Hurricane relief workers experience prejudice

By: Shirien Elmasraya

Posted: 3/28/08

Imagine trying to save someone on the verge of death, but they refuse. No, they are not insane or suffering from depression - they are prejudiced.

The room was dim. Dark, wooden walls surrounded him as he was being filmed on camera. He leaned forward in his chair, slowly telling the chilling stories he encountered after the hit of Hurricane Katrina. The darkness of the room coincided with the darkness that surrounded his narrative.

“It was like a ghost town. It was like a horror movie,” said Islamic Relief worker Ruben Vaughan. “You saw helicopters, humvees and you saw dogs, some were dead. And then you’d see cats and some were dead. And you wouldn’t really see anybody else.”

As he explained the situation, those who were interviewing him looked on as if they were frozen in time - as if they were in complete disbelief.

“We [Muslims] are a small group here, but we were able to help people in mass scale,” Vaughan said. “The best thing we’ve been able to do is to deal with people individually, let them know we’re Muslim, and even though you aren’t Muslim, we can still help you. We can still get along, we can have a friendship and learn from each other.”

Vaughan was being interviewed for a documentary produced by Leechon Films, a Muslim owned and operated film company, to debut at LSU in August.

The film is called “Tufaan,” which is Arabic for “Great Storm.” It is about the stories of the Muslim victims and relief workers of Katrina.

“If people who aren’t Muslim just realize that Islam has been around since the first man Adam, that we aren’t aliens, that we aren’t foreign and that Islam comprises of every race and background out there, then they can realize that they don’t have to fear Islam,” Vaughan said.

During the first week after the hurricane, Vaughan said he saw two very different reactions from non-Muslims who saw Muslim volunteers driving supplies.

“I remember there were a group of brothers bringing supplies to the affected areas,” said Vaughan. “On their trip they were asked by different people what they were doing. One group of people would say, ‘We don’t need your help. You can just take it back.’ And the other group of people would load up their cars and help them on their [the brothers’] way.”

Vaughan, former firefighter and former squad boss for FEMA back when the Columbia Space Shuttle blew up over Texas, sought out relief organizations to join after Katrina. He wanted to make sure he got to the affected areas to help in any way he could.

He contacted Islamic Relief, and because of his background in relief work, he was allowed to go to New Orleans at a time when only select individuals could go into disaster-ridden areas.

He explained how some of the male volunteers have beards and the women volunteers wear hijab, a head cover. Unfortunately, some of these volunteers faced difficulties from the very same victims they were helping who were prejudice against Muslims.

“I want the non-Muslims out there to know that they don’t have to fear people who are trying to help even though they see a hijab,” Vaughan said. “And they don’t know what to do or say because they are caught off guard because of all the negative things they see in the media.”

Vaughan still remains in Baton Rouge and is continuing with the hurricane recovery effort.

Prejudice is real. And while human beings see race and religion, disasters know no prejudice. It affects everyone.

I encourage everyone to attend the debut of the documentary when it’s released in August.

Leechon Films plans to donate a percentage of the money made by selling DVDs of the documentary to the hurricane recovery effort.

This is the official trailer for Tufaan. The film is scheduled to be released in the near future.

• Audio and Video Synchronization — All the interviews that were conducted (12 one hour interviews, three camera angles each) need to have the audio cleaned up and synchronized with the video for each camera angle.
• Post Production & Visual Effects — If you’re an artist, have an eye for creativity, and have done work in the past show me some completed work you’ve done and I’ll commission you to do some creative work.

If you yourself or you know someone in the NY/NJ area that can help in the two areas mentioned above reply to this post or shoot me an email: khanb [at] leechonfilms.com

• Student to Raise $250,000 for Katrina Victims
• The Challenges of Being Muslim and Hurricane Relief Worker
• Producer Announces Film Premiere to be Held at LSU

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Website will be up VERY SOON! — www.tufaanmovie.com

(I’m in that picture! Tan and white striped shirt. Its two up from the guy wearing blue behind the imam :p)

Abdul Qahhar of Islamic Relief Louisiana sent me this article recently from The Advocate.

LAFAYETTE — Reem Alferahin’s American dream has become her worst nightmare.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Louisiana woman has lost her home and seen her husband forced out of the country indefinitely.

Being a Muslim and former flight training student whose first name is Osama made him a target of suspicion. Having omitted information about an ex-wife on his U.S. citizenship application opened him up to prosecution.

“Now if you’re an Arab and you’re a Muslim — that’s it — you’re a terrorist,” Reem Alferahin said. “You’re guilty until proven innocent.”

Read the rest of the article here: Area Muslims retain their faith despite hardships

If you are ever in New Orleans, take a stop by the French Quarter and get yourself one of these beignet at Cafe de Mont.

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Its amazing how pressures can really pile up. I came back from my trip to new orleans Wednesday, and without break I got thrown into the rush of every day life.

Upon arrival from my three day journey, having only a couple hrs to freshen up and go to my two evening classes back to back for th start of the semester, followed by a morning class the next day, I spent Thursday in a daze. A daze that resulted in me being late to the evening class that day.

