The Beauty of the Human Spirit

The people of the Gulf Coast have seen their region torn apart more than once. Hurricanes Frederic, Ivan and Katrina did their share of damage, not only to the land and structures, but also the residents of the area. There was always a struggle to rebuild, but it eventually happened. With proper resources and assistance, they have overcome adversity.

Now, a year after the oil spill, the real stories begin to emerge of the ongoing challenges faced by many residents. There is a web of interconnectedness of how the spill still affects them through their individual stories.

Dale and his son build boats…BIG boats that are fitted for commercial fisheries. Once his current project is completed, a boat bound for the Northeast Coast to work the Grand Banks, he is unsure of what will happen. Shrimp boats in Bayou La Batre, Alabama are tied up to docks, unable to make a trip payoff because the demand for Gulf Seafood has bottomed-out. And you cannot blame consumers for being wary with the amount of oil still on the bottom of the Gulf. So who will order a new boat in a depressed industry? He doesn’t know.

Minh Le is a Vietnamese shrimper whose boats are not returning to the Gulf yet. He spoke of the challenges his people face being poor and out of work in the seafood industry. “This is all they know, what else can they do?” They have no transportation to get from south Mobile County into the city to work in hotels and restaurants…no public transportation whatsoever. To get a ride to the doctor they have to pay a taxi $50 to $100. No only his future, but the future of his culture is at stake.

It’s not just the shrimp boats but the entire industry supported by commercial fishing that is floundering. With the cost of diesel doubled, it costs $60,000 to $70,000 to fill a boat’s tanks. Who can afford to lay out that kind of cash, do the hard work required to procure the fish or shrimp or scallops, and then try sell a product that there is currently little demand for. Again….you cannot blame the public for being wary of potentially tainted seafood. And now the burden of testing the seafood falls to the packing companies as the government is no longer doing it. So they have even greater expenses that create higher costs for a product they cannot even sell.

Economics aside, there are now serious health problems surfacing that are related to the spill. Lori has had severe respiratory symptoms and has tested positive for ethylbenzene, hexane and other chemicals found in crude oil. The insanity of this is she cannot find the medical assistance needed. She gets the run-around from doctors offices and the Mobile County Health Department is not responding to her needs and it is the place she was referred to as the ‘to go’ place for all oil-related illnesses. Can you imagine? And yet she is working in her community of Coden to help others get the support they need to continue to live in this beautiful coastal community.

The common thread that runs within Lori, Minh Le and Dale is a desire to help others in their community and to be able to remain in a place they love. Each have different experiences that makes up the real story of what is happening on the Gulf Coast, away from the ‘sparkling’ beaches that tourism officials claim are fully recovered. The ugliness of the oil spill is still affecting the Gulf Coast but the beauty of the human spirit is still evident.