My Mission Trip Experience

H.O.P.E

Taysia Coleman

October 25, 2015

During our trip to New Orleans, Louisiana, we learned many different things. On the way coming into New Orleans we saw the many places that have not been fixed back up from hurricane Katrina. There were many homes and businesses that still had boards up against the windows to try to save the property. Some of the homes and businesses were completely destroyed and under water. All you were able to see was the tops of homes. The first day that we were in New Orleans, we went and volunteered at the Salvation Army. The workers gave us a tour and explained how everything works. There were three floors to the Salvation Army. The very top floor was people came to stay if they had a family and had no place to go. They could stay there up to three years. Once they had found a job they had to pay $50 every month and that was considered their rent. Every day they served food to the homeless. First the women came in for the first hour then the men came in. It was a very life changing experience because not everyone is fortunate enough to have a place on their own, clean clothes on their back, and the ability to eat food whenever they want. From what I saw when we were serving food at the Salvation Army, I have learned to not take things for granted and that there are people worse off than me. Our next day in New Orleans, we went and toured the city. We went to eat at Mothers and it was like a home cooked, authentic, New Orleans restaurant. When we went inside to get in line, as soon as you walked through the door it looks very New Orleans. It was very packed and there was a line.  We also went down to the French courters, and there was many different cultures set up down there. The very next day we got up and some of us went and had breakfast downstairs at the hotel. Later on that day, we went and got on our ship to leave for Mexico. Getting on the ship takes a good amount of time. Once we got on the ship we all went to our rooms to put our carry-on luggage down and to go have lunch. There are so many different types of food to eat on the ship. I personally loved the hamburgers and their sandwiches. We went to dinner at 6 o’clock every day and the workers on the ship were from everywhere around the world.  I met someone from Ireland, Sweden, and Indonesia. We were on the boat for a whole day the next day before we got to our first port which was Cozumel Mexico. Everything in Mexico was tax free and inexpensive. The water in Cozumel was very clear and you could see the fish very easily. When we went to our next port which was Progresso Mexico, we planned on doing a missions down there. Once we got off the boat to go to the island, there was a navy boat parked right next to us. Where you have to go inside the store at to get to the main part of the island, there were military standing guard with machine guns. When we saw that we knew then and there that it was very dangerous and that we all needed to stick together. I had a wonderful time on the journey of our trip and I am looking forward to taking another trip with H.O.P.E. and helping people in need because not everyone is as lucky as we are.