Meeting Shaun M
by Mike Evans

I met him outside the Austin Convention Center. His name is Shaun M. and he lived on Louisiana Avenue in New Orleans. He and a six or seven others were standing around listening and responding to a Reverend from Austin talk about the strength they had mustered to survive. God, he said, was there for them. Shaun leaned forward separating himself from the cement pole he had been resting against and spoke about stealing a boat he had used to rescue his family members. Father God, the reverend said, doesn't choose everyone to save someone. The reverend called over others milling nearby. We joined hands in a prayer circle, closed our eyes, and the reverend began. A woman in the circle, eyes squeezed tight, continued his prayer passionately summoning Father God's attention between sentences. Overwhelmed by her words, we dropped hands after she had finished. Hand shakes and hugs all around. I asked Shaun if he would be willing to talk to me, to introduce himself to the people of Austin, to explain who he was. He agreed. This is part of his story.

He began by telling me that after he graduated from high school, he began working in a restaurant and had worked there for the past seven years. A month before "all that happened," he said as he gestured towards the Austin Convention Center, he was promoted to supervisor.

Shaun was shy at first and would pause his story to smile for the photographer. He told me that 29 of his family members were in the Austin Convention Center. And they were just some of his family forced to flee. He dove right into his story and told me about leaving his home. As his family tried to escape, a man in a boat came by and offered his mother $20 a ride for trips to safety. He took the kids and dropped them off, then came back and took Shaun's mother. "He was a New Orleans citizen and he charged her $40." Shaun came upon a boat and nearby police officers yelled to him to do whatever it took to get out of there. They told him to take the boat and to go save others; if he didn't save others, they shouted, he would go to jail. So he took the boat and rescued some of his stranded neighbors, taking them to St. Charles Avenue, which was dry. As he grounded the boat after his last trip, he offered it to another man who drove off to try to save his family.

Shaun, his mother, his little brothers and sisters and a few others who had joined them walked two miles to the New Orleans Convention Center. They stayed there for days. They rounded up 29 of their family members. "I saw people raped and killed in there," he said plainly. There was no food or water. And when the water did come, it was hot. One day, a man opened his hotel and served BBQ to some of them. It was the only food that he ate for seven days.

Finally they came to the Austin Convention Center. Shaun couldn't say enough about how great it was to be here. They showered, got clean clothes and food. Yes, it took strength to survive, he said, "I'm here with God's help."

Shaun explained to me how as a boy he never got in trouble. "I was a good, quiet boy." He smiled as he told me about spending that morning as a day laborer making $10 an hour. He thinks that he can continue doing that for a little while. "I love the people of Austin and know that they love us. I know it because of everything they're giving to us and all they're doing for us."

I interviewed Shaun on Thursday, September 8, 2005. The recording equipment wasn't working properly.

Mike Evans