Habitat and reverse culture shock
Last week was the Habitat for Humanity trip to Clarksdale, Miss. Habitat was a week of peace, love, and service in the Clarksdale community. We crammed 23 people into a tiny house for a week without fighting. We were welcomed into the community with love, and everyone had the feeling of doing something for the greater good. Yes, it was intense, and at times depressing, but that feeling of doing something right was incredibly uplifting.
Unfortunately, the trip had an end. After bonding for a week with a very special group of people who had shared the same experiences and had been touched in the same ways, we had to return to our old lives that now seem so trivial and stupid.
I think everyone who went on the Habitat trip is experiencing reverse culture shock, trying to fit back in to the old community after experiencing something life-changing. Every one of us is trying to find some way of bringing Clarksdale back with us, be it volunteering at a soup kitchen or finding ways to bridge poverty gaps. Every one of us has changed.
— Bethany Hutchens