In keeping with the long tradition of Reading Week service trips, 14 Grebel students used their February study break to help repair flood-damaged homes, learn skills, and build relationships through Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). The group traveled to Conway, South Carolina, where they worked with talented crew leaders to repair several homes. Katie Goerzen Sheard appreciated that “despite common gender biases that exist in the field of construction work, crew leaders helped to empower the team by not assigning tasks to people based on gender or assumed skill level or capability.” She also noted that her crew leader was “excellent at making us feel capable—until he would leave to go get things from the hardware store and we realized that we were useless without him!”
A highlight of serving with MDS is the opportunity to connect with homeowners—to hear their stories, experience hospitality, and understand the impact of the volunteer work. Students noted the importance of those relationships.
“The great thing about this trip was that we were an unlikely bunch made up of students from different years and different programs, brought together to serve and have a lot of fun,” Charlotte Baker reminisced. “One of my favourite things was that I spent almost zero time on my phone or computer because there was always something to do. We played volleyball, built community through singing hymns until way past curfew, played codenames 10,000 times, visited museums, and spent about 24 hours driving, listening to music, testing each other’s jelly-belly tasting skills, and getting to know each other.”
