Spring break was a blessing to several ETSU students this year. Even though it was for one week, they were able to make maximum use of their time. They traveled for hours on the road to Pensacola, Fla., for a worthy cause, just to show their love and caring to the least fortunate in our society.
Meet the group of ETSU students who went on the mission trip: Dan Meyer, Johnson Matthew, George Naholi, Daniel Smith, RJ Powell, Shauda, Katherine Silvey, Kathyrn Shanks, Daniella Boone, Seong Han Jeong and Jim Kirkpatrick.
They were able to bring and leave smiling faces to those who had been hit by and suffered as a result of the hurricanes in Florida last summer. The mission trip was carried under the auspices of the Presbyterian church and particularly Presbyterian Student Fellowship under the leadership of Director Jim Kirkpatrick. The team of 11 was housed by a Presbyterian church for their one week stay at Pensacola.
The group found out how people had been rendered homeless as a result of their houses being swept away by the hurricane.
“The victims have had to readjust, and some have started their lives all over again since what belonged to them is all gone,” Matthew said.
The main aim of the mission trip was to help in the reconstruction of the houses and structures destroyed by the hurricanes that hit in mid-September 2004 and destroyed a large part of the state’s infrastructure.
“Right from the time we arrived in Pensacola, we started off the duties of reconstruction and cleaning up as had been arranged by the Presbyterian church,” Naholi said. He said that their work involved cutting down trees that had fallen on the roofs of houses and removing logs of wood and the general debris that littered the compounds. In some instances, the group pulled down structures that were about to fall and in a state of disrepair. They also carried the debris to the right disposal place.
“It was really breathtaking to see how people appreciate the little things you do for them. I thought it was useless, but to them it was so important that they kept thanking us so much for whatever little work we did,” Han Jeong said.
The group learned a lot about how people suffer when natural calamities strike them. The team advised fellow students to offer their services whenever possible.
“It’s good to help people, especially the old people who don’t have anyone else to help them,” Han Jeong said. The group said that it brought them so much happiness to help get people’s lives back on track.
“The community of Pensacola received us with warmth and humility, and in some cases offered soft drinks despite our protestations that we had carried enough,” Matthew said.
The group said they were joined by the elderly people who wanted to give a helping hand in the work despite their frail health. “We were humbled by their generosity and their sense of appreciation of the little we had put in,” Naholi said.
The group affirmed that the trip was an eye opener as they were able to know and take into account how small acts matter a lot. “What we did down in Pensacola was nothing compared to the damage done by the hurricanes, but the way people appreciated our work left us dumbfounded to the extreme,” Naholi said. “It was heart touching to see how they appreciated whatever little we did.”
The group posed a challenge to everyone: Never take what we have been blessed with for granted, especially little things that we find have no value may be gold to another person. Like the old adage goes, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
“In Pensacola, the hurricane destroyed houses, electricity, water pipes, vegetation and generally left people in a state of shock and despair,” Matthew said.
According to the group, the victims of the catastrophe recounted the events that destabilized their lives as if it were happening today. “Trees fell on houses, and houses were brought down, winds blew off the roofs from the houses and there was so much debris all over the compounds,” Han Jeong said.
The group also found out that some residents moved from their houses and are now living in trailers. Pensacola, which is in Northwest Florida, is a medium-sized city of about 300,000 people. According to the group nearly, 10,000 people or more were affected by the hurricane.

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