Today, work was cancelled due to a terrential downpour of rain and flooding so here I am in the computer lab of the Dulac Community Center writing an update. Being in Dulac has definitely been an interesting contrast to the experience I had in New Orleans working with PNOLA. Since Dulac is located in the wetlands, it has a much more “small town” feel and the area is sparsely populated. My group has been working on a house an hour away in a town called Golden Meadow  and we are almost finished putting in wooden flooring in the front room. Some of the other groups have been working on tiling and flooring in the other rooms and others are working on a completely different house closer to Dulac. We have received a lot less direction than we did in NOLA about how to do everything but all is well thus far. The group has been in Dulac since Friday and began work here on Saturday. We did a grass planting project in Port Fourchon on Sunday, which was quite an experience, but the work has been very rewarding. Each night we have a lengthy reflection period and last night we discussed our reasons for coming on this trip. I feel that all of us at Union have everything we could ever need and therefore have a means to give back to the community. Here I am working on someone’s house so that he can have a roof over his head and, to me, I am making a positive difference in the world- even if it is something as infinitesimal as planting grass to prevent further damage from hurricanes in the future. I met the owner of the house I am working on in Dulac and she was beside herself because of how much work the group had done. She marveled at the floors even though they were half-way finished and could not stop praising Jesus, quoting the bible, and saying that we will always be in her prayers. Her response to the work we had accomplished was not only inexplicably gratifying and motivating but it also really made me stop and think about how priviliged I am. The group will continue working on the house for another two days and then we are heading back to New Orleans on Friday and fly home on Saturday. Even though the trip is not over yet, my concern for others has certainly be augmented by this experience. Most of my life I have focused on my own well-being- schoolwork, personal life, daily decisions, etc. but these past two weeks have forced me to focus my attention on others and how I can help them to better their lives. I absolutely plan to do more community service projects in the future as a result of this trip and the important lessons I have learned from it.