KATRINA/TSUNAMI TRANSNATIONAL EXCHANGE

The world was shocked by the hurricane Katrina disaster, not only because of its magnitude but, moreover, because of what it revealed about social inequity and the devaluation of the poor, working class and African Americans in this country. Many people in the international community had never been confronted before with the stark disparity in resources and wealth in the United States. The hurricanes washed away the veneer of American prosperity and freedom and revealed a human rights crisis.

Background
In partnership with advocates and community organizers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Thailand and Indonesia, NESRI is helping to facilitate solidarity through information sharing and exchange between Gulf Coast hurricane survivor activists and Asian tsunami survivor activists. The major objective of this project is to pass on best practices and strategies for post-disaster rebuilding that is grounded in community participation and human rights principles. 

Members of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights and Tsunami Survivor Network, who have been applying innovating and effective strategies for rebuilding villages damaged by the tsunami and other disasters, visited New Orleans in June 2006 to assess the situation and meet with community groups. Subsequently, two delegations of community groups traveled to Indonesia and Thailand in September and October 2006 to visit local projects and learn from their model. A committee of these Gulf Coast delegates has formed to implement a pilot rebuilding project for a “right to return” house in New Orleans that is modeled after the examples from villages in Asia.

See photos from the exchange. >>>

See a video about the post-Tsunami rebuilding efforts. >>>

Interview with Gulf Coast Exchange Delegate, Latosha Brown of SOS Katrina >>>  

Seminar
Members of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) and the Tsunami Survivor Network, visited the Gulf Coast during the week of July 1-6, 2007. As a part of their visit, NESRI sponsored a half-day seminar entitled, Survivors of Natural Disasters Unite Across Borders and Exchange Ideas & Strategies for Rebuilding , at Loyola Law School in New Orleans, LA on July 3, 2007. Moderated by Professor Bill Quigley, this seminar is a part of the ongoing Transnational Exchange project between activist survivors of the Asian Tsunami and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. There were several panelists from the Asian and Gulf Coast delegations who shared their stories of survival, grief, rebuilding and the lessons that have emerged from common experiences.

See photos of the seminar and the Asian Delegation trip to the Gulf Coast. >>>

Documentary Project
Filmmaker Michèle Stephenson of Rada Film has been documenting the Katrina/tsunami exchange and is in the process of developing a full length documentary film about this project in order to share the lessons from this experience with a wider audience.

See trailers for the documentary. >>>

ORGANIZATIONS PARTICIPATING IN EXCHANGE

Advocates for Environmental Human Rights >>>
Asian Coalition for Housing Rights >>>
C3/Hands Off Iberville Coalition
Gentilly Welfare Rights Union
Gert Town Revival Initiative
Holy Cross Neighborhood Association >>>
Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church >>>
Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance >>>
Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church
National Policy & Advocacy Council on Homelessness >>>
People's Hurricane Relief Fund >>>
Saving Our Selves
Survivor’s Village
Uplink >>>
Urban Poor Consortium

Individual Participants from the Gulf Coast