Providing relief
STUDENTS RETURN TO HELP KATRINA VICTIMS
March 23, 2006
Alison Madden
This reading break, over 120 students and staff traveled to Canada, the United States, and Ethiopia to serve others in need. This was the largest number ever to go on missions trips during the week-long break from classes.
The trips focused on the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief effort, building homes with Habitat for Humanity, inner-city ministry in Chicago, and assisting various social justice support groups in Ethiopia.
One team stayed in Covington, LA, traveling across Lake Pontchartrain everyday to gut houses located in St. Bernard’s Parish of New Orleans, clean up the garbage that covers many of the city streets, and remove fallen trees from properties.
“Everything still looks the same as it was before,” said Pierre Bruneau, a first-year student who was a member of a TWU team that went to Louisiana in the fall.
The team also roofed the house of an elderly couple whose house was damaged when three trees fell on it after the storm had passed. The completion of the roof has allowed the residents to move out of an emergency trailer and back into their restored house.
Two other teams stayed in Gretna and worked with Samaritan’s Purse, a non-denominational evangelical Christian organization. Wearing Tyvek suits and respirators to block mould spores and toxins, teams worked on “mud-outs,” houses that had three to four inches of mud inside the house.
Four teams traveled to Calgary, Hawaii, Fresno, and Sacramento to work with local Habitat for Humanity chapters. The purpose of Habitat is to work with homeowners to build affordable homes.
The international Calgary team was comprised of Chinese, Korean, and North American students. The Hawaii team started from scratch on a modular home for a multi-generational family. They mixed 2400 lbs of concrete by hand, poured the foundation and framed the house. The hard work of the Fresno team brought a house that was several weeks behind up to schedule.
In Sacramento, one team worked in extremely muddy conditions digging ditches for sewer lines, and landscaped around a finished home.
The Chicago team worked with inner-city organizations, ministering and volunteering with young children and teens. They painted inside a homeless shelter and helped to clean a local Salvation Army. This team was invited to lead a youth group night, for which they prepared a Canadian theme and exposed the youth to Canadian culture through poutine sampling, indoor hockey, and a lesson on facts about Canada.
Members of TWU’s International Social Justice Club traveled to Ethiopia. Along with university students in Bahir Dar, students worked with three fledging organizations. “Redefining Life” sought to provide housing, schooling, and food for ten of the two to three thousand homeless kids. Supporting one child for a full year, costs only $100.
The team also shared information about TWU’s prostitution ministry with an organization called “The Sisters,” which provides young girls the support they need to avoid or escape child prostitution.
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