Me and 24 others (from Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN) traveled south to help out in ongoing recovery efforts. We stayed at a camp run by Lutheran Disaster Services, which is one of the non-profits committed to long-term recovery/re-building after Hurricane Katrina.
We worked hard all week on different individual houses that were in various stages of rehabilitation. I was on a 6 person crew who worked on re-building the home-owner's fence, cleaning up the yard (which hadn't been mowed since the hurricane and which was filled with old fencing and other debris), and rebuilding the front porch. It was a ton of work, but we made a lot of progress and set things up well for whoever is the next crew to volunteer.
Here's my little soapbox entry...The city is still in terrible disrepair and very little recovery has been completed. Our government
pulled funding to help re-build New Orleans one year after the hurricane, using the money for Iraq. There are several non-profits organized to house volunteers
and organize re-building, but there is so much work to be done it is staggering. The people of New Orleans have been abandoned by their own government... but
they still have hope. They see that there are still private citizens who care and who devote time to the recovery efforts. It is easy for the rest of us to
remain unaware of the circumstances of the people of New Orleans, but I encourage everyone reading this to take the time to find out. They need help and they
are our fellow citizens. We all need to be aware and do what we can to help our own people.
I have much more to post on this subject, including one man's story I heard while I was there. But I'll take a break and see
what you all might have to say.
I swear I had no idea New Orleans was still in such a bad condition. We haven't heard any news about it
here in Europe since e few months after the hurricane...I can still remember those terrible images like if it was yesterday. You're really brave, I hope
you know that. 
So
yes, i'd say that was brave hehe
. I have been waiting to hear how things went. I really want to go down to New Orleans
and help with the rebuilding efforts there. I wanted to go last year but things just didn't work out at all. I really hope to be able to make it down
there this year sometime. I have a good friend who lives in Louisiana I can stay with so that makes things a lot easier.
