Both the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS) and the Tufts Christian Fellowship (TCF) led trips to New Orleans over spring break this year to help with the city's long recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
The LCS trip, coordinated by senior Preston Dickey, connected 24 Tufts students with the American Red Cross and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a national group that advocates for low and middle income communities.
Four of the five days of the LCS trip were spent in Saint Bernard Parish, one of the parts of New Orleans most devastated by Katrina. While there, they repaired houses and did on-site assessments.
"We were going around, on site, in St. Bernard Parish trying to assess people's recovery status and helping them essentially connect with case workers so they could find the funding necessary to rebuild," Dickey said.
Dickey also found work for the group through Tufts connections. "We have a pretty good alumni network in New Orleans, so they really helped us find work while we were down there," he said.
Junior Tim Boire, who also went on the trip, said that it was a valuable experience. "I had never been to New Orleans. It definitely feels good knowing you are making a good use of your time," he said.
Despite doing hard labor for several days, the students remained energetic. "It was a long week and we were working a ton, but people would sit around for hours just telling their stories of what they heard from Katrina survivors they met that day," Dickey said. "No one could say enough."
"It was really disheartening to hear [about] people still struggling to get funding to move back into their houses," Boire said.
As a result of the trip, both plan to do more to help with the recovery process. Dickey plans to move to New Orleans after he graduates, and Boire would like to return.
Still, Dickey said that a lot more can be done. "I don't think we are having enough discourse on Katrina, or more broadly, how the government deals with disasters in America or internationally," he said.
On the other New Orleans trip, 2006 alums Greg Murphy and Alex Nesbeda led over 20 TCF volunteers to help with the construction of Musicians' Village, a community that is meant to bring displaced musicians back to the city.
Habitat for Humanity and musicians Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis are sponsoring its construction. The InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, an interdenominational campus ministry organization, connected the volunteers with the project.
This was the second consecutive year that TCF led a trip to New Orleans. "We had a group last year and just loved it. The relief work was probably the most rewarding environment I've ever been in," Murphy said.
Lagging reconstruction efforts helped motivate the group to return this year. "They say it is going to take seven to 10 years to get New Orleans back to where it was before Katrina," Nesbeda said. "We wanted to be part of that effort."
On site, Tufts students worked building houses with other volunteers from Wellesley College and Franklin Pierce College.
At night, TCF leaders had students focus on the connection between justice, faith and service. "We wanted people to think more deeply about the work they were doing and how it affects their lives," Nesbeda said.
She said that she was pleased with the maturity of the students involved. "I was really encouraged by the fact that people from the whole Tufts community participated and were willing to talk about faith," she said. "I was really impressed by the students and how they handled the trip. It's a service project so the accommodations weren't so great, but they handled it well."
TCF hopes to return, Nesbeda said. "I feel like we will probably end up going back again," she said.
