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News
Apr 14 2026
by Mike McHugh
Welcome to this year’s SST blog for the Environmental Disaster and Response with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) May term course. This year we will be traveling to Lahaina, Hawai’i to work with MDS to build homes that were destroyed after wildfires in August of 2023. In brief, the wildfires ravaged Maui, causing significant damage. They affected both local residents and the island’s natural landscapes. Over 13,000 people were displaced during the wildfires with over 2,000 buildings destroyed.
Lahaina experienced the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, killing more than 100 people, displacing thousands, and turning the town into ashes. Partnered with the local Hoʻōla iā Mauiakama Disaster Long-Term Recovery Group (LTRG), MDS has been working on new home construction since shortly after the fires swept through the area.
Leaders for this year’s unit are myself (Mike McHugh) and Dale Klassen. I work at Goshen College in the ITSMedia department supporting the AV technology across campus, from classrooms to event spaces, and I teach two courses in the college’s Core curriculum: Identity, Culture & Community, and Career & Calling. I have volunteered with MDS before and appreciate that one of their core values is to “intentionally work with one another inside MDS and with partner organizations.” As a local resident of Paia, HI told me during my visit there a couple weeks ago, “I don’t know much about Mennonites but I know that they show up.” I am excited to be one of many that have showed up to be part of the recovery effort. Dale is a general contractor in Goshen and has co-led two other May term MDS units in Red Lake, Minnesota. He brings a wealth of construction experience and enjoys teaching the students these practical skills while also getting to know the local community members that we’re there to serve.
As an immersive course, our students will be spending two weeks working on several homes that are currently being built for Lahaina residents. They will also be learning about the broader issues of the cultural and environmental impact of the wildfires, and other recovery efforts the community is actively involved in. Dale and I hope that you’ll come back and read each new post with an excitement to not only see what the students are doing, but to read about their experiences. Posts will be written by myself or Dale, and also by the students so you can read about their experiences directly from their perspective.
We leave Goshen early on Wednesday, April 29 and will spend our first few days at a girl scout camp on the east side of the island getting acclimated to the climate and the six hour time difference! Over those few days we’ll dive right into learning about the history of Hawaii, the fires, and MDS’s recovery efforts. Then we drive to the west side of the island to Lahaina to start work on Monday, May 4! Bookmark this site or subscribe to read & follow along with us over the next few weeks.
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