Environmental Disaster & Response

May 04 2025

By Carlie Lavon Webber Travel to Selma After loading the bus and traveling for a little over 2 days our Goshen College group reached Selma, Alabama. On our travels, we stopped in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky! Our group enjoyed a delicious...

Apr 30 2025

Welcome to our 2025 blog for the May term SST course “Environmental Disaster and Response with MDS”! Each year this course partners with Mennonite Disaster Service to explore first-hand the direct impact of environmental disaster on a local community, with...

May 17 2024

We spent the rest of last week working hard on the two homes we’re helping rebuild for members of the Red Lake Nation. The students are learning quickly. They have all gained a wide variety of new skills, and everyone...

May 07 2024

On the first of May we loaded up and headed north, bound for Red Lake, Minnesota, home of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. We went to volunteer with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), and to learn and build relationships...

May 25 2023

This blog was written by Keren Masinga, a second year nursing major. On Wednesday afternoon, we drove 30 minutes to visit the Buffalo Ranch of Red Lake Nation. We all climbed into the back of several pick up trucks and...

May 25 2023

This blog post was written by Katie Bolander, a second year nursing major. This past Wednesday morning, we had the privilege of touring Red Lake Nation College with Whitney Spears, the Director of Admissions. Red Lake Nation College (RLNC) is...

May 19 2023

This blog post was written by Aranza Jimenez Cruz, a first year accounting major. As we arrived at what would be our work site for the next two weeks, the reality of what needed to be done settled in. The...

May 19 2023

This blog was written by Madison Miller, a recent Marine and Environmental Science graduate. Over the past couple of weeks, we have all gotten to know each other in the GC group, along with the MDS crew members and long-term...

May 19 2023

This blog was written by Laci Munger, a first-year Marine and Environmental Science major. Throughout our time with the Mennonite Disaster Service members (MDS) and living in the Red Lake Reservation, we continue to learn about the unique culture of...

May 18 2023

This blog was written by Eliza Aleman, a first year sustainability major. On Saturday we had the honor of meeting Audrianna Goodwin – a University of Minnesota graduate and researcher for the TRUTH project. Audrianna took the time to share...

May 18 2023

This blog was written by Isabella Ruiz, a second year sustainability and public health major.  When thinking of the Red Lake Nation, we’re not sure if people think about walleye, but the walleye fish population is among one of the...

May 17 2023

This blog post was written by Cameron Comadoll, a third year nursing major, and Regan Sheipline, a recent education graduate. Red Lake Nation is located in northwestern Minnesota and is federally recognized as an Indian tribe that possesses all the...

May 09 2023

We did not arrive in Red Lake with a lot of collective construction skills or experience (not including Dale). Despite this fact, in the past 48 hours, our group has laid flooring, primed and painted walls, cut trim, installed toilets,...

May 07 2023

We headed towards Minnesota and the sovereign nation of the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe, on Friday, May 5th, in anticipation of our two week service stint with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS).  After a long day of driving, we spent...

Jun 07 2022

Como lo he estado haciendo hasta ahora, hoy me desperté a las 5:30 a.m. para alistarme y desayunar antes de un día largo de trabajo. Hoy es el último de los días completos de trabajo en la Posada Providencia, una...

Jun 07 2022

Después de estar aquí por casi dos semanas, seguimos construyendo la cerca alrededor de la Posada. Todas las mañanas los voluntarios de MDS (Mennonite Disaster Service o el Servicio Mennonita de Desastres), Larry y Roger, comienzan el día con una...

Jun 07 2022

Nuestro día comenzó muy temprano esta mañana. Requerimos estar en la cafetería a las 6:00 a.m. en punto para empacar almuerzos y desayunar. Después del desayuno, nos dirigimos a la Posada para trabajar más en la cerca. Hoy nuestra tarea...

Jun 07 2022

Comenzamos esta semana con una devoción hallada en Hechos 20:24 que dice: “Sin embargo, considero que mi vida no vale nada para mí; mi único objetivo es terminar la carrera y completar la tarea que el Señor Jesús me ha...

Jun 07 2022

Esta mañana me desperté a las 7:00, aunque no teníamos que estar en la iglesia hasta las 9:30. A pesar de que mi cuerpo ya se acostumbró al horario de despertarse temprano a las 5:30 en los días laborales, hoy...

Jun 07 2022

Después de estar en el valle del río Grande durante casi dos semanas, mis compañeros de clase y yo hemos estado expuestos a la crisis fronteriza y los desafíos que enfrentan las personas en las ciudades fronterizas con respecto a...

Jun 07 2022

              Terminamos nuestra primera semana de trabajo en la Posada. Con un grupo de 11 personas pudimos terminar dos lados del proyecto de cerca que rodea el perímetro de la Posada. A algunas personas...

May 26 2022

We woke up this morning to the sounds of pouring rain and raucous thunder. I was desperately hoping for one last day to soak in the sun, but maybe this makes it easier to say goodbye. After three weeks in...

May 26 2022

When Suzanne Ehst described this class to me I knew I needed to take it. Serving, building, and learning all in one class is an opportunity that I could not say no to. Since I was diagnosed with Chrons’ disease...

May 26 2022

Having had our last day of fencing work at La Posada on Friday and a beach day yesterday, it felt only right to have today be an easygoing, relaxing one. There being just two days left in Texas before home...