Hello, everyone! This is Daniel Schekorra, again, and I am one of the
two trip leaders. I apologize for posting this so late, but we had a busy, late
day on Friday! I wanted to tell you some things about working with the St.
Bernard Wetlands Foundation on Friday, and I thought better late than never!
First off, I want to mention why the Wetlands are important to New
Orleans. Basically, the Wetlands act as a barrier to floodwaters. The Wetlands
are located just outside the city, and saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico has
been killing the trees in the area. The trees absorb energy from hurricanes,
taming the surge. The Wetlands Foundation restores trees to the area that can
handle the current Wetlands conditions and distributes them to people who live
in the area.
I am very proud to say that our small group of 14 students planted over
530 potted trees. Additionally, we assisted in removing trees that had
unfortunately not grown sufficiently. Of all of the days that we did service,
this definitely required the most physical labor. I know that my back is
definitely sore a day later!
Throughout the week, our group has made connections with various people
who live in New Orleans and developed a fondness for the city’s culture. I am
very proud of everyone’s hard work yesterday, and hopefully our work will contribute
to the ultimate goal of lessening the devastation of the inevitable hurricanes
that New Orleans will see in the future. This work was our group’s way of
trying to protect those people that we care about and the incredible culture.
I am going to stop this post a little short. In our reflection last
night, we discussed how much this trip meant to everyone and how we can take
the skills and knowledge we have learned and apply it to the Springfield area.
Please read the next post where I will discuss our reflection and wrap up the
trip from my trip leader point of view!
Daniel Schekorra
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