Habitat for Humanity

This past February I had the wonderful opportunity of traveling to Mississippi with my school's Habitat for Humanity Club.  I was extremely excited to experience the South and have the opportunity to give back.  Ever since my first service trip to Ecuador, I knew that I wanted to continue to travel with intent and continue to volunteer abroad.
Habitat for Humanity is a charity that focus on providing affordable housing to families in need. The families work together with volunteers and professional to build their home.
I traveled with a group of 30 students from my university and I made many great new friends through this experience.  A service trip is something I would recommend to anyone looking to travel and have an unforgettable experience.

 Following an long day of travel, we headed to The Shed for some BBQ. It was some seriously good food, and I got the chance to eat at place featured on Diners, Dine-Ins and Dives. 

 We went to a gator farm and went out on air boats to find some gators. It was a really cool and fun experience. I have never been so close to an alligator before in its natural habitat. 

 It was really exciting and coincidental that we were down south during Mardi Gras. We were able to attend one of the family friendly parades. It was a lot of fun catching all those beads and watching the parade. 

 We were there to assist in the building of a house. Our large group was split into three smaller ones. My group was on a renovation site, where they were adding an addition on to the house of a veteran. 

On the way home we stopped in New Orleans. It seemed like a very interesting place and it is one that I would like to go back and spend more time in. We did not get enough time there. It had some beautiful aritecture in the French Quarter. There seemed to be a lot of amazing restaurants. I hope to go back there one day and spend more time exploring.

I hope to have the chance to do another trip such as this one and travel somewhere else in the world to volunteer. Both times now it has been a truly amazing experience. I went on the trip not knowing anyone and came home with 30 new friends. I would highly recommend the experience. 

-Jaclyn