A group of students from Ouachita reached out to a New Orleans community still in need of housing. The group was in Louisiana from Jan. 5-10, working alongside Habitat for Humanity in a neighborhood called the Musicians’ Village.
Click here for an audio slide show of the trip
Campus Ministries sponsored the trip, and James Taylor and Terese Cox accompanied 17 students. It was the second trip for many, who had gone the January before to work in the same area.
“We worked in the same area as last year but a street over,” junior Cami Jones said. “I just remember walking up the street and seeing the houses we worked on and people living in them now. It was just a really cool moment to see that. I got goosebumps.”
This year, Jones helped put finishing touches on houses, like painting, installing windows and caulking.
“We worked on three houses that were pretty near completion,” said junior Barry McCaskill, who was also there his second time. “One of the ladies was even moving things in while we were working. We put up new chain link … laid some sod in the front yards and worked on porches.”
Although Hurricane Katrina was nearly three and a half years ago, the loss of jobs and homes has made rebuilding a slow process.
“The thing is it’s a real poor neighborhood to begin with,” Jones said. “All of the jobs were wiped away, so they don’t have money to rebuild houses. You hear a lot of bad rep on news, but there’s lots of good stuff going on too and definitely a need.”
During the group’s five-day trip, Oak Park Baptist Church housed and fed them. And while less than half the students returned for a second trip, both Jones and McCaskill said they would go again.
“It was encouraging last year to see my friends and students around me give up their break and go down and serve,” McCaskill said. “Last year we had some unexpected bumps … and even through those difficulties nobody had a bad attitude.”
Their service in New Orleans not only affected the students and New Orleans residents, but reached out to fellow workers.
“I think a lot of groups come down and may or may not want to be there and that’s evident in their effort,” McCaskill said. “To see everybody working so hard from a Baptist university definitely planted a seed … for the people in charge to see how hard and how much we care.”
“There’s just such a need down there and there’s going to be a need for years and decades to come,” Jones said. “To be a part of something so big is a really cool experience.
