Posted on Thursday, April 15, 2004
While many college students travel to southern beaches to relax during spring break, 15 Westminster College students spent their spring break building Habitat for Humanity houses and renovating homes for Hosanna Industries.
Ten of the students traveled to Raleigh, N.C. with Keturah Laney, chapel assistant at Westminster College, and five students traveled to Rochester with the Rev. James Mohr, chaplain at Westminster.
"It was an amazing trip, said Erin Bartley, sophomore biology major from Brookville. "There we were "" 11 women with no experience. We were given a blueprint, measurements, sawhorses and tools. I was impressed by the leadership there. They were available to answer questions, but we were left to make cuts and put it together on our own."
"We weren't babied, and they didn't assume that we didn't know anything," said Sarah Melanovich, a sophomore business administration major from Rimersburg. "We built three exterior walls with window and door frames, five interior walls, and raised the walls by the end of the week."
"Students learned how to use a miter saw for cutting the two-by-fours for the walls, and a rip saw for cutting out the windows and doors," Laney said. "One crew of three women worked on attaching the metal flashing between the exterior walls and the porch."
"We stayed at a YMCA camp cabin, and cooked our own meals," Melanovich said. "On Thursday, Keturah made something with all the leftovers. It looked a little strange, but it was really good."
"I didn't know everyone when I first climbed on the van," Bartley said. "But the time spent in the van, working during the day, and spending time together in the evening, established new relationships that I wouldn't have had without this trip. I'm planning on going next year too."
It was not all work for the group. They got in some sightseeing, too.
"We visited Duke University, which was about 15 minutes from where we were staying," Bartley said. "We also visited the Natural Science Museum, where we saw the Titanic exhibit. We also got to explore Raleigh. We also went out Friday night to a little pub located in the old train station."
"The best part of the trip was meeting the lady who will own the house we were building," Melanovich said. "We were building a house not for the homeless, but helping the working poor. The owners have to spend at least 300 hours working on their own house, and they will have a mortgage. They are families, like mine, with kids running around what will be their yard. You really have to see it because I can't put into words how that makes me feel."
"Work was secondary," Bartley said. "First was what you learned about your self. I could see the fruits of our labor at the end of the day, and not everyone can say that."
To learn more about Westminster's chapter of Habitat for Humanity or Westminster's involvement with Hosanna Industries, contact Mohr at (724) 946-7116 or e-mail mohrjr@westminster.edu or Laney at (724) 946-7117 or e-mail laneykf@westminster.edu.
