Habitat for Humanity 2007

New Orleans

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Houses lay shattered with their contents still scattered across the landscape. This is the New Orleans 19 Concordia students and one faculty leader saw on their recent Habitat for Humanity trip. Samantha Schmidt ’09 says the city looked like a war torn country.

“Seeing the sadness and destruction and the despair of the New Orleans people was so hard, yet so humbling,” Schmidt says. “But even above this was the hope that I saw.”

The Concordia group stayed with 382 other volunteers from around the world at Camp Hope. In this weeklong experience they put up fences, painted, placed baseboards and helped build houses. Jenna Zirbel ’08, a student leader, says she and the students loved seeing the progress they made each day.

“There is so much work to be done in the New Orleans area, so it was encouraging to see that every effort helps to rebuild the city,” Zirbel says.

Service wasn’t the only part of their experience. They got to take a walk down Bourbon Street, take the Ghost Tour through the French Quarter and as a special surprise, were given free tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert. But the students, like Latoya Gruys ’08, say the biggest highlight of the trip was helping others.

“I loved being a part of something where the goal is to improve the lives of others,” Gruys says. “It was fun to come to work everyday and leave seeing the progress we made.”

Zirbel and Schmidt say they both came away with a new perspective of the world and a desire to meet the needs of people in the Fargo-Moorhead community as well.

“This trip influenced me as a student because as Cobbers we are called to serve others,” Schmidt says. “Not only did I serve others, but the kind people of New Orleans ended up teaching and serving me.”