On Saturday, I'll be heading down to New Orleans for a week on a community service trip sponsored by the Fordham alumni office.
I could have probably just ended the post right then and there and you'd have a good sense of what that all means.
And actually, you'd have just as good of an idea of what that means as I do. The reality of this trip is that contact with the place we're volunteering at has been understandably difficult, and the scope of the damage there is so great that its hard to say specifically what we'll be doing. I mean, when a city nearly gets wiped off the map, where do you start?
Well, our group will be starting (and staying) at Project Lazarus, which is a home for people with AIDS--the first residential home in New Orleans to address the need for homeless people living with AIDS. None of the residents have been able to move back in yet, so basically we will be restoring the home back to a livable condition to help them reopen in the next few weeks.
I will definitely be using this blog as a fundraising mechanism for PL in the coming weeks, but I decided that I'd go down there first to be able to share the story firsthand before I do anything like that. So, I'll be going down there with my cellphone and video camera. I have no idea if I'll be able to e-mail any of the photos, but if I can, I'll be photoblogging while I'm down there. Videos will come up after I've returned on the 21st, so stay tuned. I'm sure it promises to be some really interesting and emotional footage.
Am I nervous? Not really. I decided to clear my head of any expectations, because I know I'm going down there with a great team and whatever we find down there, we'll do what we can to help and go through it together.
Wish us luck!