Story written by a student who volunteered with the Katrina Relief effort during spring break, March 2006.\r\n\r\nOn March 18,2006 at 10pm, I left to go on the Katrina Relief Trip that our school was sponsoring. I did not know what I was in store for. All I knew was that we were going to St. Bernard Parish to help residents get situated into their homes. When we arrived in New Orleans early Sunday Morning it was not as bad as I expected. It seemed like the city was up and running. But as we went deeper into the city the devastation increased. I was so confused by the state of the city of New Orleans. It looked as though Katrina had hit just yesterday and 6 months had passed. We arrived at Camp Premier and they told us what we were going to be doing. We were to gut out the residents houses so that they can remodel and move back in. I was discouraged at first when they told us that we might run into snakes, rats or other rodents. But, I was still determined to help when they mentioned to us that 95% of the residents of Chalmette would be returning and that is where we spent our Spring Break working. I never worked so hard in my life and felt so rewarded at the same token. The residents were so appreciated and managed to have positive attitudes after such devastation and that motivated me even more. Some residents would ask how can we help them and we would let them know the procedure or they would help while we cleaned their home. In addition, while in the houses we found pictures and items. From the pics and items we tried to put the pieces together to figure out what that residents life may have been like. We found a child\'s school id, a bookbag full of markers, and crayons, someone\'s work id, and etc,. Being there to help first hand made the situation real. Prior to going to New Orleans and I did not expect it to be in that state after all this time. I never felt so good in my life and at the same time my heart went out to all those affected by Hurricane Katrina and Rita. If I were in the same situation myself I couldn\'t image what I would do if he government was hesistant to help me in a time of need. God forbid it happen again, but if it did I would be there to help in a heartbeat. God Bless the victims of Hurricane Rita and Katrina.\r\nSincerely,\r\nJataun Bester\r\nbester116@missouristate.edu