So we landed at about 8:30am (CST), yesterday morning in New Orleans. After starting the day with a 3am shuttle trip to the Pittsburgh airport, we had finally arrived at our destination. Our first flight to Atlanta is a little bit blurry at this point, I remember hearing the engines rev as we started to take-off, and then I was asleep before we got in the air. That being said, after a light nap on the connecting flight from Atlanta to New Orleans, I caught a glimpse of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which was pretty awesome.
We picked up our mini-vans from Budget rent-a-car and began our 30-minute drive to our new home, Adullam Christian Center. We are actually about to head out for our first day of work. Our time at Habitat For Humanity [H4H] will not start until tomorrow; whereas today we will be working with Beacon of Hope, on what we presume is some type of clean-up project. I guess we'll find out when we get there.
Later today I'll be back with a update from Beacon Of Hope, as well as the low-down on our digs.
Tammy from our rent-a-car shuttle. She told us she was a littttle hungover...haha, welcome to Mardi Gras.
So I was trying to decide what I wanted to title this kick-off post, and then sure enough, up on my Pandora (internet radio, for you old geezers out there) pops Send Me On My Way by Rusted Root. I decided that it was a fitting jam/title for the intro of my trip to the Big Easy.
I will be "on my way" to New Orleans with Duquesne's Campus Ministry program for an alternative Spring Break opportunity. Though I'm not sure how the last weekend of February constitutes as a break from "Spring," our trip begins this upcoming weekend. We will get a full week out of our experience - leaving from Pittsburgh on Sunday, February 27th, and returning on Sunday, March 6th.
Our goal is to assist in the ongoing effort to restore the struggling areas of New Orleans to their pre-Katrina conditions. Though it has been more than half of a decade since the horrific storm swept through the Gulf, there is still great need for extra hands down by the bayou. Our main efforts will be through the well-known Habitat for Humanity organization, with whom we will build houses for families looking for a place to live.
This will be the second Habitat trip of my lifetime. In March of 2009 I participated in Habitat's Collegiate Challenge in Hilton Head, SC with a group of fellow students from Christopher Newport University. My Hilton Head experience was such a blast, that I was pumped to have the opportunity to go on another trip this year. A service trip of this kind has multiple benefits - sure there is the service aspect of helping others, but there is also the unique feeling of making personal sacrifices and 'roughing it' for a week. I definitely use the terms "sacrifice" and "rough" lightly, knowing that there are people in this world who have sacrificed far more in much rougher conditions, than a couple of students building houses for a week. That being said, it is truly a neat opportunity to live in a volunteer shelter, have early mornings, and build relationships with strangers, as we work collectively to build something bigger than any one of us.
As for our amenities, we will be crashin' in the City of Hope Volunteer Center, provided by Addulam Christian Fellowship. Thanks to some help from 'googling' information about the center, I was able to contact a previous volunteer and get some info about our digs. I was glad to hear that there are showers available at the center, a couple of group bedrooms, a kitchen area, AND wireless internet...awesome. Though I'm sure we'll be busy, I'll be using our limited free time to blog about the trip and post daily photos, to keep any interested followers in the loop about the trip.
We land in Cajun Country on Sunday, so look for the first post sometime Sunday evening! To those who've somehow stumbled upon this blog, I hope this can be entertaining/enlightening for you; and for those followers who I know, I love and miss you all and hope this can give you a snapshot into what I'm up to these days. Please enjoy, and thanks for following!
