Returning Mementos of the Past and Looking Towards the Future

Aiding the Super storm Sandy relief efforts these past few days have caused me to be even more eager to begin working tomorrow with St. Bernard Project. Although I started out in Ortley Beach shoveling sand, which I have deemed as a necessary process in order to begin the rehabilitation of the shore, I ended my week in Union Beach, clearing out a woman's yard that now contains a landfilllike mass of things that used to be her life.  While I sifted through debris, I found a certain sense of accomplishment whenever I found anything salvageable. For I realized that I may not be able to give her her home back, but I could help to preserve her memories through returning old photographs and other items. 

After a couple thousand mile ride to New Orleans, I finally saw the city that would be my home for the next week. Traveling through the lower Ninth Ward really drove home the displacement caused by Hurticane Katrina. I could not begin to imagine that the now rural looking community once resembled the city blocks in Trenton. I have accepted the task of working to improve the living conditions of those in New Orleans. I look forward to tomorrow in hopes that I may learn from the people here as well as from an incredibly unique city.