Something Special - Valuable Lessons from our Trip to New Orleans

I knew when I saw the notice in the Vanderbilt church bulletin about the work trip to New Orleans that this sounded like something special, and it was. This was my first trip to New Orleans. The leaders from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance made sure we got a taste of everything: Descriptions of little known Mardi Gras traditions, the French Quarter, the levy systems, the poor devastated neighborhoods where the homes look like Katrina hit yesterday, the new and very different looking Brad Pitt "green building" homes, the Caribbean looking Habitat homes where only musicians live, the beautiful garden district of the well to do. The education put into context what we were doing for the individual families we were helping and how it fit into the greater rebuilding process. My 17 year old son, Alex, was not too happy at the thought of working in the summer conditions. I think all of us perspired and drank more water than we ever had, but, Alex saw the difference we were making. He knows how much the families appreciate that we did a better job for them for free, than the fraudulent paid contractors did. It was also a demonstration of "let the buyer beware." Valuable lessons for anyone, but especially a teenager. Thanks to Katie and Matt for organizing the trip and to the eight other volunteers who made this the highlight of my summer. ~Laura Marzano