Friday and saturday I spent loathing and sleeping, trying to gather where I am, and what I’m doing, only to remember that I have a client deadline to meet. 48 hours of nonstop crunch-time, and a few hours of sleep in between allowed me to complete the client’s first draft just in the nick of time. (I’ll post up the final draft for you all to see later this week)

Having had two hours of sleep, Imam Abu Abed’s words began ringing in my head. On my last day in Baton Rouge (which by the way has an interesting ‘red’ history) Imam Abu Abed mentioned something after Isha prayers. For dawah to be successful four elements must be utilized:

• Sincerity of intention
• Patience through tasks
• Persistence and struggle in the cause
• Consistent du’aa to see it through - — - This sets the efforts of falsehood apart from the effort of truth.

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This space is going to be dedicated to celebrate the gems of this trip…

• This trip was a struggle, but it was sooooooo worth it. The people I met. My partner I traveled with and the things I learned from him and the people along the way were priceless.
• Allah (swt) put people in my path to help me along the way and make this happen. From the travel expenses this time and the previous trip I took back in June. The hospitality in food, and stay. The warm welcome and affection of the people I met and interacted with. - — - “Southern Hospitality” is REAL
• I met with amazing people in Knoxville, TN. Baton Rouge, LA. New Orleans, LA, Mclean, VA, and here in NJ — all of whom provided assistance when it was needed without really asking for it.
• I have a very solid idea of what I want in this final production, and inshaAllah it will be my best project to date. My goal is to bring $250,000 in aid to victims. To do this I will need to bring forth half a million bucks in one year inshaALLAH!
• I have soooo many more OUTSTANDING ideas that I want to do after this project is done. A documentary film on the Injustice of the American justice and prison system and the Resilience of Muslims there. A Narrative epic on the life of Uthman Dan Fodio, and much MORE!
• A few money generating ideas have come about from this trip in the time spent with my travel buddy.
• I didn’t complete filming — but it will be completed by end of this week inshaAllah with the help of some sincere individuals from Louisiana that Allah (swt) put in my path
• I am PUMPING with energy as I type this. — – On this trip I saw the beauty of the beautiful sunsets, lightning, storm clouds, scattered sun shower downpours, starry filled skies with the milky way galaxy visible, a turtle on the side of the highway, the endless range of the Appalachian mountains, and the calm rivers that descend it.

Here are the pictures. Enjoy

• First Trip
• Second Trip (one I just came back from)

We arrived in New Orleans yesterday and this is what welcomed us. This mad-made behemoth was under water when Katrina hit. Now it stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of the people of New Orleans, dazzling all those who traverse it

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Counterpunch.com has an interesting article on Katrina’s two year anniversary. Read it here: Katrina Two Years Later, by Bill Quigley

.5x Wide Angle Lens – Recommended for any type of shooting…except closeups.

Two D8 (Digital8/Hi8) Camcorders – One that belonged to me, and the other being my friend’s.

Generic RadioShack Microphone – After two years of much use and abuse, the mic was beginning to not work on me. I figured, this is its last trip.

Borrowed a Panasonic GS80 – Good camera for sub $300 range.

Since filming last time was mostly interviews and people, this setup wasn’t so bad. I did realize that when I shot the outdoor sequences I would need more appropriate equipment. This time around since most of my shooting will be outdoors I decided to purchase some new equipment.

I bought the following:

Zoom H4 Handy – Wav audio recording at 96Khz

Sennheiser MKE300 — I needed a shotgun mic, and according to people’s recommendations, this was the best one to get under $300.

Sony MDR-M150 Headphones – I had these last time I went, but my little sisters broke them. Bought the same exact pair. Excellent set of headphones. Don’t let your little siblings play with your equipment with out supervision.

Hoya Polarizing Filter — Without this, outdoor shots will appear washed out or extremely bright.

Panasonic GS80 – Its a good camera if you don’t want to spend more than $300. I bought this out of necessity. Some of the down sides to this camera is that there isn’t much manual control. One can adjust the iris, shutter, and focus, but only through the ‘joystick’ which isn’t very convenient. There is not mic jack or even a headphone jack. It’s one of the reasons why I bought the Zoom H4 Handy.

.38x Super Wide Angle Lens – Since I want to grab the imagery of the outdoors, I figured this would be appropriate.

Just to show you the difference with and w/o a wide angle lens:

Without the .38x Super Wide Angle Lens

With the .38x Super Wide Angle Lens

One of the challenges I found was mounting the z4 Handy with the camera and mic. I decided to detach the slate from my tripod and “MacGuyver” it the camera and H4 Handy. This is what I resulted with:

Pretty good if you ask me

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Filming Locations – places I want to film:

• French Corridor
• St. Bernard Parish Chalmette
• 9th Ward
• 17 St. Canal
• Food & Aid Distribution Centers
• More personal stories of individuals involved in Katrina…

CONVENT, La. - This was not how Cindy Cole pictured her life at 26: living in a mobile home park called Sugar Hill, wedged amid the refineries and cane fields of tiny St. James Parish, 18 miles from the nearest supermarket. Sustaining three small children on nothing but food stamps, with no playground, no security guards and nowhere to go.

No, Ms. Cole was supposed to be paying $275 a month for a two-bedroom house in the Lower Ninth Ward - next door to her mother, across the street from her aunt, with a child care network that extended the length and breadth of her large New Orleans family. With her house destroyed and no job or savings, however, her chances of recreating that old reality are slim.

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Read the full New York Times article here: Road to New Life After Katrina Is Closed to Many

If you want to learn more about the struggle people are going through, just type “Katrina” in the NYT search.