Restoration

At first glance, Camp Hope is nicer than I expected. Installed in a school that has been inactive since Katrina, it's organized but a bit stuffy. I imagine if I had ever gone away to overnight camp that it would be like this.

Each gender segregated room has a rug next to the entrance, proudly displaying mud covered work boots , a foreshadow of what some of the ReachOut volunteers' coming days might be like. We arrived at Camp Hope shortly after 6 p.m., we were then quickly handed volunteer tags, and sent off to dinner. My Easter dinner included baked macaroni, ham, and vegetables-- pretty good for free food if you ask me.

After dinner, we watched some documentaries about the devastation and then headed to the orientation room for a briefing of our jobs for the first day's work. It looks like I'll be working with the kids (or little adults as I sometimes refer to them). I'm excited to see what they'll be like since they've been through so much at such a young age. I admire the way kids genuinely take each day as it comes, simplifying everything adults tend to complicate. In this respect, I admire their resilience in the wake of such a traumatic situation.

Before coming to New Orleans (or Nola as they call it), I saw documentaries, did some research, and talked to older ReachOut members about their time spent here. Yet no matter how much research I did, there's nothing like first-hand experience.

Tatiana Granados

March 25, 2008 @ 12:06 PM