Lower Nine- Learning along the way

I felt that between our group and the people that we encountered while on the trip, there was quite a bit of diversity both culturally, morally and religiously. I did have a few people that were very similar to me and my value systems, but we also had many that had extremely different views than me. These were found both inside and outside of our group from KU. In particular there was a gentleman within our group that greatly reminded me of a younger version of myself. He is Christian, strong in his faith, confident in his knowledge and not intimidated by others that may question him or his faith in the least. There was actually a very interesting conversation had between this gentleman and another group member on the drive down to New Orleans. To leave out specifics, the conversation included topics of Christianity versus atheism and homosexual tendencies. It was a great glimpse into each side of the matter and I’m actually thankful that I was able to be in the presence of it.

The next diverse encounter that I had on the trip, other than realizing that we were obviously the minority in the area in which we stayed, was my encounter with one of the other volunteers. He is from London and has an extremely think British accent. He travels back and forth from here to London and has been here continuously since October. There are all types of volunteers. Those that come for a day or two, some that stay for months, while others stay for months or years. Many of the locals seem to be fully capable of doing work and yet many days I see them doing the same things over and over again. Most of which consists of porch sitting and washing their cars. I sometimes wonder if they are unable to do their own work on their homes due to finances or resources for materials or if maybe it is just their skill set alone that is lacking. I wish that there was more communication, because as we learned during one to the pre-break classes, you will never know what the people truly need unless you ask them. I know I have only been informed of the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the issues surrounding the area, but it sickens me to see some of the living environments in the area this many years after the disaster. The interactions that I have had with the area and volunteers, and the things that I have seen have helped me to realize that no small deed is left unnoticed and a ripple effect can become greater than you ever imagined. This experience has reminded me of a quote I once heard and felt was very relevant to the situation at hand:

“The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow, do good anyways. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough, give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between them and you anyway.” ~Mother Teresa

I think that if everyone had that mindset, especially in this situation, I feel like they may work harder, be more willing to help each other, more trusting to their neighbors, and ultimately not have to sleep with steel bars and padlocks on their doors and windows.