I want to start this blog with a beautiful quote said by Barack Obama, "The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don't wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope." I choose this quote because it summarizes the whole purpose of Raider Service Breaks. To be very honest with you, I decided to go on this trip thinking it's New Orleans and who would miss this chance and while I am at it I could do something that will help someone and I get the chance to meet new people as well. But, through this trip, I learnt a lot of things about myself, the community, how people who suffered through the hurricane felt and survived and POWERTOOLS!! I also learned one more thing that if my pursued career doesn't work out, my backup plan is in construction. So, I would like to share a little glimpse of my incredible trip with some fantastic people and an organization that valued helping others.
January 5th, our first day of the trip... man that was a very long day especially when you have travelling sickness!! We started our day at 6 in the morning, and I was joined by Jacy (the bad navigator), Levi (The driver), Ana (the gamer), Deann (the binge watcher). After a few hours of driving, sleeping and bathroom breaks, we reached Dallas to pick up Alex (the makeup queen). For the first time in my life, I got to see Buc-ee's which was like amazing it's like a mini Walmart! Anyway, after 14 long hours of driving we finally reach New Orleans and then we get settled in the bunkhouse.
On the second day, we worked for a nonprofit organization called Youth Rebuild New Orleans (YRNO). Their mission is to reconstruct and remodel the houses which were affected by Hurricane Katrina around New Orleans; then they sell the homes to the local teachers. We arrived on the worksite a little bit before 9, and we saw a group of people in shorts in 40-degree weather from Wisconsin. I was super excited to work with Marquette and meet new people and make new friends! John, our project manager warmly welcomed all of us, and we played a name game which I sucked at. Then, we split into small groups, and in my group, we had Ana, Deann, Lilly and Ray (our youth leader) to work in the attic. In the beginning, I felt a bit left out because I didn't know what to do, but after lunch, I felt much better because I knew what I was doing, and I learnt how to use the drill which was amazing!! When we started drilling the pieces of plywood to the ceiling, initially I was a bit scared walking through a single plank of loose wood. I didn't know that moving heavy wooden planks around, drilling and crawling in the attic would be fun!
The next morning, we were all sore and excited to continue working. We went back to the house and continued working on cutting the wood, working on the walls and attic. After the first half of the day, we were scheduled to go on a swamp tour which I was super excited for, but sadly our guide had a heart attack, and our trip got cancelled. If you are wondering, we did hear from the tour guide that he is alright! Now, we still have a whole day left ahead of us. What shall we do? We decided to go to the French Quarter and visit the Presbytere museum, which was about Hurricane Katrina and Beyond exhibit tells of rescue, rebuilding and renewal. We also had enough time to walk around and visit the gift shops and eat the world-famous Cafe du Monde's beignets which were heavenly!!
The fourth days come around and John, who had worked with the organization for many years showed us some accomplishments achieved by the organization. He took us to some of the houses they successfully rebuilt and sold and even explained how they maintained the price as low as possible. Not only that, YRNO built these houses environmentally friendly. Keeping the dynamics of the city, as it's made on the swamp, and prevent it from drowning they have used a recyclable plastic called Truegrid Pavers which is similar to the drainage system which absorbs floodwaters with zero runoff and can store up to 50 gallons of water. Watching the beautiful houses and listening to John's passion for helping the community inspired me to be more involved in my community back home.
Later, that day after the tour we went to the gorgeous and colorful Ms. Gloria's garden!! We met this wonderful and charming lady called Ms. Gloria and helped her for two days. On the first day, she wanted us to paint some buckets so I, Ana, and Deann painted the buckets black and white. Do let me tell you it was hard, and I learnt that I couldn't have a career as a painter, I got paint all over my hands, legs and face but Gloria loved our buckets, so I felt good! The next day, I decided to stay far away from paint and decided to help Sarah and Aaron with the fence. We had to use a Sawzall to cut down the posts and remove the fencing, which was terrific because of another big check on learning a power tool! We also cut some plywood sculptures which Gloria had drawn using a jigsaw.
On the last day, we were all sad, but we had fun installing the windows. First, we pulled up the windows from the ground and placed them in their respective hole, then drilled them in and secured them with a tape that prevented the water from coming in. Seeing the house with windows made a difference as it looked so much more complete.
Whether if it was walking down the French Quarter and eating beignets, watching Sarah and Levi's happy face after eating a Po'boy, or painting in Ms. Gloria's garden, I enjoyed every moment of this wonderful trip with wonderful and helpful friends that I will cherish for life. I am so grateful to Texas Tech RSB and YRNO for giving me this opportunity. This trip brought out a new side of me that I didn't know existed. I can gladly say that I would take this trip again and again, I can't wait to go back and volunteer with YRNO and Ms. Gloria to help improve the communities in need!
-Rhadika Patel