Today was by far the most stressful day of our trip. We ran into a lot of problems at our work site that we were not at all prepared for. Going in, we knew that the house may have not been cared for properly, and that unsanitary conditions might exist. However, based on the failure of our action plan, it became clear that none of us were expecting the condition of the house to be as bad as it was. We realized that trying to fix different parts of the house that were clearly in bad shape, like a few boards on the wheelchair ramp, insulation under the house, and a floor tile would be like trying to cure the symptoms of a disease without trying to cure the disease itself. What we found was vermin infestation, mold, and bad jobs that would have to have been completely redone. In all honesty, however, I feel like the way that we confronted the problems was worse than the actual problems themselves. From the get-go there should have been communication about the possibility that houses might be in such severe conditions, and what we might do if we encountered such conditions.

I couldn’t help but thinking, at least in this case, we were committing some pretty blatant “voluntourism,” in which we came to “help” people we knew were in need, but did not prepare ourselves or do enough research to actually be able to have any impact. I began to wonder: wouldn’t it have been better for us to use all the money we spent on air fare for 17 of us on fixing up this persons house? Part of me still thinks that that would have been more effective. The only thing that I can tell myself to justify the way we did it is that maybe, after learning all we have on this trip, we will each go out in the world thinking more about how our actions, and the careers we choose, effect other people and society in general.

In the end, we had to face our situation and simply finish the small jobs that we had started; we just didn’t have the resources to completely tear apart and rebuild the entire floor. I can only hope that the Dulac Community Center will one day have the resources and volunteers to do so.

One thing I learned today is the importance of swallowing our pride and admitting the fact that we really have no idea what we are doing, and being honest with ourselves about the conditions of things and what we can really accomplish. Like at the house today, nothing can get done if we had not assessed the severity of the situation. However, it was just as important for us to remain positive in the face of the impossible, and do what we could with all that we had.