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December 29, 2006
Heather Lewis (Ethical Culture Fieldston School, NY)
Today we went back to work at the Musicians' Village. Everyone gave it their best, despite the early morning chill and the afternoon heat. Whether pushing wheelbarrows, shoveling dirt, or working on the houses themselves, people were hard at work as far as the eye could see. During lunch, we had broke up into groups for reflections. One issue my group was exploring was whether or not it was okay to visit devastated areas such as the Lower Ninth Ward and take pictures of the destruction. Some people felt that it would cheapen the power of what had happened while others felt that it was the only way of letting others who haven't seen the damage firsthand know how dire the need still is for help.
 Students David (Trinity), Eva (Woodside Priory), and Leslie (Trinity) ready for dinner at the Touro Synagogue.
After a hard day of work, we showered and rested before heading off to the Touro Synagogue. We were received warmly by the community there and were invited to stay for their service and dinner. We had the option of going to the [Shabbots] service or participating in another group activity, but I decided that even though I'm not Jewish myself, it would be interesting to go to the service and how I could connect it to my own spirituality. I thought it would be drastically different from what I'm accustomed to, and I was right in some ways. But in others, I found that Judaism shares similarities with my own beliefs just phrased in a different language.
After today, I really began to reflect on the spirit of volunteering. Everyone always says that they're "giving back to the community," but we rarely take the time to really think about what that means. I think a lot of times we get so wrapped up in ourselves and our own lives that it gets in the way of our volunteering. "Helping out makes me feel good, or "I spent my winter vacation helping out in New Orleans,or even "I have more resources so I feel obligated to help those with less.Even with the best intentions we sometimes fail to realize that it's not about us helping people. It's about people reaching out for support and receiving that support from their fellow human beings. We all have our personal reasons for wanting to come down here to help New Orleans regain what it lost. But I think it's time we put those reasons aside, and instead of giving up our vacations, our holidays, and (most definitely) our sleep, we need to just give ourselves.
Posted by ChiaChee Chiu on 12/30/06; 7:33:11 AM
from the dept.
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