By Allison Haag
This spring break 12 University students and two faculty members traveled to the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, and improved the lives of the residents of St. Bernard by installing 872 compact florescent light bulbs into 30 homes.
Working with Green Light New Orleans, an environmental organization that addresses climate change and rising energy costs in the New Orleans area, the group of students installed light bulbs that use 75 percent less energy and last ten times longer than regular bulbs to alleviate energy costs in houses there. This will translate into a savings of $45 per bulb in energy costs and over $40,000 total for the residents in the New Orleans area.
The Ninth Ward was one of the areas hit the hardest by Hurricane Katrina and is still in need of rebuilding.
“Imagine Roosevelt Field mall with only ten stores open and the rest are boarded up,” said participant Seidi Quinones, a junior sociology major. “That’s what the community looked like.”
“We went to one area and at one place it was just front steps,” said Bethany Holmander, a junior accounting major.
The group not only saw and helped the homes in surrounding area, but they also visited a community center and an elementary school. At these places they connected with the residents, distributed hot food to citizens in need and worked on art and reading projects with the children, according to Kalsey Butler, a junior speech pathology major.
“At the community center there was one little girl who I spent the whole time with, and when it was time for her to go, she didn’t want to leave. It broke my heart,” said Quinones. “I even carried her to her car and put her in her car seat because she didn’t want to leave.”
According to event coordinator Kimberly Rhyan, the assistant director of Student Leadership and Activities, Community Service and Leadership Development, talking with the younger children as well as the older residents who have lost everything, “allowed college students to be thankful for what they have and what they have been given.”
Another goal of the trip, Rhyan said, on top of providing a service and learning experience, was to make the students put themselves out there, and reach their furthest point of vulnerability. “I would tell them that my job’s not to make you feel comfortable, I want you to stretch.”
At every stage of the trip, the volunteers encountered people who had stories to share about the loss of their homes and their struggle to survive and the journey afterward. Commenting on the damage and loss, Andrea Gouchnauer, a freshman English major said, “You don’t comprehend it until you are there, see it and talk to the people.”
Yet, even with all of the hardship the residents have suffered, Hollander said, “they have such positive attitudes.”
“It’s inspirational,” Butler added. “I want to go back.”