Friday, September 19, 2008

New Orleans Reflection by Quinn McCarthy

This reflection was written by Quinn McCarthy, who participated in the Senior High WorkCamp to New Orleans. He delivered this at our WorkCamp Vespers worship service in August.

This year's work trip to New Orleans was one of the greatest experiences I have had. It gave all of us a great opportunity to learn about communities different from our own, help provide aide to people affected by a disaster, and bond as a youth group.

One very important part of the experience was getting to see New Orleans and realizing how differently the hurricane affected different areas. In the upper class garden district, you never would have thought a hurricane had even hit. But in places like the lower ninth ward, not a single house had been rebuilt. That really opened my eyes to how politics and money can get in the way of helping the people who need it most.

The best part of the trip was getting a chance to work side-by-side with each other and in some cases the people who's homes we were rebuilding. It was great to know that we were doing something to help people get there lives back together after the hurricane.

We didn't just work and learn on this trip either though. We also had a lot of fun between the great pranks we did on each other, and the crazy trip back to Chicago. I want to really thank all the leaders and I can't wait until next year's trip

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