We’ve been preparing for weeks to go, and the moment has finally arrived–I think the common emotion in the group right now is excitement!  We’re all excited to begin our journey and arrive in New Orleans to make a difference, no matter how big or small it may prove to be.  We’ll be there to help, but perhaps even more importantly, we’ll be there to learn along the way, and to carry the message of the ongoing problems in the South back our communities here at home.  The only way change can occur is if there is an awareness of the need of change.   We are to be catalysts for the change that is so needed in Louisiana.

With every reading we’ve discussed in this pre-departure period, it seems that there looms new problems around every corner for Louisianans.  Educational hardships, health care catastrophes, ecological tragedies, race issues, domestic violence, toxic waste contamination, absence of adequate funding, and lack of leadership all plague Louisiana in one way or another.   Most were present before Hurricane Katrina and have been exacerbated after the destruction that she caused.  The media’s influence in this period after Katrina has brought these issues to light, but when enough time passes and Katrina fades deeper into the shadows, the awareness of such problems will inevitably fade as well if nothing is done to mitigate them.  We, as a small group of volunteers from Union College, have an opportunity to do our part in alleviating these issues, but it’s not enough to help for two weeks and come home.  We’ve talked a lot in the past few days about the necessity of continuing to make others aware of the situation until finally change begins to occur.  We can only hope that by the time such change is made, it’s not too late to undo that damage that’s already been done.