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| Charles Hendrix, a freshman from Sandy, Ore., prepares to lift a piece of wood, while John McTavish, a freshman from Pottstown, Pa., and Ron Stucky, a member of Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church near Inman, Kan., use chainsaws to cut up a downed tree. |
August 30, 2005
Nine Hesston College students
enrolled in courses offered in the new Disaster Management program
got some field experience at the end of the first week of classes.
The students and program director
Russ Gaeddert were among 15 people who volunteered for Mennonite Disaster
Service (MDS) clean-up Saturday, August 27, in Great Bend, Kan., about
a 90-minute drive from Hesston. The city and the surrounding area
sustained an estimated $4 million in damage from three tornadoes and
high straight-line winds on Friday, August 19.
Chris Burkholder, a freshman from
Harrisonburg, Va., helped operate a chainsaw, cutting up fallen tree
limbs and trimming damaged trees.
He said the people he and others
helped were grateful. "The most rewarding aspect for me was seeing
the reactions on the faces of the people," he said. "They
told us that if we hadn't come, the work wouldn't have gotten done.
"The impact we made on them"
is what he'll remember about the day's experience. "We made a
difference in someone's life, which made the work worthwhile."
He said the most difficult part
of the work was dealing with the heat. Temperatures were in the 90s,
with high humidity.
Burkholder is one of nine students
who are pursuing a two-year degree in Disaster Management at Hesston
College, a partnership between the college and MDS. He said a lot
of his hobbies and interests are in construction and building. "It's
a way to use my hobbies and interests to make a difference in people's
lives and serve God in the way he's calling me.
His home church is Weavers Mennonite
Church in Harrisonburg.
John McTavish, a freshman from
Pottstown, Pa., ran a pole saw and a chainsaw, taking down a damaged
tree and cutting up one felled by the storm. He was amazed at the
amount of work the group of 15 accomplished in one day.
The rewarding part of the work,
he said, was "seeing how we could help people who couldn't help
themselves." For example, one woman who had the damaged tree
in her yard said she was going to hire someone to cut it down. "We
came together as a group," he said, "and decided to take
it out so she wouldn't have to pay."
McTavish said he learned a lot
about safety while taking down that tree. "Working up in the
tree using the pole saw was a problem, because it was so long and
awkward. We had to be really careful."
His goal is also a two-year degree
in Disaster Management. "I've always looked at service as a big
part of the Mennonite faith and as a Christian in general," he
said. "It's a good way to learn a lot of trade skills and help
a lot of people."
McTavish's home church is Salford
Mennonite Church, Harleysville, Pa.
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| Kevin Eby, a freshman from Harrisonburg, Va., carries tree limbs to the curb for pickup by city crews in Great Bend, Kan. |
According to program director
Russ Gaeddert, two long-time MDS persons were among the 15 working
in Great Bend. They were Gordon Unruh, McPherson, Kan., the Kansas
MDS coordinator, and Paul Unruh, Newton, an executive member of the
MDS bi-national board.
"We had some teachable moments,"
Gaeddert said. "Paul is very good at that." Gaeddert said
Unruh led the students through a whole series of questions, many safety-related,
before taking down the damaged tree.
Gaeddert said the group worked
at several locations in Great Bend and at one site south of the city.
"I was pleased with how the students pitched in. They were looking
for things to do and had terrific attitudes."
"We had no injuries,"
he added. "That's always good. Safety is number one."
Gaeddert is also excited about
the start-up of the Disaster Management program. Sixteen students
are enrolled in the Introduction to Disaster Management course, which
met for the first time last Tuesday (Aug. 23), while 12 are taking
the first of four courses called MDS Culture. Out of those students,
nine are planning to earn the two-year degree in Disaster Management.
"It's a testimony to all
the people who have worked hard to get it off the ground," he
said. "I'm pleased that so many students are interested."
He cited the efforts of Kevin King, MDS executive coordinator; Marcus
Yoder, Hesston College academic dean; Lois Nikkel, administrative
coordinator in the MDS Winnepeg office; Dan Miller, the Kansas MDS
unit chairman; and Paul Unruh.
"Since I began as director
July 1, I've heard of a number of high school students who are interested
in the program next year," he said. "I hope the program
will continue to grow."
Unruh, also a member of the Disaster
Management program's advisory group, spoke to students in the MDS
Culture class last Thursday (Aug. 25). He told gripping stories of
two people who survived a devastating tornado in Birmingham, Ala.,
in 1998.
He spoke about the unique partnership
that developed between MDS and Hesston College out of discussions
that began in May 2004. "Our number one bottleneck is leadership
folk at local project sites," he said. "Not all of you will
be project leaders or crew leaders.
"You're starting just like
I did," he continued, "mucking out mud-filled basements,
running chainsaws, and picking up after."
At the end of class, Unruh gave
each student a copy of The Hammer Rings Hope, a book released in the
year 2000 recounting the first 50 years of MDS, along with an MDS
carpenter's pencil. The books were signed by the author, former MDS
coordinator Lowell Detweiler.
Afterward, Unruh said it was an
exciting day for him. "I noticed the attentiveness of the students
and the way their faces lit up," he said. "It makes me feel
like they're here in a serious sense.
"This is a fun moment after
so many people put so much work into starting the Disaster Management
program," he said. "This is one of the ways MDS is pursuing
to train leaders. We're also exploring other possibilities for people
who don't attend college.
"Starting this program is
like planting a mustard seed," Unruh said. "We don't know
where it will take us. I wonder what it will look like in another
50 years."
Disaster Management program