New Orleans program still dedicated to rebuilding the city post-Katrina
photo by Eric Van Danen
Four years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city of New Orleans, DukeEngage students, including Andrew Ognibene, continue to play a major role in helping to rebuild the community's infrastructure. DukeEngage in New Orleans, now in its third year of service, is one of seven domestic DukeEngage programs underway this summer. Below, Andrew describes what compelled him to get involved in this key initiative.
1. What drew you to this particular program?
New Orleans is a pretty distinctive program, in my mind. First, the culture here is an entertainingly wreckless blend of influences that cannot be replicated anywhere else. How a city this size becomes this diverse is beyond me, but it's fantastic (yes, the food really is that good, and yes, the music is, too). But most importantly, we have an opportunity to help rebuild from a disaster that has largely slipped from the national conscience . The reality is that New Orleans still needs urgent help in very significant ways—from healthcare and education to politics, housing and crime. While daunting and sometimes overwhelming, it's exciting to know that there's an opportunity to catalyze change and get these systems rebuilt from the ground up.
2. What excited you about working with your community partner?
I worked with Seedco Financial, a non-profit community lending partner. Seedco sparks economic development by offering low-interest loans and technical know-how to people who may not qualify for traditional funding sources or are just looking for some business help. Since 2007, the organization has provided $30 million in funds to the local area, so I found that pretty exciting. And on a personal level, I've been able to get some experience in the financial sector without neglecting my interest in community development.
3. What benefit do you hope your service will have for your community partner and your host community?
It's pretty clear this organization has a sizable impact on this community. At the same time, it's always great to personally see the people recieve their money and put that name to a face. People are appreciative that we're essentially investing in their business, and it manifested itself for me in a few business cards and city-tour offers. I also was able to help the staff prepare for a $50 million proposal to work with the New Orleans government.
4. How do you hope to put into action what you learned through your DukeEngage experience once back at Duke?
The biggest thing I'll be doing is teaching a house course on DukeEngage (minor plug: syllabus!) next semester. I was in the class last year, and I thought it was a great way for those who haven't done DukeEngage to learn about the program, and for those who have done DukeEngage to find ways to reflect on their experiences. It should be fun. Besides that, I'll be coordinating my selective living group's relationship with a local elementary school (teaching Spanish, organizing after-school chess and science club), and serving as a crew leader in Project BUILD.
DukeEngage is featuring 18 students over the course of the summer participating in both group programs and independent projects. Check back weekly to view the latest student profile.