Environmental Disaster and Response

Welcome aboard! Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride! Next stop–McAllen, Texas. After a slight delay in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, we arrived in McAllen, Texas. At our arrival,Project Director Larry, along with Mennonite Disaster Service volunteer Roger, were waiting to transport us to the First Methodist Church in Weslaco where we are staying for … Keep reading »

Going to a place where you have never been before and doing things that are unfamiliar can be quite scary. But besides this feeling, there is also something else that you look forward to and that is excitement. This is how I felt when I first signed up for this May term. I was excited … Keep reading »

Upon arriving in Marianna, Florida we were greeted by the long term Mennonite Disaster Service volunteers. After being introduced to crew leaders, cooks, and an office manager we were given a rundown of what a typical work day looked like. It consisted of waking up at 6:15 a.m to make lunch and be ready for … Keep reading »

Every experience on this trip has been extraordinary. Adapting to a new environment has been a challenge and I have never relied on my faith more than the test of this trip. Mennonite Disaster Service kindly offered us housing during our two weeks of volunteering. Living in very close proximity to others for a long … Keep reading »

After two long weeks of doing service work with MDS we headed to Ellijay, Georgia. Over the past two weeks we worked hard every day getting up at 6 am and eating breakfast at 7 then heading to the work site. We had a strict schedule which we had to stick to every day and … Keep reading »

The weeks leading up to our trip to Florida consisted of long routine days with piles of assignments and studying. The weather was also fairly gloomy and fluctuated between the low 40s to 60s. A break from Indiana was definitely much needed and all I wanted to do was leave Indiana, therefore I failed to … Keep reading »

One of the goals of this course is to understand social responsibility and analyze from the place of empathy. We volunteered for two weeks to build houses for families that need help to recover after Hurricane Michael. Meeting with leaders of disaster recovery organizations gave us insight regarding the magnitude of the devastation and we learned … Keep reading »

As a 5’10, 150 pound, 19 year old whose hips are as about as messed up as they can get outside of giving birth due to sports injuries, I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything deemed “heroic.” That was until Thursday night, when we were driving down the highway after finishing a house dedication for a … Keep reading »

At MDS in Marianna, Florida, volunteers can actually help out in more ways than just constructing houses. The kitchen is in need of hands just like the job site is, and is equally as labor intensive. Where those on the job site eat breakfast and dinner back at the base camp, it is the duty … Keep reading »

After a full week of house building and volunteer work, the group took a weekend trip to unwind and relax. Many of the student’s favorite part of the weekend was getting the opportunity to sleep in. For lunch, we enjoyed a delightful Mexican meal catered by San Marcos Mexican Grill. Shortly after lunch, the group … Keep reading »