Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Inspiring People

When we arrived at our work site yesterday, we were introduced to two very inspiring people: Miss Sarah Williams and our site leader Devan.  Miss Sarah, as she prefers to be called, inspired us greatly from the moment we first met her.  She went around and asked everyone's name, making sure that she shook hands with each of us, and seeing her face on the improvements that have already been made has inspired us both days of our trip thus far.  Her kindness in offering her daughter to bring us all jambalaya for lunch on Thursday was truly touching as this woman owes us nothing.  During the last few days, everytime we began to feel fatigued or feel like we are ready to be done, we all think of Miss Sarah and her spirit to keep living and her dream to come home motivates us to work even harder. Miss Sarah deserves the best, and that's exactly what we are going to give her.

Devan, our site leader, is an Americorp volunteer.  Like us, Devan did a service trip when he was an undergraduate, and because of the experience he had, he came back to continue his service after graduation.  That alone was so inspiring to us, that he felt passionate to keep doing service and it wasn't just a one time thing.  To present, Devan has worked on over 100 houses, in seven different neighborhoods, and he hopes to continue his work for years to come.  Devan even plans to make New Orleans his permanent home, as he has developed such a strong connection with the city and it's people. 

Both Miss Sarah and Devan are inspirational, and we are sure that we will meet many other inspiring people during the next few days of our trip.

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