Alternate Spring Break Aids Recovery

"We have so much and the people in New Orleans have so little left. Knowing that we brought hope to even one person made every hot, dirty, sticky and tiring part of our work completely worth it."

This comment by Finlandia University Elementary Education junior Kari Noll (Green Bay, Wisc.) is surely echoed by all who have helped the city recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Thousands of college students spent their 2007 spring breaks bringing help and hope to the people of hurricane-stricken New Orleans. Twenty-two of them were from Finlandia University, Hancock, Mich. The 18 students and 4 chaperones spent more than 1,000 combined volunteer-hours helping the ravaged city recover.

"It was a very long and interesting ride down," begins Finlandia Criminal Justice senior Indi Soronen. "We took two vans with 10 in one and 12 in the other." The group left Friday afternoon Feb. 23. Sunday night, Feb. 25, after two and a half full days of driving, they arrived at the New Orleans volunteer camp.

With running water, showers, portable bathrooms, a mess hall and electricity, the camp was more comfortable than Soronen had expected. "We had been told that we would be sleeping in shipping containers, so we imagined ourselves in big metal containers all lined up in our sleeping bags!" she explained. As it turned out, the group did sleep in shipping containers, but they had been remodeled into four- and eight-to-a-room 'mobile bedroom units.'

On Monday, Feb. 26, work day one, the volunteer group received their first assignment. While two students stayed behind to help clean and maintain the camp, the rest headed to a neighborhood in New Orleans Parish to scrape and paint a one-story home. Many of the homes in this neighborhood had originally been built on concrete stilts, so the work needed was not as extensive as elsewhere.

Before they could begin, however, debris from a tornado only two weeks before had to be removed. "The tornado had blown the roof off the home's garage, and completely leveled a house on an adjoining lot," noted participant Rene Johnson, Finlandia director of servant leadership.

"While we were there, one of the neighbors asked if we could do some minor painting to her house as well," Soronen said. "So we repaired and painted two houses." Coincidentally, one of the homeowners had chosen a shade of bright blue paint matching Finlandia's school color.

Thursday, work day four, was the last day to finish what remained to be done on the two homes in New Orleans Parish. "It was supposed to rain in the afternoon so we didn't have much time," Soronen recalled. "It was a good thing we were pretty much done with everything. We checked the houses to make sure we didn't miss any spots and finished up the trim."

A tour of New Orleans revealed the extent of the damage caused by Katrina. "I was very sad and angry about what I saw," commented participant Angela Book, assistant to Finlandia's campus pastor. "It's been a year and a half since Katrina, and some places like the Ninth Ward probably look almost exactly the same as after the city was drained. The damage caused due to the breaking levees was something that could have been prevented."

PTA major Michelle Helminen (Calumet, Mich.) felt that they weren't doing enough while they were in New Orleans, "We saw so many other houses that looked like the Hurricane just hit them. I left with a silent anguish."

On Friday, day five, the group received its second assignment: 'mucking' (gutting) a house. "We wore what looked like 'hazmat' suits with respirator masks, goggles, and protective boots," Soronen noted.

This neighborhood had been under 8-10 feet of water following the disaster explained participant Rene Johnson, Finlandia director of servant leadership. "We removed everything down to the studs, including drywall, wiring, plumbing and every nail from every stud," she said.

"Gutting the house made the biggest impact on me. I felt so good after doing it," reflected Human Services freshman Lucy Regits (Pinckney, Mich.). "Seeing all the houses that were ruined was a shock, so helping out one family like that was great."

One common experience repeatedly spoken of by the group was the numerous anonymous 'thank-yous' offered by New Orleans residents at the work sites, on the freeway, in the shops and restaurants and elsewhere.  "The group was deeply moved by the gestures of gratitude offered to us not only by the home owners but complete strangers," confirmed volunteer and Finlandia Pastor Dr. Philip Johnson.

However, Kari Noll and many of the volunteers expressed the feeling that they could have done more. "We were warned ahead of time not to feel like we didn't do enough when the week was over because other volunteers would take over where we left off. But it still feels like we could've and should've done much more."

"Knowing the amount of time I was giving was just a small part of the bigger picture was humbling," concluded Jessie Millar. "As an outsider, you watch the news and think you see what is going on. But until you see the devastation with your own two eyes you have no idea all that really took place. I would urge everyone to go and help. It was an amazing experience. On the ride home, and ever since the trip, all we can talk about is 'When we go back next year...'"

The "alternate spring break" was organized by the Service Core of the Finlandia Campus Ministry Team, in cooperation with Lutheran Disaster Response, a collaborative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

- Reprinted from the summer 2007 edition of the Bridge