We met the kids of a family today that lives next door to the common grounds house and hung out with them for a while. Twice, while we were outside with the kids, vans drove by that were giving driving tours of the 9th ward. The people from one of the vans even got out and started taking pictures of the Brad Pitt project signs. Something about this didn't seem right to me, and I wondered how it made the kids and the families living in the 9th ward feel.
I know that yesterday we were doing similar things, I took pictures of where we were staying, and the Brad Pitt houses, and we drove around the 9th ward but I feel like our experience was different. I felt kind of awkward doing this even, but I feel like it was more educational for us and that we will take back our pictures and knowledge with intention of spreading awareness to hopefully bring more help to the area. I don't know if the intentions of the people on these tours were the same. I can't say they weren't but, I really just don't know what their intentions were. I personally think it's different to drive around the 9th ward as an educational experience to gain perspective on a service trip than to take a tour of the 9th ward during your vacation. What do others think? :)
Posted by Kim Hesse
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