News > January 24, 2008

By Blake Brittain | Staff writer

While the majority of university students were relaxing at home over winter break, a few more charitably minded Deacons had life-changing experiences serving others in Mississippi and India. Over the break, 11 students traveled to Calcutta, India to work with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity by changing beds, bathing patients, and feeding and comforting the sick.

Also over the break, 18 students associated with the Baptist Student Union and Catholic Community drove to the Gulf Coast town of Pearlington, Miss., to assist the Hurricane Katrina relief effort by finishing the construction of several homes there.

“This was my third trip to Pearlington, and I have fallen in love with the people and the community,” Mary Little, a BSU member and junior religion major from Marion, N.C., said.

“It is harder and harder for me to come back to school because while I see progress has been made, I know how much is left to be done.”

While Hurricane Katrina first struck the Gulf Coast over two years ago in August 2005, those who have helped with the rebuilding process say there is still a great amount of work that needs to be done in the area.

“Seeing the FEMA trailers, large debris, and the knowledge that E. coli is still present in the water 28 months after Katrina put the trip in perspective for me, and I dare say for each one of us,” Little said.

“The trip definitely changes your perspective on many things, especially how truly blessed that I am to be a student at Wake Forest,” Pete Mikeal, a BSU member and senior religion major from Raleigh, N.C., said. According to those who went on the Gulf Coast service trip, smaller areas such as Pearlington are often overlooked in the aftermath of Katrina, as opposed to the great publicity given to a city like New Orleans.

“All the attention is still centered on New Orleans as far as federal aid and relief is concerned, and rightly so because Katrina wreaked havoc to a tremendous degree there as well,” Little said. “But what many people may not realize is that when Katrina shifted eastward from New Orleans, the eye of the storm went right over Pearlington.”

“The town of around 600 people was discovered by accident when a National Guard helicopter flew over on its way to New Orleans and saw people in the treetops,” Little added. “The stories I have heard about how people survived the storm and then the shock, grief and disbelief that their entire world had been washed away in a matter of hours have gotten under my skin and seeped into my bones.”

Also over the break, another group of university students served the less fortunate half a world away, with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India. The City of Joy trip was sponsored by the Volunteer Service Corps. The annual trip was started by Wake student Jessica Davies about thirteen years ago and it has taken place every winter break since.

“Calcutta is a place unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” Ali Schlemmer, trip leader and senior history major from Pittsburgh, Penn., said.

“It assaulted all my senses and really forced me to take a good hard look at myself and my life.”

The Missionaries of Charity is a Roman Catholic religious organization established by Mother Teresa in 1950 to serve the destitute citizens and impoverished people in Calcutta and the surrounding area. The university volunteer group provided help to the Missionaries of Charity in several ways, including working in and around homes run by the Missionaries around Calcutta.

“Some of the homes are orphanages for abandoned or severely handicapped children, while others include a hospice and several nursing home type places,” Schlemmer said.

“We also worked at a school called the Loretto Day School, which is not affiliated with the Missionaries but which the City of Joy group two years ago actually stumbled upon and greatly enjoyed.”

“The work we did over there was incredibly rewarding, and it made me realize that two small hands can indeed change the world, if only by making one more person’s life a little easier for a day,” Schlemmer added.