Providence, R.I.--This trip for 13 Providence College students was more than an opportunity to sample sweet beignets and spicy Cajun food, or take in live jazz music played in legendary night spots.
Alongside sampling the food and culture that has defined New Orleans for generations, the group of students spent the week of January 10-17 in the Gulf Coast city refurbishing homes and lending a hand to the homeless, among other service activities.
They volunteered their time as part of PC's NOLA Immersion commitment to rebuild the Hurricane Katrina-scarred city. The trip was sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain/Campus Ministry. The students, Sherry Humes Dane, director of liturgical music at PC, and Meghan Griffiths, campus minister, stayed at the Duchesne House for the week. The residence is run by the Religious Sisters of Sacred Heart.
"It was right in the city, in a neighborhood that is pretty mixed socio-economically and racially," Griffiths said. "It was a great place to stay and gave the students a real feel for New Orleans."
After settling in on Saturday and attending Mass, and touring the city on Sunday, the group got down to work on Monday.
On Monday and Tuesday, the NOLA participants helped a woman continue to rebuild her home by painting the house's first floor. The house had been owned by her father, who drowned during the hurricane in 2005. Throughout the two days spent at the home, the woman, known as "Ms. Lori" to the group, recounted how the hurricane affected her life and the lives of countless others from New Orleans.
"She told us her story to teach us about the importance of faith and how God will bless us for all that we do," recalled Amy Gorzkowski '10 of Enfield, Conn. "It was amazing to see how this woman still had a strong faith since Katrina. I think it was her faith that has helped her reach this point."
After the students finished painting at the house, they worked with a group called Greenlight New Orleans on Wednesday. Greenlight New Orleans is an organization that helps low- and middle-income families and individuals make the switch from incandescent bulbs to energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFL).
The following day, the students managed the showers and phone room at The Harry Tompson Center, a daytime homeless shelter. Later in the day, they volunteered at an adult day care site and at the Crescent House, a shelter for women and children who are the victims of domestic violence.
The students returned to the Tompson Center and collected neighborhood census data in the hardest-hit Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans on the final day of the trip.
Gorzkowski said she chose to participate in the NOLA Immersion to see Katrina's destruction firsthand and help in any way that she could. The experience was extremely impressionable, she said.
"I have learned the importance of family and faith more than anything else from the culture of New Orleans," she said. "Everyone we met considered us to be part of their family after such a short amount of time knowing us, and almost everyone who shared their Katrina story with us mentioned the importance of faith that helped them to get through the struggles."
Peter Vigeant '10 of Saunderstown, R.I., echoed Gorzkowski's sentiments. He said that helping other people "may have been one of the blessed experiences" of his life.
"Most people had nothing to fight for, and they said that they were blessed," he said. "I want to be in their shoes. They recognize what God gives them, and they are thankful for it. I wish all people, including myself, were more like that."
Gorzkowski's and Vigeant's reactions were exactly what Griffiths was hoping the students would take away from the trip when she planned it.
"It can be really depressing because there is still so much work to be done, but I think our students noticed the faith of the people we met," she said. "Despite all the loss and all of the daily struggles, most New Orleanians still believe in the power of community, the generosity of strangers, and the love of a God who cares for all people."
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