2008 Woodie Awards
Students return from Katrina relief trip
Krystel Pakitsos
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Campus Life
Members of the Campus Christians who ventured to Mississippi over spring break to help rebuild communities that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina returned with a changed outlook.
"One of the things that I took from the trip the most was going down there and seeing these people who literally had everything they own, their lives, destroyed by the hurricane," Adam Reynolds, member of Campus Christians, said. "They had nothing, yet to see their hope and their optimism was really encouraging to me. It makes you look at your life and think things aren't so bad."
The group was sent through the International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES) and made many advances in rebuilding the community. They separated into groups to work on different sections of the houses being rebuilt. Reynolds' group built the entire skeleton of a 14-foot-high storage barn from ground up. Aside from the barn, Richard Jett, campus minister, listed all that they accomplished.
"We were able to hang drywall in one house, mud and texture two houses, put siding on one house, built a deck on another, and pour concrete for the foundation pillars of another," Jett said.
Although the demolished community is in Pearlington, Miss., the group stayed at a church in Slidell, La. Some brought air mattresses while others brought pillows and blankets and slept on the floor. Reynolds explained that even though they weren't sleeping in beds, they still got a good night's sleep.
"It wasn't bad," Reynolds said. "I think at the end of the day you were so tired from working that you didn't care. You're too tired to notice."
Reynolds says that on nights that they didn't go directly to sleep they would stay up and play cards or talk.
"There are people in our group that I don't get to talk to on a regular basis," Reynolds said. "So it was cool to be able to get closer to the people in our group. But it was also cool to get to know some of the people down there and hear their stories."
The group not only aided in rebuilding homes, they also helped with a community-wide fish fry.
"There were close to 300 or more people who came through," Jett said. This was one of the first times everybody and the community had gathered together."
Reynolds says the group goes on a mission trip during every spring break. If IDES returns to Mississippi next year, the group would most likely return. He encourages other people to get involved.
"Obviously, we are working through a Christian organization but I would encourage people just to go down there no matter what your outlook is on religion," Reynolds said. "It's hard to comprehend what happened down there unless you just go."
"One of the things that I took from the trip the most was going down there and seeing these people who literally had everything they own, their lives, destroyed by the hurricane," Adam Reynolds, member of Campus Christians, said. "They had nothing, yet to see their hope and their optimism was really encouraging to me. It makes you look at your life and think things aren't so bad."
The group was sent through the International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES) and made many advances in rebuilding the community. They separated into groups to work on different sections of the houses being rebuilt. Reynolds' group built the entire skeleton of a 14-foot-high storage barn from ground up. Aside from the barn, Richard Jett, campus minister, listed all that they accomplished.
"We were able to hang drywall in one house, mud and texture two houses, put siding on one house, built a deck on another, and pour concrete for the foundation pillars of another," Jett said.
Although the demolished community is in Pearlington, Miss., the group stayed at a church in Slidell, La. Some brought air mattresses while others brought pillows and blankets and slept on the floor. Reynolds explained that even though they weren't sleeping in beds, they still got a good night's sleep.
"It wasn't bad," Reynolds said. "I think at the end of the day you were so tired from working that you didn't care. You're too tired to notice."
Reynolds says that on nights that they didn't go directly to sleep they would stay up and play cards or talk.
"There are people in our group that I don't get to talk to on a regular basis," Reynolds said. "So it was cool to be able to get closer to the people in our group. But it was also cool to get to know some of the people down there and hear their stories."
The group not only aided in rebuilding homes, they also helped with a community-wide fish fry.
"There were close to 300 or more people who came through," Jett said. This was one of the first times everybody and the community had gathered together."
Reynolds says the group goes on a mission trip during every spring break. If IDES returns to Mississippi next year, the group would most likely return. He encourages other people to get involved.
"Obviously, we are working through a Christian organization but I would encourage people just to go down there no matter what your outlook is on religion," Reynolds said. "It's hard to comprehend what happened down there unless you just go."
Be the first to comment on this story