I was part of a team of 18 individuals who traveled to New Orleans from Mt. Sinai United Church of Christ on Long Island NY to help rebuild/repair some of the damage. We were there for a week in October and were involved with 2 projects - gutting a church hall that will be used to house future volunteers and also gutting a private home. \r\n\r\nThe experience was life-changing in so many ways. Having visited several 3rd World countries in the past most recently Guatemala (in Feb of this year to view the damage from hurricane Stan)and W. Samoa where my daughter was a Peace Corps volunteer, I thought I was prepared for anything we might see. I have to say now, that the emotional impact of seeing the lasting effect of Katrina was greater; It was incomprehensible to me that a year + later, some areas remain as devestated as they were directly after the storm hit!\r\n\r\nThe spirit and determination of the residents we met was amazing, and Oh, what stories they have to tell.....We were fortunate enough to have met the family who owned the home that we worked on - they cooked and brought lunch to us at the work site! We also met a neighbor who came over to find out who we were and what we were doing. He was a 70 yr old man who was rebuilding his home himself, piece by piece!!!\r\n\r\nI look forward to continuing my connection with some of them through a pen-pal program I will be doing between my students here in NY and the students of a school we visited in New Orleans.