life is here, here is life.

The days since last have passed quickly since my previous online posting; my habit nowadays seems to be one of which the expression of my thoughts and plans for future actions are described to those whom I speak to more frequently (in person). Other than this, I have also been keeping written records of ideas obtained and what not when the occasion merits.

After yet another semester back in the clutches of a functional university educational environment, I am back home in Houston, though briefly until early June when I depart once again for Việt Nam--this time, I will be in Sài Gòn for the duration with the general purposes of qualitatively researching education issues and hopefully interning with those affected with HIV/AIDS.

Two weeks before, I was back in New Orleans to volunteer--primarily with Boat People SOS, an organization purporting to aid those in the Vietnamese community affected by Katrina. This time around, I was with a group of four others: two from Texas A&M like myself, one from Baylor, and another from the University of Texas. Though I cannot generalize my experience into a few brief words, I will say that this most recent visit was very worthwhile and perhaps substantially more educational than the last in terms of in-depth discussions with a 'different side' of New Orleans. It turns out that I never did actually survey any women over the age of forty to raise awareness about breast cancer while there; what I did help in doing was convince Vietnamese business owners in the area to fork over funds for a free health fair to be given by BPSOS (with so many sponsors of the fair, I question the need for these additional funds and our methods for obtaining them). From these experiences with this particular non-profit organization, I may have decided that I would now instead work to create a for-profit non-governmental organization in the future as a way to have a freer range of operations not limited by what donors and grants would allow the money to be used for.

On another note, life in the Ninth Ward seems to be functioning--the people continue to live with their daily hardships and hopes, the yellow school bus runs to drop off the children at their homes, the McDonald's is still a bustling place where the youth gather, and there are still plenty of places to make U-turns. Some homes still lie in ruin, while other homes are undergoing the slow process of reconstruction. Common Ground has planted a vegetable garden of sorts to remove toxins from the soil, the blue house has moved to the one next door, some reconstruction efforts are underway to return the homes to the former residents, and a filming crew interviewed Malik. While volunteering there again, I did happen to meet two other groups of short-term volunteers: two individuals from Philadelphia and a group of students from Marquette who were there previously in March.

In regards to the rest of this blue-collar city, the mall on the other side of the river is undergoing a process of bulldozing, and tourism is dismal even on Bourbon Street despite the frequent commercials the city airs on television. The Superdome roof reconstruction, which reportedly cost $300 million, is complete, and there are a few businesses in town with grand re-opening signs. There is word among some locals that the lack of visitors is attributed to the fear of the hurricane season; in fact, many businesses do not bother to remain open late. Furthermore, there is the opinion that if another natural disaster comes through, the same will happen again if the city continues on without attracting in the technology and industry sectors.