she said, "She gave them access to the Internet and showed them how to fill out FEMA papers."
Washington went to great lengths to help displaced family members reunite. A woman named Denise was at the civic center with her daughter, and she had contacted her brother in Louisiana, but she couldn’t get to him.
"So I let her drive my rental car to go get him," said Washington. "I worried that I may never see the car again, but I felt that all she wanted to do was to see her brother again."
The experience galvanized Washington, who thinks that New Orleans should be rebuilt as it was.
"People were already in poverty in New Orleans, and this disaster was just a ‘bump-up’ for them," she said. "New Orleans should be rebuilt, but for the residents rather than the tourists. The city is unique, and the people there had a strong character even during the disaster."
Like many, she had strong words for the government’s response. But she also had strong words for what she calls De Anza’s lack of support.
"We had all of these fundraisers for the tsunami in Asia, but nothing has been done here for Katrina," she said. "I feel there is a racial divide."
Reading instructor Ulysses Pichon did say that De Anza was organizing efforts to help out victims of Katrina and Hurricane Rita. He commended Washington’s efforts and generosity.
"Mary is a wonderful, caring person who would give you the bread she was having for lunch," said Pichon.
