TEN DAYS! Wednesday, Apr 20 2011

I cannot believe at this time, in ten days most of us (in the first group) will be on a plane or will have just arrived in New Orleans! I cannot wait! However,  I am not looking forward to waking up at 3:30 am to be able to catch my flight   , though I know it will be worth it.

Other than that, what am I excited about? …. Pretty much everything. Jazz fest, swamp tour, West Ship Island, exploring, getting to know a fantastic group of people, putting all my effort into something I know is helping others. We haven’t found out details of the volunteering we will be doing during the weeks, but I know whatever it is, it will be the most memorable part of this trip. The movies we’ve watched and readings we’ve completed will not compare in the slightest to the learning experience we will have while on New Orleans soil.

I’m also particularly looking forward to our speakers from the New Orleans Food Cooperative. Over the past few years one of the things I’ve taken interest in is food security. I think co-operatives such as this are a great community approach to tackling issues that many people face on a daily basis. Their website noted that… “It could be argued that human cooperation dates back prior to written history–that cooperation is natural, and that the survival of humans was once directly tied to the idea of working together for common welfare. ” While this makes the utter most sense, things today have drifted so far off…

Last summer, I read the book “The Edible City: Toronto’s Food from Farm to Fork”. It was interesting to read about everything that happens locally regarding our food, while many people are so consumed with heading to the nearest Metro or Sobeys to purchase their food, mainly out of convenience. I had no idea about some of the things within our city, but get excited to learn about it and take advantage of it whenever I can.

There’s so much good resting in every community and I think it’s really important to engage and indulge yourself in it. The greatest strength anywhere comes from working together, from being a team, everyone putting in their contribution and creating a whole. I’m really looking forward to working as a team with everyone in New Orleans, to work towards rebuilding their community!

- Shannon K

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Shannon K Tuesday, Dec 7 2010

Hello! My name is Shannon Kaloczi…

I’m in my third year of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson. I grew up in Chatham, Ontario, but have been living in Toronto for just over two years now. I’ve taken interest in a lot of things locally and have seen that Toronto has a lot to offer. I’m interested in community & international development as well as social issues, public art and food security.  I’m very excited to have an experience so related. I applied to go to New Orleans in 2010 but ran into some difficulty and was unable to go, which makes me even more excited to be going in 2011!  

Aside from school I intern with an organization called STEPS Initiative (stepsinitiative.org), and do some volunteering with festivals in Toronto, with Food Share, and with The Stop. Aside from that I guess I’m pretty into music, and always enjoy listening to some good “indie”, folk, acoustic, jazz, or electronic, and love going to shows.

I went on a field trip to the UK in October and had the experience of a lifetime. It was my first time being outside of Canada essentially (I’ve only been to about two cities in Michigan) and I learned so much, and now I can’t stop planning places I want to go. I’m really looking forward to experiencing New Orleans, to learning more about Hurricane Katrina, and seeing first-hand the impacts it had on the city. I’m happy we all get to take part in making a difference, and I cannot wait to gain some construction skills and meet a group of new people.

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