College students follow up on post-Katrina work
01/13/2008 08:50
Returning to New Orleans, Mount Saint Mary students
follow up on post-Katrina work
College students follow up on post-Katrina work
By Meghan E. Murphy
Times Herald-Record
January 13, 2008
NEW ORLEANS, La. — Eric Conklin remembers the moment gutting a home after Hurricane Katrina became poignant. Two years ago, he and other Mount Saint Mary's students dug the mud-covered belongings of families from a residence. Then, the family returned, seeing nature's destruction for the first time.
"One woman broke down in tears and, all of the sudden, what we were doing had meaning. It wasn't just a house: we were affecting people's lives," he says.
Today, Conklin and three others will return to that site to discover what has happened. He and 19 college students led by the college chaplain the Rev. Mark Connell are returning to New Orleans for a weeklong mission trip. What students worked to clean up two years ago, they will now rebuild.
Newspapers and television broadcasts bring bad news from the Katrina recovery efforts: Top leaders have resigned, families still live in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers, and violence broke out at a recent housing meeting. But the students and chaperones want to see the reality with their own eyes and help with their own hands.
Throughout the week, they will work in soup kitchens and hammer back together homes. They will live in a Catholic Charities shelter where plumbing and lights are reportedly a problem. They will work with New Windsor's Presentation Sisters to feed and clothe survivors.
And each night, they will come together to reflect and journal about their experiences.
The trip isn't simply a volunteer mission, it's an educational opportunity, Connell says.
"We're learning more about society and what life is like down South. We're learning more about other people and lifestyles ... we sit down and discuss why something is the way it is," Conklin said.
The students will blog about their experience daily for the Times Herald-Record. Read their blog at www.recordonline.com.
mmurphy@th-record.com
College students follow up on post-Katrina work
By Meghan E. Murphy
Times Herald-Record
January 13, 2008
NEW ORLEANS, La. — Eric Conklin remembers the moment gutting a home after Hurricane Katrina became poignant. Two years ago, he and other Mount Saint Mary's students dug the mud-covered belongings of families from a residence. Then, the family returned, seeing nature's destruction for the first time.
"One woman broke down in tears and, all of the sudden, what we were doing had meaning. It wasn't just a house: we were affecting people's lives," he says.
Today, Conklin and three others will return to that site to discover what has happened. He and 19 college students led by the college chaplain the Rev. Mark Connell are returning to New Orleans for a weeklong mission trip. What students worked to clean up two years ago, they will now rebuild.
Newspapers and television broadcasts bring bad news from the Katrina recovery efforts: Top leaders have resigned, families still live in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers, and violence broke out at a recent housing meeting. But the students and chaperones want to see the reality with their own eyes and help with their own hands.
Throughout the week, they will work in soup kitchens and hammer back together homes. They will live in a Catholic Charities shelter where plumbing and lights are reportedly a problem. They will work with New Windsor's Presentation Sisters to feed and clothe survivors.
And each night, they will come together to reflect and journal about their experiences.
The trip isn't simply a volunteer mission, it's an educational opportunity, Connell says.
"We're learning more about society and what life is like down South. We're learning more about other people and lifestyles ... we sit down and discuss why something is the way it is," Conklin said.
The students will blog about their experience daily for the Times Herald-Record. Read their blog at www.recordonline.com.
mmurphy@th-record.com