For today’s class we had to read part 4 of The Book Of The Poor. This section was titled “Lets Do Something”.  This really stuck out to me as I am coming back from spring break. This is because I spent my spring break working in Colorado with victims of the flood that happened back in 2013. After eight days of having to help people clean scraps up from all around their broken homes, pull water damaged insulation out from underneath houses, offices, churches, etc., cleanup miles of devastated land and broken rivers and streams, and help people try to move on from losing everything, this chapter really stuck out to me. Specifically Chapter 32 titled. “Our Evolving Standard of Decency”. It stresses the importance of understanding the word decency and being able to look at our past and future and use the knowledge collected from both resourcefully to make things work. I knew nothing about Colorado or its people and I had no real connection to what I was doing upon arrival. However, by the first day I knew that I was glad I was there to help. I was shocked at how devastated the land was and how little I had even heard of the flood back when it had happened. Entire neighborhoods, towns, etc. had been effected by water damage and flooding. Some of the devastation was mind-blowing. It was hard to believe that water could be powerful enough to collapse homes, and uproot cement sidewalks. There were people who had been away rom their homes for months and had no real idea when they were going to be able to move back in. There were entire trailer parks that were completely destroyed, but because the government wouldn’t label them as lost causes, they were not being taken care of. Everything was just rotting and beginning to pollute neighboring towns. I was astonished at how much was being done and how much more still had to be taken care of. The work was hard especially because everything was frozen. But the people who we met were so grateful, that they really did instill this new idea of “decency” in all of our hearts. It was heartbreaking to see how hopeless some of them had been when we had first arrived. However, every time we accomplished something new there was a visible change in the way that the people in the town began to react to their own situations. In the book, author Kenan Heise breaks down the meaning of decency as, “Technically, decency’s Latin root, decus, means what is fitting, what is honorable, what is of human worth.”(pg. 132) As complete strangers we had to come into peoples homes and help them pick up the bits and pieces of their lives. We had a schedule while also having to remain sensitive to their needs and emotions. While doing so they made an effort to help us to get to know their town and their history, they introduced us to as many members of the community as possible, they fed us, made sure we were taken care of, and were constantly thanking us. All in all, it was one of the more meaningful examples of human worth and decency that I have gotten to be a part of. I am glad that this was the reading that I got to do upon my arrival home from Colorado. It really solidified the whole experience for me and I am excited to discuss it in class.