Breaking Ice and Breaking Ground

Nothing says "Good Morning" like a game of Shabooyah. Last Sunday morning, before I took a sip of coffee, I was chanting and dancing with seventeen other enthusiastic early risers. Combined, our team most certainly has an interesting Ice Breaker repertoire, but for a newly formed group Shabooyah seemed like a perfect way to plunge into planning our trip. In a perfect world you recite your four rhyming lines in rhythm which serve as a brilliantly personal introduction. However, in a 9:30 A.M. coffee-less world, the rhyme scheme quickly fades and things get...interesting. (Any ideas on what rhymes with Jasminn?)

After our game we watched a quick documentary about the first NOLA team's trip from eight years ago. The area was so devastated that most of their work consisted of removing debris and gutting ruined homes. It has been almost ten years since Katrina hit, and some question if there is a current need for aid in New Orleans. We come together as a team, eight years later, to add to what previous teams have accomplished. A job is not finished until it's finished. And there is still a large amount of rebuilding to be done.

Newly inspired, we went through all the nuts and bolts of the trip. We signed various forms and received binders full of information. Everything was official, and there was no turning back.

Our first and most important task: FUNDRAISING. We discussed the revival of the past raffle and various bake sales. We planned the addition of an Indiegogo page so anyone can donate easily online and receive personalized prizes for donating.  The idea of a new Twitter and Facebook account for faster updates was tossed around and finally we started discussing the possibility of a benefit performance here in NYC!

We're still brainstorming on our team song, our verb for the year (ex. Art Inspires), and our team t-shirt design.

Our trip is in less than two months. (40 DAYS...to be, you know, precise.) We have a lot on our plate as students already, getting everything done in 40 days seems, pretty daunting. But I have faith in our team. Together we are breaking ground; starting where past teams have left off and ready to dig even deeper.

-Jasminn