This write up is not my personal work, it is intended to amplify Robin Roberts' plight on New Orleans's Hurricane.
A PERSONAL ESSAY BY ROBIN ROBERTS.
There's no place like home, and the
beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast will
always be home to me. Having lived
there beginning at the age of 8, I had
become accustomed to hurricanes. But
Hurricane Katrina was different with
forecasters using words like
“catastrophic” and “historic.”
The morning of Katrina I went to work
as usual, co-hosting GMA alongside
Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer.
During commercial breaks I would call
and check in with my family in
Mississippi. My mother was too ill to
evacuate so my sister, Dorothy, and her
two girls stayed with her in our Biloxi
home. The initial video we saw of the
storm did not seem as bad as
predicted. So I didn't worry too much
when the phone lines back home went
dead. But by early afternoon everyone
realized it was even worse than we
thought it would be.
ABC immediately got me on a plane to
report from the storm zone the next
morning. Truth be known, I wasn't
going there to report. I was going there
to find my momma. The closest we
could land was Lafayette, Louisiana. We
drove all night and as we got closer to
Mississippi the devastation took my
breath away. While the GMA crew set
up for a live shot in Gulfport, MS, I
drove on to my mom's home in nearby
Biloxi. My heart was pounding seeing
houses completely destroyed. Familiar
landmarks were obliterated. I was
relieved to see only a portion of my
mom's roof gone, and thankfully the
house was still standing. I didn't want
to leave my family. But momma
insisted I go do my job and let people
know just how bad things really were.
I got back to the live location just
minutes before we were to go on the
air. I kept my composure and reported
on the massive flooding in New Orleans
and the destruction I had witnessed on
the drive from Lafayette. When I
wrapped up my report, Charlie asked
me about my family. Simply put, I lost
it.
I've lost count how many times I've
returned home to the Coast and New
Orleans the last 10 years since that
morning. My first trips back were to my
hometown of Pass Christian. I was
overwhelmed when ABC executives
came up with the idea to "adopt" The
Pass, which it is affectionately called
by locals. It was an initiative we called
"GMA Gets It Done," and GMA viewers
came to the rescue donating all types
of resources to help the Pass and other
devastated areas rebuild. I joined
amazing volunteers from all across the
country, removing debris, doing
whatever was needed. Sometimes it
was just a much-needed hug.
Credits: #abcNews, #RobinRoberts
Life as an almajiri in Kano was very tough. I could still remember how we went about in tens begging for alms and food. It’s really not a life anyone should live. I lived it years ago and could still tell exactly how it hurts; the memory of it and the hellish experiences we had to bear. Almajiri life isn’t a life. It’s like being dead alive. I lived that life. I was ten when I decided to remove the cloak of destitution and face life squarely. It still remains the turning point in my life and the wisest decision I’d ever taken. I could still remember vividly what led me to take such a decision one afternoon. It was at Sabon Titi Kano. We were nine in number. We had trekked all the way from Bida Road. Ali, my best friend was saying something about how very unfair it was that girls were not allowed to wander about begging as boys did. He said something about girls being lucky and fortunate because they were not subjected to the demeaning life that we lived. “But you don’t have to think
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