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Community College of Rhode Island
Katrina evacuee shares experience with human services students
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| Hurricane Katrina Survivor Mary Acker speaks with CCRI Human Services students. |
“People who stayed behind climbed up in trees to get out of the water.”
Hurricane Katrina refugee Mary Acker, a guest speaker for Carol Patnaude’s Parent and Child Relations and Health and Nutrition classes, recently discussed her journey from Mississippi to Rhode Island. Acker, known affectionately as “Miss Mary,” recently celebrated her 70th birthday in resettlement housing in Middletown. She added that while she has been delighted by Northern hospitality, she does miss some of her hometown specialties—particularly gumbo.
Miss Mary also shared her life story with Patnaude’s students. Orphaned at 2, she picked cotton as a child, married at 14, then gave birth to a dozen children.
When Patnaude asked her guest how she handled adult responsibilities at such an early age, Acker answered matter-of-factly, “Some children know more than adults."
