Today is our last day in "Nola." We slept in until 7 am this morning - that is one more hour of sleep than usual! Now we have had breakfast and are in the process of packing up. Soon we will spend a few hours debriefing and revealing our "secret pals!" Every year we assign secret pals before the trip. Once on the trip we give our pal a gift every day and today is the day we do the big reveal! Expectations are running high! Its a silly little part of the trip, but we all love it! Then it's off to the airport and back to Washington.
Meeting the people of New Orleans and hearing their stories of the storm has a big impact on us this week. One person's story that had a big impact on Jasmine was that of an army officer who was away on assignment and came back to a ruined home. It was also tough to see Charlie, the home owner of one of the houses we worked on all week, living in a trailer in his front yard. He has been in there for a long time now - about three years.
When we come home tonight we will all be excited to sleep in the comfort of our own beds, but we won't forget that the people of New Orleans are still waiting to come home. It has been almost four years since Hurricane Katrina destroyed this city, but the people here are still filled with hope. We hope that soon they can all be back home.
Post brought to you by Jasmine Walsh and Hannah Snelling.
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