It was a trip during University, organized completely by a small group of us students, to head to New Orleans and help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

We did all the fundraising, made all the necessary arrangements and spent two days driving down there. It was planned around our spring break, which also happened to coincide with the Mardi Gras festival.

Good timing on our part.

No amount of pep talks and videos beforehand could prepare us for what we found when we got there. Since the city was shutdown for two days, we spent those days walking… and connecting with people. Those two days told us everything we needed to know about the city.

The city has a life and it dwells within the people. They were proud of where they lived, upset about what happened to it and disappointed at the response to rebuild it. The hardest was watching one woman break down in tears wondering why people from Canada came down to help with her house before her own neighbours would (immediate and areas around Louisiana).

A deck of cards and a few magic props opened up entire neighbourhoods we were warned to stay clear of for our safety. We heard even more amazing stories.

Spending time walking the streets of the city gave you more history than a textbook could, insight into its culture more than a lecture could handle and a deep understanding of people that no test could ever do.

Sometimes, if you want to learn the truth, you need to walk with the people.