QUICKLINKS

Updates on Hurricane Katrina

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

SGI-USA members from Mississippi Chapter gathered for a study meeting for the first time since the region was impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

Each of the 32 members experienced some sort of property damage and 10 of them actually lost their homes. Amid such difficulties, these members expressed their appreciation for being able to see one another and with tears in their eyes, confirmed for the first time that they were fine.

At the meeting, they received SGI-USA care packages which each contained a copy of The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, issues of the World Tribune and Living Buddhism, the book of daily encouragement from SGI President Ikeda entitled For Today and Tomorrow and a study booklet for the October Buddhist Learning Review. Many members expressed their appreciation for the unexpected gifts as well as the ongoing support of SGI-USA leaders.

SGI-USA Southeast Zone men's leader Richard Yoshimachi shared a lecture on one of Nichiren Daishonin's major works, "The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind" which is one of the works covered in the Buddhist Learning Review study booklet.

Mr. Yoshimachi encouraged every member to never lose hope and make this event the greatest opportunity to deepen their happiness by turning poison into medicine. Together, the members of Mississippi Chapter determined to build an even stronger and happier SGI-USA family.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

By RIKA HAGIYAMA
World Tribune, Assistant Managing Editor
September 14, 2005

A few hours can change a person’s life. As I walked in to volunteer at the shelter set up at the Reliant Center in Houston, which houses hundreds of Hurricane Katrina evacuees and is located next to the Astrodome, I had no idea how the next few hours would impact me.

I went there with 16 SGI-USA volunteers, mostly local members from Houston. Seven of us were tasked with collecting information from the evacuees to input into an American Red Cross–affiliated database devoted to reuniting loved ones torn apart by the disaster. In groups of two, we canvassed the floor attempting to get as many people’s information as we could.

SGI-USA members sort clothes at a shelter set up at the Reliant Park complex in Houston.

The first person my partner, Kay Fontana, and I approached was a woman who looked to be in her 30s. She gave us her information, and then we asked her the questions that would evoke many tragic stories in the coming hours: “Have you been able to find everyone in your family?” “Is there anyone you have not been able to contact?”

She had escaped the flooding with her daughter and had just reunited with her son a few days earlier. And for the past two weeks she had been on the lookout for word that her husband was safe. He had been incarcerated in a New Orleans prison, and after the hurricane, she could find no record of where her husband was or if he was even safe. She had placed calls to various government offices, but to no avail. Restless with worry, she said, “I can’t be at ease until I find out about my husband.”

A younger woman we met asked with a desperate tension in her voice: “How do I get to my premature baby? My baby is in a hospital in Louisiana, but I don’t have the money to get there. What am I supposed to do?”

I was immediately overcome with my own frustration in not being able to offer even a hint of a solution. The look in her eyes of suffering yet another dead end was almost too much to bear. I offered what little I could and encouraged her to talk with someone in the Red Cross. She thanked me and moved on.

There were many more anxious to know the whereabouts of their families. We must have spoken to 30 or 40 people. Fortunately, many also told us they had already found everyone in their families to be safe. Some said they had just found loved ones a day or two before.

Despite what they had experienced and the fact that they were far from home, having lost practically everything, most of the people we approached were polite and some were even generous with their time and very limited personal space, inviting me and Mrs. Fontana to sit on their cots while we wrote down their information.

Mrs. Fontana, 74, sparked something in these people, too. As we walked the shelter floor, I kept asking her if she needed water, if she wasn’t too tired. She always said she was OK and continued along. It was her experiences as a pioneer SGI-USA member working for kosen-rufu in Houston, where she has been living for the last 40 years, that drove her. I saw Mrs. Fontana’s compassion transform many hard and gloomy faces at the shelter. As she offered them a smile, a gentle tap on the shoulder, back or hand and the simple words, “take care,” those heavy faces would suddenly light up the way sunlight pours into a dark room after heavy curtains are drawn. And they would send us off with a warm “thank you.” In her own way, she exuded the compassion and care of a Bodhisattva of the Earth that many easily picked up on.

