Blighted homes: "Any dwelling considered unfit for habitation because it's "dilapidated, unsanitary, unsafe, vermin infested, or lacking in facilities and equipment required by the housing code."" Blighted homes are no new thing. They exist all over the world due to a variety of reasons; from abandonment, lack of funds for upkeep, or natural disasters. In New Orleans, there … [Read more...] about Empathy and Service in New Orleans
In lieu of obviously giving away my political and economic beliefs, I've been critically analyzing the root cause of all of the problems we have faced so far in New Orleans, and I whole-heartedly believe that the cause lies in an intensified and corrupt capitalist economy. The very real American drive for money has exasperated the wage gap, limited city resources, and reduced … [Read more...] about Is capitalism at the root of our problems?
A reflection of sorts: In the days since the trip, people have asked me so many times how the trip was, but I have not been able to accurately capture the experience in words. I try to show a picture, and since it is worth a thousand words, it is better, but it still doesn’t do any justice to the experience. The beauty was uncapturable, indescribable, and if you’ve never … [Read more...] about One Gnarly Trip
Written 1-13-17 As our trip comes to a close, I now understand what the students from a college in Northern California meant when they told us that we looked fresh and hopeful. After a week, we were tired, dirty, and willing to sleep on a rock. We have gone extremely hard for a week, getting almost no sleep. But don’t get me wrong, we still gasp when we see a rainbow so … [Read more...] about Lost in Translation
Written 1-11-17 Fear is something we experience all the time for the silliest reasons. The list of phobias is too long to imagine. Fear is meant to protect us, it’s the body’s way of keeping us from playing with tigers, jumping off cliffs, or some other stupid thing, but the root of it is based in realizing man’s inferiority. We can’t play with tigers because they would maul … [Read more...] about Pura Vida!