The few days we have spent here in Dulac, LA have been so incredibly different than those that we spent in New Orleans. The most obvious difference is the landscape; it is as though you can see for miles across the fields and wetlands, dotted by houses sitting on stilts, infrastructure of the oil industry, and multitudes of boats (some of which appear to have been abandoned in the water decades ago). We learned more about Dulac when we met the coordinator at the Dulac community center, where we are staying. She told us about the struggles of the people here, and the efforts of the community center and thousands of volunteers who come here yearly to help ease their blight. The man that we helped that day was disabled and basically abandoned by his family. Though he lived with a partner, it was clear that they struggled to provide for themselves and take care of their home. Seeing the conditions they lived in, and talking to them about the difficulties they faced was by far the most difficult experience I have had so far on this trip. It was just so hard to see two people, who so clearly needed help from others, be left on their own to struggle with poverty, abandonment, and depression. Their hopes of leaving Dulac further emphasized the feelings that they (and many others) seem to have towards this struggling community. However, with the efforts of the Dulac Community Center, it certainly seems that there are people working to change it for the better.

Today was by far my favorite day of this Miniterm. We woke up early and piled into the van to make a two hour trip to Port Fourchon. When we arrived, we were greeted by members of BTNEP, a non-profit group working to restore the Barataria-Terrebonne wetlands. We boated to a sand bar, where we spent the day planting various types of native trees, such as Live Oak and Black Mangrove. Working in the wetlands was such a wonderful experience because of the beautiful scenery and wildlife that surrounded us. After we planted the 1,000 trees, we boated for a while around the area. It was amazing to see that scenes of pristine wildlife, such as a flock of hundreds of pelicans flying through the air, was just a short boat ride away from a refueling site for large oil vessels. It reminded me of a lot that we have seen in Louisiana; two things that so obviously contradict one another existing side by side, with no one saying or doing much about it.