It may seem like an easy thing to do: smile at someone, and they smile back. But the people at the shelter had gone through extraordinarily tragic circumstances, many not even knowing what tomorrow holds for them. To see a genuine smile emerge on the face of a person in such dire circumstances actually gave me, a volunteer supporter, hope.

It was an experience that I am still trying to put into perspective for myself. I am left with an aching dissatisfaction in not being able to more fully help those I came in contact with and in knowing that there are thousands more who are suffering from the effects of the hurricane. But, I am also left with a growing feeling of hope in the smiles, determination and resilience I witnessed there.

In the few days that have passed since returning from Houston, I’ve felt a sincere desire to make each moment of my day count. This is especially true when I face the Gohonzon and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. When I remember the people I encountered at the shelter, a seriousness wells forth from deep within my life to pray for their welfare and safety.

I remember one woman at the shelter smiling as she said: “I’m still here. That’s the most important thing.” Her words affirm what I gained from spending those few hours at the Reliant Center shelter—a newfound appreciation in simply being able to live one more day and help others as best I can.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Interview of Walter Berard, SGI-USA member and New Orleans resident
By World Tribune Contributing Editor Jamie Liptan

September 11 at the FNCC

World Tribune: Can you tell us what you did in as Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans?

Walter Berard: Well, in New Orleans, we’ve been through hurricanes many times. When I was 10 years old, we experienced a pretty bad one, but we stayed in our home and waited it out for a few days. I thought Katrina was going to be the same. So I didn’t evacuate before the storm.

Over the next few days, it became clear that it wasn’t going away. The water kept rising, and the helicopters just kept flying around overhead, but not picking anyone up. I spent a lot of time at my altar those few days, praying for my city. I also became very concerned about the safety of my neighbors, and did what I could to help them out.

Walter Berard (left) together with SGI-USA Study Department Leader Shin Yatomi.

WT: So how did you get out?

Berard: Eventually, the Coast Guard helicopters did get us out. I took a few possessions with me. One of them was a jewelry box that I keep on my altar with my district’s membership cards in it. I was worried that the members would all get lost in the evacuation, and we need to be able to keep them connected to the SGI—especially through all of this.

We were taken to Houston, and one of my fellow member’s brother drove all the way from Memphis to pick us up and take us back to stay with him. Also, I just heard through the help of some strangers that my mother was also safely evacuated from her nursing home.

WT: Have you noticed that your Buddhist practice made a difference in how you have reacted to this tragedy?

Berard: My practice is giving me a focus through all of this that has been so important. I haven’t panicked. My chanting has been giving me so much hope to get from one day to the next. I definitely have still been experiencing fear and doubt, but there is an underlying determination that things will change.

I also think that because of my practice with the SGI, I had the instinct to care for those around me, to put their lives first. That really helped me avoid giving in to the fear and doubt.

WT: Before all this happened, you had signed up for the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Conference at the SGI-USA’s Florida Nature and Culture Center. You decided to still attend the conference, even though it was only two weeks after the hurricane. Why did you feel this was important to do despite everything you are going through?

Berard: I felt it was more important than ever for me to come to the FNCC to deepen my faith. I really wanted to learn from the example of Nichiren’s life. We studied “The Opening of the Eyes” this weekend, and I learned a lot about Nichiren’s inner struggle and how I can apply what he taught to my life.

WT: Is there anything you would like to say to your fellow SGI-USA members?

Berard: The support from fellow members has been incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it. The efforts of the organization in helping the evacuees and the support from fellow participants at this conference are amazing. I would say “Thank you” for helping all the evacuees. I feel like when you help them, you’re helping me. And thank them for all the prayers, which mean so much.

I know this storm had a big impact on the whole country. I feel like this is a wake-up call for us in the SGI-USA, to take a big step forward in our kosen-rufu movement. There could definitely be more disasters like this one in the future.

WT: So what are your plans now?

Berard: My dream is to see New Orleans rebuilt. I love my city. I work in the city water department, so I definitely feel a sense of responsibility for my community. I saw so much suffering and so many manifestations of the three poisons [greed, anger and foolishness]. I know it will take time, but I am determined to change that in my city. I know that by propagating Nichiren Buddhism, we can change that negativity, and I’m determined to be a part of that change.