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.

Today was the first day of volunteering and it has been quite a long day. My group spent the entire day painting a house in the upper ninth ward and tomorrow we will be using power tools to install stairs to an attic. So far the work has definitely been rewarding but there is still a lot that needs to be done in order to complete the house. Other than the hours of painting, which i never realized was such a meticulous, labor-intensive task, I have thus far had a few other memorable experiences. The first was when my group went to a small local take-out food restaurant down the block from the house we were working on. Items on the menu included gumbo, po boys and when our food arrived it was a completely different style than the types of food I am accustomed to from the northeast. I came to New Orleans without any ideas or preconceived notions of what the city would be like and after being here one day I can confidently conclude that it is a place unlike anywhere I have ever been before. Today, I witnessed everything from boarded-up houses and gumbo restaurants to the gorgeous, elaborately decorated Tulane campus and a SAKS fifth Avenue store. These were just the first of many discoveries.

It’s dark and snowing here in Schenectady which is only adding to my anticipation to leave here and arrive in the Big Easy tomorrow afternoon. Over the course of these past few days I have certainly learned a lot from our group discussions about Hurricane Katrina and its impact on society. The readings and discussions have really encouraged me to go and help with the recovery process and I’m sure that witnessing the damaged areas and meeting the victims firsthand will provide me with an even better picture of current conditions. In addition to the discussions, the workshop about using power tools was certainly very helpful. Having no prior experience using utility knives and saws, I feel much more confident now about my ability to go and rebuild houses and other structures. I think our group has really begun to bond and work as a team over the last few days. The most evident example of teamwork can be seen in the daily preparation of dinner because each member contributes to the meal by doing his part. Each night, the groups have all communicated well and divided up the work equally and the dinners have thus been successful. These group skills will certainly be useful next week when we are all working together on construction projects. On a final note, I can’t wait to go down to NOLA and begin helping out! I can already tell that this will be an important and rewarding experience and look forward to doing my part.