Thoughts before NOLA

The Summer of 2005 was like any other one for me. My family and I went to Brazil to visit my grandmother and our extended family. We came back to spend the rest of the summer at home, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

For months afterwards anytime you turned on the television you could see images of people with no homes, and images of flooded areas were houses once stood. As a 6th grader I knew that I had to be grateful for all of the blessing in my life, because in just a couple of moments anyones life could be turned upside down.

I've done community service at my elementary school since the 6th grade. I hadn't thought about it until now, but the disaster that happened to the people in out country in 2005, was probably what moved me to help others. When I became a Bonner and learned of this opportunity to go to New Orleans and help out with the disaster relief I was super excited. It also really struck me to think that almost 7 years after the Hurricane hit, people are still misplaced.

I am extremely excited to be able to work amongst my fellow Bonner Scholars on such an amazing project. I can not wait to get to New Orleans!

Bonner Love,

Leilani