From my son

Got this from my son a few days ago about a similiar trip 10 years ago.


Over 10 years ago, a group, very much like the students from Notre Dame, went to the slums of Hartford Connecticut to help with the Habitat for Humanity effort. During some afternoons, they got off work early to bring books to a local elementary school. The library was relatively bare and the literacy rate among the kids was extremely low, considering they lived in a first world country. The group of high school students were paired up and they read for an hour to the Grade 3 elementary school kids.
On the last day of the trip, the parents of the class we had read to, threw the raggedy bunch of Canadians a going away banquet, with wonderful food, fantastic company and a many teary thank yous. One little grade 3 student came up to his reading buddy at the end of the banquet and he grabbed the high school student by the hand and motioned that he had something to whisper to him. The little man cupped his ear and asked one question; “Can I come with you?” Never before has someone so little made such a profound impact on another life.
You ask what this has to do with you own sons and daughters experience in New Orleans? It is to remind you that this trip has changed them more than might be observed on them coming home or even in the coming months. The little boy in the story whispered this in my ear over ten years ago, and there is many times that I stop and think of the child. I am twenty eight years old and I still think of that trip because of it’s effects. Your sons and daughters may not be able to put everything into words, or they may not seem any different from the experience; but I assure you that when they are twenty eight, they will remember that week in New Orleans.
No two people are alike, no two experiences are alike, but every single one of those students will leave something of theirs in New Orleans, and each of them will take something away. It will be hard for the parents and even the chaperones on the trip to fully understand, but I can assure you that the people, the work, the laughs and tears, will hold a special place within each of them. Like me they will remember that little boy whispering in their ear.
Every one of you should be proud of what you did. It takes courage to have the desire to incite change. You have changed, your chaperones have changed, but most importantly you have changed the lives of those residents from the communities you all met.

Coach Hughes Jr.

God Bless