Nicodemus Wilderness Project
Nicodemus Wilderness Project
About Us Projects Education Links Volunteers Membership  
Nicodemus Wilderness Project

 
 

NWP Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists - Bay St. Louis, Lagniappe, Mississippi, USA

« ++ ·
http://www.wildernessproject.org/apprentice_ecologist/data/500/thumbs/6569656965696569656965696569656965696569l_4e5ece0978bc9d53c5bd99da056f1536_1_.jpg
<<
http://www.wildernessproject.org/apprentice_ecologist/data/500/thumbs/6471647164716471647164716471647164716471ivy_012.jpg
<
http://www.wildernessproject.org/apprentice_ecologist/data/500/thumbs/6453645364536453645364536453645364536453H4H_Bay_St_Louis.jpg
·
http://www.wildernessproject.org/apprentice_ecologist/data/500/thumbs/6440644064406440644064406440644064406440trash_clean.JPG
>
http://www.wildernessproject.org/apprentice_ecologist/data/500/thumbs/6085608560856085608560856085608560856085100_1737.JPG
>>
· ++ »

Bay St. Louis, Lagniappe, Mississippi, USA
(Click on photo to view larger image)

cindy812



Registered: October 2009
City/Town/Province: Chicago
Posts: 1
View this Member's Photo Gallery
Look, look! There I am. The girl on the top stair on the left closest to the “711” on the post. You can’t tell behind our smiling faces, but we’re all really exhausted. This was the spring break of senior year I spent devoted to the Habitat for Humanity club at my school while all my other friends flew off to far and exotic places to vacation and relax, not that I was bitter, much. It was decided that this year we’d go to the Bay St. Louis area of Lagniappe, Mississippi to build a new home for a victim of Katrina. I know, fabulous isn’t it? That was my mindset before we drove through town. Seeing the wreckage that Hurricane Katrina left after the path she tore through this little town really humbled me. It wasn’t such a big deal that I came from a big city and was “wasting my break” when I could be in Cancun. I knew I couldn’t do much, but I could lend a hand, be a friend, and give a leg-up to those who had to start from scratch.
The first day on the job, I was miserable. It was freezing and we had to wake up at six in the morning, during Spring Break! I was a whiny, spoiled, complaining, well, brat basically. I could only think of myself and my own needs, but it only took a couple hours of heavy lifting and woodwork to make me realize the fact that I had a home to return to after a long day’s work. Where does that leave the victims of Hurricane Katrina? Cold and alone and without a home to return to until who knows when. I knew I couldn’t just give up on them. Each day I returned afterwards, I found less to complain about, and more to be grateful for. I was grateful for the opportunity to feel a sense of community, of how we all came together in a time of need. I was grateful for the lesson much needed in appreciating how lucky I am to have the things I have. I was grateful for all the new friends I made during this week-long trip away from home. I was grateful for being able to help someone in need and be appreciated for my efforts. To take part in building someone’s new home means there will forever remain a memory of you within their walls. The memories of this trip I will remember forever just like the walls we came together to build as a team will remember our efforts.
So maybe I didn’t get a fabulous tan back from the shores of Cancun, or a fantastic pair of heels back from a boutique in Paris, but what I did bring back with me was worth so much more than the materialistic things I yearned for prior to the trip. I took part in bettering a life, in bettering humanity. I don’t know whether it was while installing hurricane reinforcement rods or cleaning up the land after our home was complete that made me say on the first day back to class that, “I had an awesome Spring Break!”
Date: October 17, 2009 Views: 6440 File size: 18.7kb, 66.3kb : 453 x 604
Hours Volunteered: 240
Volunteers: 30
Authors Age & Age Range of Volunteers: 18 & 16 to 40
Print View