Goshen, Litchfield, Salisbury & Warren Joint Church Youth Group Trip to New Orleans for Katrina Relief

By:Paula, Brenda, Helena, Holly and Kathy 

Today we visited the 9^th Ward and Youth With A  Mission, YWAM.  YWAN was where we met Bronwyn and Steven Niles.  They showed us the 9^th Ward.  There was a lot of destruction, garbage, emptiness throughout the tour.  We saw sunflowers near houses that had been totally destroyed.  It was a sign of hope.  It was upsetting to see the debris and think about people who had been there for years and built their lives there.  It was a natural disaster, but now, nine months later, it has become a human disaster.  Despite some delays and leaving certain group members behind, (we found them after a short time), we were able to move on and see parts of the ninth ward and other levee breeches.  We saw an empty house that was destroyed and a man sitting on the porch waving at us.  It was awkward to be there, we felt that we were invading their private lives and stepping too far into some thing that was close to the people that lived there.  When we looked into the houses that were left, you saw toys, clothes and their personal lives.  It was a chilling experience to see a neighborhood that once existed and is now basically nothing, only imagining what happened to their lives and wondering where they went.  Now the question is, “Can, or will they come back?”